By Tommy Acosta
Sedona, AZ — When art lover and promoter Skip Daum drove into Sedona, he knew right away he had arrived at the art Mecca of the world.
He pulled up all his stakes, took a volunteer position at the Sedona Heritage Museum and went to work building a new art community in Red Rock Country.
In less than a year here, he created the Sedona Artists Consortium and then the Sedona Sculptors Symposium, an event on May 13 that featured local award-winning sculptors James Muir, Ken Rowe, Susan Kliewer, Chris Navarro and Erik Petersen, talking about the intricacies of their art form and the motivating spirit of their works, at the Mary Fisher Theatre in partnership with The Sedona International Film Festival.
Curator Linda Goldenstein moderated the panel featuring sculptors, discussing the bronze craft, their motivation, techniques and vision for the future markets.
It was an extremely informative and entertaining symposium, riveting the attendees to their chairs as the creative energy of these five sculptors flowed from the stage through the entire theater.
For Daum, it was another success in his decades-long career of supporting art, and he fondly remembers his coming to Sedona and being captivated, after a sojourn driving through the West.
“Sedona wasn’t a destination as much as another waystation as I meandered throughout several western states,” he said. “I was on a month-long road trip from San Diego to Yellowstone and spending hours in dozens of art galleries. However, upon arriving here I felt ‘one-with-the-community,’ so to speak. It’s like, when looking at houses to buy, or even art, when it speaks to you, you must have it. So, I’m here for the duration of my life… at home.”
Sedona itself welcomed him to its fold as soon as he became a member of the community.
“I was accepted into the community by neighbors, sculptors, painters, gallery owners, and fellow volunteers at the Sedona Heritage Museum,” he said.In his career of promoting art in all of its forms, he continued his work by organizing the Sedona Sculptors Symposium.
“My goal was to bring artists together,” he said. “I founded the Sedona Artists Consortium as a (virtual) place to gather and share. The Sculptors Symposium was my first endeavor to assemble some of Sedona’s finest artists … to meet with one another and share their personal stories, inspirations and sense of accomplishing what they were meant to do and become.”
Through his Sedona Artists Consortium, he hopes to enrich the lives of artists and support their creative endeavors.
“I want to open the door into artists’ lives, purpose, and desire to create something, undeterred by setbacks and with visions of what can be,” he said. “And, to communicate with their peers. I sensed many artists cloister themselves in their studios for days and weeks and don’t routinely gather with others.”
For him, art must beckon him. Move him. Become an indelible part of his memories.
“Art is what you make it,” he said. “How you see, listen, or feel it. To me, it either strikes me favorably at first or beckons me to see more into it, to understand it. Most art, to me, is not worth remembering… but that’s just me. How many people remember the last ten pieces they saw?
He stands firm in viewing Sedona as an art Mecca. He believes we in Sedona are immersed in art, not only the art created by humans but the landscape of Sedona as well.
“I consider Sedona to be an art Mecca because it’s all around us, beginning with the majestic, powerful, luring mountains that contain us here,” he said. “Humans are drawn to such icons. To me, they beckon us to walk on them and into their canyons. Secondly, I find art everywhere… animal heads in the red rocks, human faces in the clouds, and music on my laptop. It’s omnipresent.”
He believes the Sedona Sculptors Symposium more than met his expectations in putting together some of Sedona’s most prolific and talented sculptors.
“My expectations were fulfilled,” he said. “The artists were congenial, open and honest, and they shared their stories which observers took to heart and perhaps thought about their own endeavors in life with all its failures and successes. So, we gathered, and we shared. Goal achieved.”
He acknowledged and thanked local curator and gallery owner Linda Goldenstein for her help in putting the symposium together and moderating the event.
“Well, whom else but Linda would be the magnet that artists and audiences alike would love to associate with?” he asked. “Months ago, Linda and I lunched together and talked for two hours; I explained my purpose in founding the Sedona Artists Consortium and solicited her input. The following day she agreed to be the moderator. Her gentle style and ‘art-knowledge’ make her a natural for this type of event.”
He foresees more symposiums in the future showcasing the different art forms Sedona embodies.
“My first goal is to settle in,” he said. “Sedona is my forever home. I truly sense community here. And, I’ll produce more symposiums for different media.”
As a patron for the arts, he has worked with many artists in different mediums, and he remains awed by the sheer talent of the Sedona sculptors he featured in his symposium.
“I am totally impressed by our Sedona sculptors,” he said. “I can’t draw a crooked line. They ‘see’ an image and convert it into something tangible, touchable, real. Plus, I personally like them. They are all so talented, and it was a pleasure working with them.”
He also gave kudos to Sedona International Film Festival Director Patrick Schweiss for his help and support in putting the symposium together.
“I must credit Patrick at SIFF; his immediate enthusiasm for the concept was invaluable and encouraged me… the new guy in town… to proceed,” he said. “Of course, his systems at SIFF made the logistics seamless.”
He also looked into the unforeseen future and the effect of technology and the political changes that may influence art in the short and long run.
“Is there a new bevy of aspiring artists looming out there?” he asks. “Will AI emerge through ‘automatic sculpting’ and printing? Will new oils, plastics and other materials become prevalent, and to what degree will the economy negatively affect artists, galleries and foundries? We will soon find out.”
No doubt that whatever the future holds in the evolution of art, Daum will be there to promote it as he fulfills his mission to help cement Sedona’s role as the Mecca of the art world.