No, the title “Bar Art” is not a mistake, and it doesn’t refer to velvet works a la “Dogs Playing Poker.” Today, as I promised last Friday, I am sharing some art from a surprising source. That site is the State Bar of Arizona.
In the past few weeks, the Bar has had all of its current art changed out for new stuff. How was the Bar able to achieve that? Let me tell you.
Bar Art: The State Bar of Arizona did better than this.
As in the past, the art comes to us via the Larsen Gallery in Scottsdale. And as before, the art requires no out-of-pocket expenditure on the Bar’s part (I know some of you were wondering about that). Instead, we run their beauteous ad in Arizona Attorney Magazine.
You can see a few of Larsen’s recent ads here, here, here and here.
Our relationship with Larsen extends beyond art on the walls. Every year, Arizona Attorney features the terrific winners of our annual Creative Arts Competition, and in May 2008, we photographed our winners at Larsen’s terrific space. (More about Larsen Gallery is here.)
Our Arts Winners, May 2008, at the Larsen Gallery, Scottsdale
If you want to see how that arts issue came out, click here.
The path to new art began when the Bar’s CEO, John Phelps, looked around at the office walls. As he did, he began to think some of our art was getting a bit long in the tooth. That led to a few staffers being put on the case, including Executive Assistant Ann Leslie and our own Art Director, Karen Holub. They began interacting with Larsen to make better choices for the space. The only explicit request was that John wanted the art to reflect the southwest.
Most everyone here thinks it’s a great improvement. No art is going to please everybody—one piece adored by a colleague may cause a furrowed brow for another. But overall the change is astounding. And it’s not uncommon this week to see staff pausing in the hallways to talk about—art!
They done brought culture to the Bar. Thank you to everyone involved.
Below, you’ll see some of the Bar’s new art, which I photographed myself. But I have a few caveats:
First, I know: It takes real skill to photograph artwork, which I clearly do not possess. To achieve my creative output, I used our simple department Canon PowerShot (SD 890 IS, for those who care about such things). No, I’m not blaming the machinery; I’m just saying.
Second: Yes, the Bar’s hallways can be narrow in spots, which is why the shots are often angled from the side. Get over it.
Until we publish next year’s Creative Arts Competition winners in Arizona Attorney, sit back and enjoy viewing some of what now adorns our walls. And have a great weekend.
AZ Attorney 
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