News + Updates for April 2022
Big Weekends, Spring Cleaning, an Alumni Reunion+ More
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Happy spring, Friend!
And happy holidays to those who celebrate.
This time of year brings warmth to Cosanti and bright, breezy days to the Arcosanti mesa, which matches the way we're feeling right now. April is abuzz with activity at Arcosanti, Cosanti, and beyond.
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A single Saturday showcases urban effect, arcology, and the fullness of life at Arcosanti |
Weekdays are a great time to visit both Arcosanti and Cosanti. With each place in full swing—including live bronze pours and ceramic bell carving from the artisans of Cosanti Originals—throughout the regular work week, our weekends can seem a little quiet by comparison.
But not lately!
Take a look at just some of what was going on at Arcosanti the day before Easter.
Spring Speaker Series
Lunch in the Café at Arcosanti
It's taken a couple of months (and a big Crafts III cleanup) to get everything going again, but the café is back! We were full this weekend, and we'll be expanding hours to offer breakfast and lunch, Thursday through Monday, starting this week.
Resident Art Show Pop-Up
Once a limited-time café show, the Resident Art Show has expanded to a year-round market housed alongside our windbells in the Arcosanti Gallery, with special events like this weekend's meet-the-artists pop-up in the Ceramics Apse. The next one is May 28th!
Guided Tour of Arcosanti Agriculture
Following the Speaker Series, Jim Allen and Arcosanti Agriculture Manager David Tollas provided a special group tour of our growing ag program, including the new food forest and orchard, and the future site of our Hopi corn planting with Michael Kotutwa Johnson.
"Organic" Exhibition Opening
The School of Architecture is wrapping up its second year at Arcosanti, and today marked the start of "Organic," a monthlong exhibition in our new favorite gallery space: the open-air atrium underneath Crafts III! It's open to the public daily, and will be on display through TSOA's graduation day on May 15th.
Dinner, Art, & Music with Cloth + Flame
Our partnership with Cloth + Flame continues to flourish, bringing more than 100 people to experience Arcosanti after-hours with top-notch local food and wine, live painting in the Vaults (every guest took a piece of the painting home), and dessert served up with moonlit music in the Amphitheater.
And all of that, of course, is in addition to our usual daily tours and gallery activity. Want a taste of our unique offerings?
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Tours Manager (and silver jewelry artisan) Hamaila Qureshi leads a Saturday tour through the East Crescent and Amphitheater |
Director of Guest Experience Nikki Check helps serve up a Saturday lunch of Southwest enchiladas and prickly pear lemonade in the Arcosanti Café |
NAU's Jim Allen gives the Saturday morning Speaker Series talk about food forests, including the one he's helped create at Arcosanti |
Resident artists Angie, Julie, & Molly get everything set for Saturday's pop-up art show in the Ceramics Apse |
The current Arcosanti workshoppers enjoy a Cloth + Flame dinner with artist Erika Lenaye at work |
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Landscaping and walkways throughout Cosanti have been beautifully renovated |
Cat Cast has been thoroughly cleaned up, with many safety and sanitation improvements |
The Pumpkin Apse has been completely cleared out, and is now ready for active use |
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Over the course of the last year or so, Cosanti has begun to undergo extensive and much-needed cleaning and restoration. In case you're not familiar, Cosanti is Arcosanti's older sister site in Paradise Valley, and the place where the ideas implicit in Arcosanti and arcology were first developed. Like Arcosanti, it was built by hand by students and volunteers, and parts of it are nearly 70 years old. The Pumpkin Apse, Pink House, Earth House, Cat Cast, and the Barrel Vaults, as well as the overall site landscaping, are all getting the TLC they deserve. There are also future plans for restoration and renovations of the pool, parking lot, and Antioch Building.
As we've worked to bring Cosanti back to her full glory, we've discovered countless artifacts and treasures. An entire shipping container's worth of material has moved from Cosanti to The Cosanti Foundation's archives at Arcosanti, where it is being painstakingly cleaned, catalogued, and stored by Sue Kirsch and her team.
