A Week of Action

Update from Voices For Public Transit
This week could mark a major milestone for American public transportation. We must deliver a sustained message all week long, so we’ll be asking you to take a specific action each day—starting today.

House and Senate committee members are working hard to finalize a compromise long-term transportation bill before this Friday’s deadline. Just a few minutes of your time each day can make sure they pass the best possible bill.

The best option on the table is a fully funded five-year transportation bill that maximizes our national investment in public transit.

Please email your members of Congress now.

Even if you’ve emailed Rep. Sinema and Sens. McCain and Flake before (lots of times), Congress needs to know that we’re still watching and expecting increased public transportation funding.

We’ll be in touch tomorrow and each day this week to help you make your voice heard as clearly as possible—along with thousands of other Voices for Public Transit. Please participate today and throughout the week.

 

New Images of A Vanished Past > Retro Eccentric Neon-Inspired Mesa

QUESTION: Why regret "things gone bye" when art and artists, like Mark Matlock, collaborate with public/private partnerships in Creative Place Making?
[see another post on this site at same location 19 Nov with a link to a time-lapse video by another artist Jesse Perry].
For one reason or another things disappear, but they have the staying power in our collective imaginations to get revitalized and regenerated in The New Urban DTMesa. . . in the hands of artists with paint brushes and spray cans on the side of a piece of downtown Mesa history.
Read more >>

Next Week > Star Wars Tribute @ 2nd Friday Night Out

O Suzanne! ... that girl @ OneOhOne West Main Street is some kind of friggin' PR genius
STAR WARS TRIBUTE
December 11, 2015
6-10 PM
It will be "snowing" on the corner of Main and Macdonald!!!

Bring the fan boys and girls and get your light sabers ready for a free night of fun.
Eccentric downtown Mesa is the perfect place to host a Mesa’s 2ND Friday dedicated to costumes, shopping, contests, music, art, and eclectic happenings.
DID SOMEBODY SAY ECCENTRIC DOWNTOWN MESA????/

Update to Nov 9 Post Here > Save the Pioneer Park Train

Almost five years after this 2:29 You Tube upload on January 19, 2010 the same two people mentioned in a recent article in The Arizona Republic were talking about the fund-raising campaign on "Mesa Now" - fast-forward five years into the future it's Mesa Now all over again!. . . Are we trapped in a time-warp here?  

Or is this initiative finally on a fast-track thanks to a dedicated group of private individuals pushing the slow-moving wheels of public city government full-steam ahead?
Yes, dear readers, IT IS TIME . . . Please scroll down this site to read the 29 post on this site with the headline "Time to Give Rail History A Place In The New Urban Downtown Mesa"
For some readers of this site who might be history buffs, here's a link to a short no comment video showing the dedication of Southern Pacific Steam Engine #2355 back in 1958 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PigpxmuI1QE&feature=player_embedded

Get In The Spirit > Re-Cycle, Re-Use + Re-Imagine Books/To Give and To Share

A world of information and ideas within reach of every resident . . . Yipes! That sounds too good to be true
For you, dear readers, bargains on pulp fiction and non-fiction at the Mesa Main Public Library thanks to Janice Dell, Volunteer Coordinator, and her merry band of helpers who have selected "nearly new" books going on sale at the lowest prices in town starting today through January 3, 2016.

They're too big to stick in a stocking, but you no doubt

get the idea

 

 

 

Hours of Operation

Monday	10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Tuesday	10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Wednesday	10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Thursday	10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday	10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday	10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday	Closed

Find out what's going on all the time and every month > http://www.mesalibrary.org/
You can even find a link to register to vote.

MACFest + Downtown Mesa Indie Fest > THE BIG WE Take-Over on Main Street

Good Ole' Kris Kringle was getting his jollies on inside the window at Gunell's Jewelry Store seeing the turnout on Main Street for Small Business Saturday, November 28, 2015.
It's not quite all merry and a winter wonderland yet, but word is getting out when MACFest adds two more days to their calendar schedule to collaborate with the Downtown Merchants Association and The City of Mesa for a big promotion November 27-Jan 3, 2016.
Valley Metro Light Rail is pitching in giving free rides on all the stops at Main Street Light Rail station platforms downtown from Country Club to Main to Mesa Drive, but of course you're more than welcome to walk or bike. See >> merrymainstreet.com

The message is: Get here for sights you might have reminisced about from days gone-by or get here for sights you never could have imagined happening in downtown Mesa.

Another Article Re:The Twilight Garden [Post here 29 October, 2015]

[Updates 02 Dec about Creative Machine] Different style, different content and different focus in another feature on The Twilight Garden located close by the Valley Metro Light Rail Station at Main Street/Country Club.

Posted: Sunday, November 29, 2015 11:26 am

Pocket park offers respite in downtown Mesa

By Shelley Ridenour Tribune

Offers what? Not too many people use or have the word "respite" in their everyday speech . . . is that spite and spite again? Like "re-think"?

As you can see from one of the stunning images taken at twilight by David Jolkovski that accompanied the article it's not a "pocket park" - it's exposed with public access on three sides, with this one looking south across Main Street. The open location with benches facing the acrylic sculpture configurations, is on the north side leading to/from a parking area, and on the east side occupies the space next to Il Viniao restaurant.

The post on this site titled "Valley Metro Public Art > The Shadow of A Memory" has images from the daytime with this longitudinal view of the streetscape looking east on Main Street and a cyclist walking his bike enjoying the scenery.

Twilight or daytime, thanks to Valley Metro and the City of Mesa, Creative Place Making and the role of an artist get highlighted in not just one but two reports.
 

Connect to and read both.
Find out more about Creative Place Making by scanning or searching this BlogSpot - there's a link to five videos

As noted in the Oct 29 post on this site, one source was Cindy Ornstein, Arts & Culture Director for The City of Mesa, who sent some details about how the design of the Valley Metro Public Art space evolved after Rob Antoniak, Valley Metro's Community Outreach go-to guy hooked us up.
The Mesa Tribune article did include those.
Your MesaZona blogger is including a link here to the artist and the company that fabricated Twilight Garden [page July 31, 2015] http://creativemachines.com/fabricating-twilight-garden

Keep your eyes out for more Interactive Public Art.

About Creative Machines = a group of visionary artists, engineers and fabricators doing world-class work for clients everywhere from their base in Tucson, AZ.
We are a multi-disciplinary firm whose abilities span exhibition design, ball machine sculptures, and monumental public art.
We create monumental and human-scaled work that is beautiful at first glance but yields deeper rewards with continued interaction.
Our work is rooted in science, perception and history.

Since 1995 we have been making dynamic experiences for museums, science centers, libraries, hospitals, university campuses, transit stops, art museums, trade shows, and public spaces across the globe. Regardless of the time of day, someone somewhere is enjoying our work.
We never stop innovating.
We make technically sophisticated projects and explore fabrication strategies that have never been tried before. Extensive research and prototyping let us create the most innovative and unique work for our clients.
In certain areas we can do things that no other firm can