The Folk Arts area of Tucson Meet Yourself lets you slow down and interact with artists demonstrating and sharing traditional art forms that have been practiced, taught, and passed between generations within their communities. So many hands making so much beauty! From O’odham burden baskets to horsehair miniatures, Ukrainian embroidery to Chinese calligraphy, these art forms are living traditions, rooted in community knowledge and cultural identity. Artists here engage directly with festival visitors, sharing the skills, processes, and cultural contexts of their traditions. Many return year after year, deepening relationships with visitors and one another.
Tina Liu and Professor Chialin Pao-Tao
Gabriel Ayala with his artwork
Chieko “Chi” Nakano, Photo by Steven Meckler
Maria Arvayo
Folk Artists Curator
FolkArt@TucsonMeetYourself.org
María Arvayo is a Tucson-based painter and member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Working across oils, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, and encaustic, she draws her primary inspiration from the light and landscape of the Sonoran Desert and broader Southwest — forms and colors she describes as coming to her naturally. Her work spans landscapes, still lifes, figures, and abstracts, with a growing body of portraiture focused on contemporary Native Americans and the visibility of Native life in present-day society. Arvayo holds a BA in Studio Art and has been exhibiting and teaching in Tucson for more than twenty years, with work shown at the Amerind Museum, Tohono Chul, and through the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona’s Open Studio Tours.