The Tucson Artist and Musicians Healthcare Alliance is accepting submissions of 2-D contemporary art works for exhibit in the office of Molly Wheelwright PA and Ricci Silberman PA – Cushing St. Family Practice. They are seeking 2-3 contemporary painters to exhibit in Cushing St. Family Practice.  Art work will be exhibited with 2-4 other artists for 12 weeks a year. All work will be managed by the Tucson Artist and Musicians Healthcare Alliance (T.A.M.H.A.) and juried by Molly Wheelwright PA and Ricci Silberman PA.

The Tucson Artists and Musicians Healthcare Alliance TAMHA is an Alliance of artists and arts advocates dedicated to the sustainability and vitality of our arts and music community. Our mission is to provide healthcare resources to artists and musicians in Tucson AZ.

Artists: Displaying your artwork in the Cushing St. Family Practice Office will grant you primary healthcare assistance. Molly Wheelwright PA and Ricci Silberman PA will provide some pro bono services to be individually determined to artists selected to exhibit in Cushing St. Family Practice. Art work can also be sold from the practice. A small percentage (% 10) of all sales will go to T.A.M.H.A.  If you are an artist living in Tucson or Pima County and interested in exhibiting in a non traditional arts space or are looking for primary healthcare assistance, this may be the opportunity for you.

To apply please submit the below information via e-mail to: TAMHApulse@gmail.com

This is a juried exhibition. TAMHA will notify you of the artist selected 30 days from the application Deadline.

• A current artists statement or artist biography
• 5 digital images of your 2-D art work for exhibition
• A description of each piece to include; title, medium, dimensions and price

Deadline: all submissions must be received or e-mailed by July 1^st 2011

E-mail all submission material to: TAMHApulse@gmail.com or deliver to

Tucson Pima Arts Council/ Attn: T.A.M.H.A.

100 N. Stone Ave Suite # 303

Tucson, Arizona 85701

For any other questions or concerns contact T.A.M.H.A. at TAMHApulse@gmail.com or visit our website. www.tucsonartists.org

Tucson musicians and artists organizing for low-cost health care A core group on the local arts scene wants to offer Tucson musicians and artists a health-care program matching the most evolved programs in Los Angeles, Chicago and Austin, Texas.

The 2-month-old Tucson Artists and Musicians Heath Care Alliance is working toward compiling all the health-care offerings to give the arts community a one-stop shop for health-care information.

“My ultimate goal is to hand money to people who need it, to make sure people aren’t sitting there with illnesses and can’t get the health care they need,” said David Slutes, entertainment director at Hotel Congress and an alliance organizer. “The one thing we can do is get real information out to people who need it. Here’s what all self-employed and uninsured people have access to.”

Slutes plans to make health care a subtheme of the HoCo Festival on Labor Day weekend at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. The alliance may approach University Medical Center to set up a similar group health-care relationship that the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians has with providers for low-cost primary health care and dental services.

“I’m convinced we can do the same thing here,” said state Rep. Steve Farley, a Tucson Democrat who is the Legislature’s only full-fledged professional artist. “Too many artists have to take two-bit jobs they hate to get (health-care) coverage.”

Farley and state Rep. Tom Prezelski, also a Tucson Democrat, are part of the fledgling six-person alliance along with Slutes; Anne-
Marie Russell, executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson; and Leia Maahs and Reuben Roqueni from the Tucson Pima Arts Council.

“I have real personal experience,” said Farley, whose most noticed artwork is the murals along the Broadway underpass. “It’s very
difficult for someone with a very small business to get affordable health care. We want to extend health care to everybody.”

Farley believes a united front among Tucson musicians and artists could serve as a model toward universal health care in Arizona.
For the past nine months, Slutes has tried to put together a healthcare program for local musicians. Russell said MOCA serves as an informal support staff for artists with advice about legal services, business tips, financial planning and health-care programs.

“It’s all pretty simple if you know what you’re doing,” Russell said. “To have a thousand people trying to figure it out all by themselves is crazy.”

Slutes and Russell came together in the task force process that led to the draft Tucson Cultural Plan revealed in July. They realized their individual efforts could be combined to serve the entire arts community.

The alliance is the first of many recommended strategies from the draft Tucson Cultural Plan to get full-blown attention.

“If we can eliminate the fear and anxiety about getting health care, we can free up artists to do their work,” Russell said.

Slutes added: “I think all the creative people will feel more comfortable. They will know they have a safety net of health care.”