City exhibit celebrates fine art photography and paintings from Maine to Arizona

Sedona News – The city invites the public to save the date for its next artist reception on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers and Vultee Conference Room at City Hall located at 102 Roadrunner Dr., where paintings created by Ed Buonvecchio and photographs by Terry Shoulders are on display through September 4, 2024. The special musical guest will be jazz musician, Erroll Foldes.

Buonvecchio’s exhibition “Between ME & AZ: A Painter’s Journey,” is a testament to his life as a painter living in Maine and Arizona and his love for these beautiful and divergent landscapes. What has emerged in these paintings is a wild and wonderful juxtaposition of terrain as untamed as his own journey. He began his career as a graphic designer, art director and illustrator in New York. In the 1990’s he established a freelance business in design and Illustration.

After moving to Arizona in 2004, he was influenced greatly by artists he met, which led him to explore a career in fine arts. He started painting murals for the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium in Litchfield Park and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Goodyear. His friend, artist Michael Cunningham mentored and encouraged him to become a painter. Through his tutoring, he created his first series consisting of ten abstract cat portraits, which placed him third in the oil painting category for West Valley Art Museum’s “Celebration of Artists” exhibition. In 2011 and 2012 he discovered plein air painting at the Scottsdale Artists School and won Best of Show at the “Art is Alive in Surprise” plein air competition.

Buonvecchio served on the City of Goodyear Arts and Culture Commission for two years and was the Master Artist for the West Valley Arts Council’s “Gallery 37.” In 2012 he moved back east and joined the Plein Air Painters of Maine. “My time in Maine is where I really developed my skills and my love for plein air painting. The need to be outdoors allowed me to be a very productive painter and was an extension of my love for nature,” stated Buonvecchio. In 2021 he moved back to Arizona and now lives in Cornville where he continues to learn to paint this rugged desert and the riparian oases.

Terry Shoulders fine art photography exhibit, “A 65 Year Retrospective,” consists of images from many years in the Southwest and West. He has captured stunning landscapes over many years utilizing the play of light. Shoulders states, “My wish is that my images touch the public and allow them to see beyond the ordinary and share discovery of this other space. Beauty lies within the world and within ourselves. Sometimes we only need to look at things a little differently to realize this.”

Shoulders began his involvement with photography after high school, taking photos for the local newspaper in Vincennes, Indiana. He attended art school in Chicago and apprenticed at a top commercial studio. Having an innate artistic nature and a passion to explore the beauty in the world, he learned the nuances of fine art photography. In 1971 he opened his own commercial photography studio.

For the next two decades Shoulders worked in advertising photographing for Fortune 500 Companies where his unique style emerged expressing mood, atmosphere and artistic individuality.

In 2009, he and wife Juna relocated to Monterey where he was a docent for The Center for Photography in Carmel, CA, previously Ansel Adam’s former gallery. He later opened, “Shoulders Photography Gallery.” He has presented in numerous galleries from Carmel, CA., to Taos, N.M. and Sedona, AZ. He has shown at Sotheby’s in Sedona and is currently represented by The Sedona Arts Center.

“I am excited to feature two talented and seasoned artists and their truly captivating work. Ed’s paintings bring back fond memories of my trips to Maine. He masterfully captures scenes from coastal life to rustic cabins in the woods, as well as Sedona’s magical terrain. Terry’s large photos are beautifully shot with such skillful compositions that instantly engage. I hope the public will take time to view this wonderful exhibit,” said Arts and Culture Specialist Nancy Lattanzi.

More information
Viewings are available by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, or for more information on the City Hall Art Rotation Program, contact Lattanzi at (928) 203-5078, email nlattanzi@sedonaaz.gov or visit www.sedonaaz.gov/arts.