About Us

The Gila Valley Arts Council was formed in 1985 to support and sponsor visual and performing arts in the Gila Valley and showcase local talent. Its founding members were Cecilia Roudebush, Mary Hartung, Monika Ragland and Mary Barnmann. In the next few years their efforts to expand the number of concerts given by guest artists, ensembles and orchestras continued. 

A wonderful thing happened in 1991. Dr. Jack Kukuk, who had worked as Education Outreach Director at the Kennedy Center - Washington D.C. for 12 years, and later employed by the University of Arizona  was asked to head the development of an astronomy museum, Discovery Park Museum, to be built in Safford, Arizona. It wasn't but a few months later before Jack made the connection with Gila Valley Arts Council and not long after became our Artistic Director; a position that thankfully he still holds today in 2024. Jack's dedication to increased opportunities for children has been a guiding force for our organization. Through Jack's extensive knowledge and background we have had great success in presenting some artists that this valley might not have had but for his connections to so many distinguished performing artists. Jack has connections and friends all over the world including: Europe, Africa, China, South America, not to mention those based in the United States. Jack is truly the wind in our sails.

Throughout its rich history, the Arts Council has brought world class talent to the Gila Valley. Artists from faraway continents have graced the stages of Eastern Arizona College: Chinese acrobats, an Australian storyteller, the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, International Children's Choir Festival, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, and Baile Folklórico de Vera Cruz. Some of the top U.S. artists have included the National Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Arizona, Lula Washington Dance Company, Alvin Ailey II Dance Company, Roy Clark, and The Kingston Trio.

The Arts Council sponsored the first Gila Valley Cowboy Poetry Roundup in 1994 to celebrate the Southwest's music and culture which continued as an annual event until 2019. In 1995 Gila Valley Arts Council was honored with the Community Award at the annual Arizona Governor's Arts Awards ceremony by governor Fife Symington.

Throughout these past 38 years Gila Valley Arts Council has been very proud to have stayed faithful to its mission statement that is focused on expanding music and arts appreciation opportunities for the youth of Graham and Greenlee counties through its School Residency Program. This program coordinates special daytime workshops, master classes, mini-concerts at the schools as well as daytime bus-in concerts at our concert hall with 100 percent of all our visiting performing artists. Additional community outreach programs have strengthened over the recent years with special daytime mini-concerts presented at the Safford-Graham County Library sponsored by Friends of the Library which are always free to the public of all ages. During our first 25 years, we enjoyed a great cooperative partnership with Eastern Arizona College that provided us with a concert hall and all of the stage technicians to produce our bus-in school shows and evening performances. Since 2010, we present our artists at the David M. Player Center for the Arts, a concert hall owned and operated by the Safford Unified School District. This venue has provided additional education benefits to their students via their Stagecraft classrooms that hold daytime classes on how to use the sound and lighting equipment required to make any show a success. This is our brief history, but we envision a strong future going forward to enhance the lives of both our adult community members but especially for our school children, both public and private.

Compiled by past presidents Cecilia Roudebush, Joann Mortensen, Denise Crockett, Robert Kempton and current president Tom Green.