Cave Creek Film and Arts Festival showcases state-wide talent
Marc Buckhout ~ Managing Editor ~ 7/14/2010

A weekends worth of events to celebrate the fifth annual Cave Creek Film and Arts Festival kicked off Friday evening at Desert Foothills Library as some of the top entries in the categories of Visual Arts, Photography and Choreography were
put on display.
With more than 400 entries for this year’s event Cave Creek Film and Arts Festival President Judy Bruce said she was confident that there was something for everyone.
“The quality just keeps getting better from year to year,” she said. “Good art is good art. You know it when it speaks to your soul.”
For art to speak to viewers souls Ricardo Rojas, a semifinalist in the Visual Arts category, tries to put his heart into his work.
The Scottsdale resident, a Tarahumara/Yaqui Native American, actually has a heart as the centerpiece of his wood sculpture called “Love
and Grace”.
“We make decisions to have compassion in our lives, to live a full life,” he said. “My art comes from my Native American roots. It’s a gift to be a seer. I not only carve hearts, but I carve kidneys and livers. There is a spirit in my work. I hope it has healing powers for people.”
Rojas sculpture in the Visual Arts category went up against a field that also included a painting by Bob Nowlin featuring a motel on Route 66, “Copper Queen”, a cowgirl made of copper, decked out in a cowboy hat and boots sprinkled with turquoise, and even an 1894 replica television.
Steve Gompf has spent years restoring vintage devices.
“What I do is kind of like taking the pieces of 50 jigsaw puzzles, cramming them altogether and making it into a new picture,” he said. “The pieces I make are always evolving as they come together. If I knew what I would end up with at the end I don’t think I would bother.”
In the visual arts categories and in photography there were both adult and youth categories. On Sunday the festival’s spotlight moved to the short story category, poetry, and the youth visual arts as well as films. On Monday at Harold’s Corral the original song category was featured.
The conclusion of the festival will take place from 5 – 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center with the Coyote Awards Gala, in which the best of the best will be honored with Coyote trophies as well as prize money. For the first time the competition has a People’s Choice Award, which will recognize the community’s favorite artist across all categories. The artist with the most votes will receive $1,000.
Bruce said the business community’s support of the festival has allowed it to attract the high quality artists that participate.
Listed below are some of the youth photography contestants and their thoughts on their work.