Small Town News

Recent transplants to open home studios during tour

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Barbara and Jim Cowlin lived in Phoenix for 35 years.

After their kids moved out of the house they wanted to make a change in their lives. Barbara was teaching art and Jim had a commercial photography business. Jim wanted to pursue full time fine art photography and Barbara wanted to paint more.

In 2007 they moved to Ajo where they lived in the 90-year-old school building turned into the Curley School Artisan Lofts. Curley School is an artisan live/work apartment designed for artists, artisans and creative home businesses.

"It was a great way to make the transition," said Jim.

Barbara was painting more and needed more workspace. She wanted a studio so they started looking around. Jim wanted to find an affordable place along U.S. Highway 89 which is an ongoing project of his.

Jim had a show at the Tucson Airport and saw an ad for a place in Oracle. Barbara had been to Oracle before when her art was part of a group show at Rancho Linda Vista. Oracle was 10 miles from Highway 89 and the realtor showed them a place large enough to have a studio and workspace for both of them.

This will be their first full year in Oracle.

Barbara Kemp Cowlin has been a working artist for over 30 years. She is also a printmaker and bookmaker.

She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Arts degree from Northern Arizona University. She has worked many jobs to support her "arts habit" including working as a graphic designer, arts administrator and teaching art at every level from first grade to college. She is currently teaching Basic Design at Tohono O'odham Community College in Sells, Arizona.

Her works have been displayed throughout the United States in numerous exhibits. Some of these include the City of Phoenix Arts Collection, the Arts in Embassies Program at the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia, Sky Harbor Airport and the Arizona Gallery at the University of Arizona. Recent exhibits include her "Nooks & Crannies" show at Central Gallery, Burton Ban-Central Library in Phoenix. She currently has an exhibit "Four Seasons" Feb. 3 - March 27 at the University of Arizona Kachina Gallery. One of her works will be at the Art That Heals show March 11 - May 16 at the Tohono Chul Park Exhibit Hall in Tucson.

Barbara works in both acrylic and oil. On her website she says "my paintings are an exploration of snippets of the world around me. I take the ordinary, overlooked scene and make it possible for the viewer to pause and appreciate a slice of life which is usually ignored."

If you visit her studio during the Oracle Artists Studio Tour you will be able to see some of her paintings, her "gargoyle guys" garden ornaments and her Route 89 road trip signs. These are hand painted wooden boxes of road signs that were seen while traveling on United States Highway Route 89. Many of her paintings and projects reflect images she has seen while collaborating with her husband's fascination with Route 89. If you are interested in Barbara's art or want to talk art with her visit her website: www.barbaracowlin.com.

Jim Cowlin is a landscape and nature photographer. He has been taking photographs for a long time. He started in the 1960s when he joined the Peace Corps and bought a camera to record his experiences teaching in Sierra Leone, Africa.

Jim says he has always been a story teller. He now tells stories with photographs. In 1976 he traveled around Arizona with Merrill Mahaffey, a landscape painter. As he traveled he "learned to see the land, to see how light reveals shapes and colors" he had "never imagined."

He became interested in the story of the land and for the next 25 years he spent time with his cameras in the Arizona Wilderness. In 1979 he spent a month backpacking the length of the Verde River. This journey became a story with Jim's photographs called "The Verde River Walk" which appeared in the 1980 August issue of Arizona Highways. He followed that up with three projects on the Colorado River. He produced two portfolios and a CD-Rom project on the Grand Canyon. Jim was honored to be one of 25 photographers whose photographs were chosen for the book "Lasting Light - 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography." His latest project or as he puts it his "never ending project" is U.S. Route 89 - The West's Most Western Highway.

Jim has been photographing the land, places and people along the historical U.S. Route 89 for a long time. He is the founder of the Route 89 Appreciation Society. This project will take him and Barbara from Nogales, Arizona to Utah, a corner of Idaho, Wyoming and ending in Montana at the Canadian border. Along the way it passes through six national parks, and numerous national monuments and forests. Jim invites everyone including businesses and cultural and civic organizations to join the Route 89 Appreciation Society. Members are encouraged to travel on Route 89. He also shares his travels with anyone willing to join the Route 89 Appreciation Society or visit the website he has created.

On the website you will find his fine art photos along with pictures and stories about his journey along Route 89. Everything about Route 89 is on the website. There are maps, travel guides, Route 89 gifts, and members can share their stories and pictures on the website. There are also links to environmental preservation resources and sites. Jim has also given seminars about Route 89.

Jim's fine art photographs have been exhibited at the Saans Downtown Photography Studio and Art Gallery in Salt Lake City Utah. He was also part of a two man show "Go West -One Road Two Visitors" at the Tucson International Airport. Jim is known as a staunch defender of our public lands and the environment. Lee Benson, a columnist for the Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper Deseret News calls Jim the Lord Protector & Patron Saint of Route 89. Although Jim is probably a long way from Sainthood, he is definitely on a crusade to capture the beauty, history, diversity, culture, charm and adventure of traveling on U.S. Route 89.

Come and join him and Barbara at their studio and on the "slow" road. If you would like to join or want more information about the U.S. Route 89 Society, their website is www.us89society org. If you would like to view or purchase Jim's art contact him at (602)944-3286 or Email: jim@jarriescowlin.com.



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