The University of Arizona Press

Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025

Time: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., MST

Where: Hotel Valley Ho, 6850 E. Main St., Scottsdale, AZ

William L. Bird, author of In the Arms of Saguaros: Iconography of the Giant Cactus, will give an illustrated talk at the 2025 Arizona Tiki Oasis event held at Hotel Valley Ho. Arizona Tiki Oasis is a celebration of Tiki, Mid-Century design, and the restoration and preservation of American Pop Culture. In his illustrated talk, Bird will explore the history of the saguaro cactus and how it became an icon of the American west. Tickets for this event are $20 and are available here.

About the book:

In the Arms of the Saguaros shows how, from the botanical explorers of the nineteenth century to the tourism boosters in our own time, saguaros and their images have fulfilled attention-getting needs and expectations. Through text and lavish images, this work explores the saguaro’s growth into a western icon from the early days of the American railroad to the years bracketing World War II, when Sun Belt boosterism hit its zenith and proponents of tourism succeed in moving the saguaro to the center of the promotional frame.

This book explores how the growth of tourism brought the saguaro to ever-larger audiences through the proliferation of western-themed imagery on the American roadside. The history of the saguaro’s popular and highly imaginative range points to the current moment in which the saguaro touches us as a global icon in art, fashion, and entertainment.

Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Time: 6 p.m., MST

Where: Tumamoc Hill Boathouse (bottom of the hill), 1675 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson

Linda M. Gregonis and Victoria Evans, authors of The Hohokam and Their World, will talk with Tucson archaeologist Gayle Hartmann as part of the Tuesday Tumamoc Author Series. They will speak on “Hohokam Art Forms and the Sonoran Desert.” Tumamoc Hill is a rich Hohokam archaeology site. Learn more about Hohokam through the material that they left behind in the Sonoran Desert—pottery, shell ornaments, carved stone, and rock imagery? How did the Hohokam convey ideas about water, the Sonoran Desert, the ocean, travel, ancestors, and the cosmos?

This event is free and open to the public, and it is co-sponsored by the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill and the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. Please register here.

About the book:

Gregonis and Evans discuss how artists drew inspiration from their Sonoran Desert homeland and were also influenced by the cultures of western Mexico, the hunter-gatherers of the western desert, the Mogollon to the east, and the Pueblo cultures of the northern Southwest. Unlike traditional archaeological texts, this book takes a holistic approach by examining a diverse range of artistic expressions used by the Hohokam. From intricately crafted pottery to mesmerizing carvings in rock, each medium offers a unique glimpse into the Hohokam’s relationship with their environment and the wider world.

Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Time: 6 p.m., MST

Where: Tumamoc Hill Boathouse (bottom of the hill), 1675 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson

Hydrologist Julia Fonseca interviews Stephen Strom, author of Forging a Sustainable Southwest: The Power of Collaborative Conservation, as part of the Tuesday Tumamoc Author Series. They will speak on “Ranchers + Environmentalists = Happiness in the Desert.” Strom reveals how diverse groups of people came together for the good of the Sonoran Desert in Pima County, preserving open spaces that you can see from Tumamoc Hill! Strom, also a professional photographer, will show slides of large landscapes preserved through collaboration in the southwest. We are faced today with an existential environmental and moral challenge: can we find common purpose in protecting and cherishing these masterpieces and in restoring a sense of shared responsibility for stewarding our endowment?

This event is free and open to the public, and it is co-sponsored by the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill and the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. Please register here.

About the book:

Forging a Sustainable Southwest introduces readers to four conservation efforts that provide insight into how diverse groups of citizens have worked collaboratively to develop visions for land use that harmonized sometimes conflicting ecological, economic, cultural, and community needs. Through the voices of more than seventy individuals involved in these efforts, we learn how they’ve developed plans for protecting, restoring, and stewarding lands sustainably; the management and funding tools they’ve used; and their perceptions of the challenges that remain and how to meet them.