This massive undertaking has been possible thanks to an incredible synergy between The Cosanti Foundation, Cosanti Originals, and The School of Architecture, who hope to begin holding some of their classes there this fall. It's also being made possible thanks to a growing number of generous donors. One of them could be you!
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Spend Your Summer at Arcosanti |
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Why come for a day when you could come for a week...or for the whole summer! Our extended workshops are a great way to get to know Arcosanti, take all of our tours, attend many of the events that happen while you're here, and so much more. Plus, your accommodations are included in the price. |
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The One-Week Arcosanti Experience
Don't have time for a 5- or 6-week workshop but still want to immerse yourself in life at Arcosanti? You've got options!
Back by popular demand, The Cosanti Foundation is once again offering Experience Week, a 1-week version of our signature workshop program. Registration is live and you have two weeks to choose from:
- April 29 to May 4
- May 22 to May 27
Our Experience Week curriculum provides many of the highlights of the first week of our regular multi-week workshop: behind-the-scenes tours, hands-on activities, community meals, and epic sunsets. Plus, you get to spend a whole week living at Arcosanti as part of the arcology.
Attendance is limited to 6 people per session. If you're interested in participating, don't wait!
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The Arcosanti Summer Agriculture Workshop
Food forests. Orchards. A field of Hopi corn. Farmers markets. Greenhouses. Hydroponics. Compost. A chicken coop.
The Cosanti Foundation is thrilled to announce a new 10-week Summer Agriculture Workshop at Arcosanti!
If you've ever wanted to know how to grow lots of food in the desert, this special full-season workshop is your chance.
Details are still being finalized and registration isn't live just yet, but the dates for this one-of-a-kind workshop are set:
Attendance is limited to 12 people, and our agriculture program is one of our most popular. If you're interested in participating, save the dates and stay tuned for the opportunity to apply.
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Making Friends Old + New
Almost every day, we receive visits from alumni we haven't seen in years, and sometimes decades. This week, we were delighted to meet Natalie Keller and her family, pictured here. Natalie has the distinction of having been one of our first crane operators ('71-'78). In fact, that crane is still here...and named for her!
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A Great Big Gathering on the Mesa
Can you believe it’s been almost 10 years since the last time a big group of alumni got together at Arcosanti?
This year’s reunion is a long time coming, so we’ve got a lot to share with you. We can’t wait for you to meet all the new staff and residents, including our new CEO & Executive Director, Liz Martin-Malikian, and to see all the improvements that are being made throughout Arcosanti, Cosanti, and The Cosanti Foundation.
The weekend will include live music, an Italian Night dinner under the Vaults, an alumni memorial, special tours of Arcosanti, Frugal Soup, our first-ever Alumni Award, opportunities to get involved with the revitalized farm and food program, plenty of time to explore and socialize, and so much more.
If you are one of our alumni, or a former resident, staff member, board member, or volunteer for The Cosanti Foundation, Cosanti, or Arcosanti—or you know someone who is, and they want to come, too—you're invited! If not, don't despair—sign up today for one of our workshops and become an alumn yourself, or apply for an open staff position and become part of our team.
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Coming in May:
- Get to Know Our Ambassadors
- Innovation at Cosanti Originals
- Landscaping in the Desert
- School of Architecture Graduation
+ more!
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About The Cosanti Foundation |
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Since 1965, The Cosanti Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has advocated for the built environment to be created in harmony with nature through the concept of arcology (architecture + ecology), and through our Arizona demonstration projects, Cosanti and Arcosanti.
Join us in our mission to inspire a reimagined urbanism that builds resilient and equitable communities sustainably integrated with the natural world.
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Images courtesy Kate Bemesderfer, Noémie Despland-Lichtert, Mark Johnson, Leigh McCoy, and The Cosanti Foundation |
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