Arizona Illustrated

Adam Homan – Love Bots Adam Homan is a Tucson-based sculptor, whose medium is steel. When he was six years old his parents took him to the El Dorado Theater in Tucson, to see Star Wars. When he walked out, his life was changed forever. He wanted to know everything about Star Wars. He found books about the model makers, the creature shops and the visual effects. It was a moment in his life where he grasped the idea that you can create your own world and tune into other realities. Adam says, “ The joy of artmaking is in the moment of creation where everything else melts away and you connect to the energy of imagination.” SPACEWATCH SPACEWATCH is a NASA-funded program at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab that was founded in 1980 to keep track of hazardous asteroids and comets in our solar system that might pose an impact threat to Earth. The program, led by Principal Investigator Melissa Brucker, makes observations 24+ nights a month from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Their most recent headline-grabbing collaboration was with the NASA DART mission, which smacked a small spacecraft into an asteroid to see how well it could deflect the rock from its orbital trajectory, as a test for planetary defense. Gertie and the T.O. Boyz Gertrude “Gertie” Lopez is a celebrated Tohono O’odham musician who has been a force in Tucson’s music community for decades. She is revered as the only female band leader on the Tohono O'odham reservation, writing and performing a traditional style of music known as ‘waila’, with her band Gertie and the T.O. Boyz. She now inspires a new generation of musicians to preserve waila’s rich history. En español: Gertrude “Gertie” López es una música célebre Tohono O’odham, cuya ha sido una fuerza en la comunidad musical de Tucson por décadas. Ella es venerada como la única mujer líder de banda en la reservación Tohono O’odham. López compone y toca un estilo tradicional de música conocida como “waila” con su banda Gertie and the T.O. Boyz”. Ella ahora inspira una nueva generació n de músicos que preservarán la rica historia del waila. The Friends and the Bees Raising honeybees requires education, planning, scientific knowledge, and other skills and a couple of Tucson residents are up to the challenge. Since taking classes a few years ago, friends Celeste Gambill and Portia Alcott have expanded their beehives and even opened their own company, Buzzed Queens Apiary. They say this hobby has been fascinating and entertaining.