Arts & Culture Family Featured Music & Events Travel, Shopping & Leisure Fara Illich January 4, 2011

Sacred Places, the first art exhibit of 2011 at the Herberger,  opens Saturday, Jan. 8,  from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. and will be on display through March 27.
Copen - Archway to the PastSounds like some pictures of churches doesn’t it?  Well not according to Jim Covarrubias, the new curator at the Herberger.
Hozo means “sacred” in the Navajo language.  Covarrubias says sacred can be the rose garden in your back yard or the mountain you hike or the spot in your living room next to the fire looking out over the humming bird feeder.
“Sacred is a place that allows someone to be private and connect with their soul,” says Covarrubias.  He wanted this collection at the beginning of the New Year to let artists share their private spaces and connect with the viewers.
Covarrubias wants the viewers to question why they need art.  What can art give us?  What do people consider to be the benefit of art in their lives?
Neslen - Time Passages 1You don’t just buy a painting because it fits on that blank wall, do you? Perhaps in some way the artists have communicated with you what is sacred to themselves and the paintings speak to your own feelings.
Of course having the newly renovated Herberger Gallery to display these paintings by 22 hand-picked artists makes the exhibit all the more sacred.
Everything you’ll see is available for purchase and a portion of the proceeds goes to support the Herberger Theater Center and its mission of growing the performing arts in Phoenix.
For more information, visit www.HerbergerTheater.org