The special art buses, alas, are no more. Patrons must drive or walk, but the tour still offers up the same stimulating melange of intelligently rehabbed buildings left over from Tucson's industrial past and an eclectic selection of Tucson arts. The first tour of the last year of the millennium is set for Saturday, March 6. Visitors can meet the artists, see works in progress and artists' demonstrations, and even buy art, if the spirit so moves them. The tour, now offered twice a year, also provides a biannual checkup on the health of the art scene.
Boosters point to the increasing number of artists opening their doors on the tour each year.
While the movement for artists' equity has been stalled, in part because of the continued Arizona Department of Transportation ownership of dozens of downtown warehouse, Aguirre doesn't believe artists will be priced out of downtown. That makes Tucson unique. While many artists worried about rising rents don't share Aguirre's rosy assessment, there's no question they've voted with their feet in favor of downtown. The Partnership's Stratford estimates that nowadays about 125 artists work downtown, and more keep coming. Mary Ellen Wooten of the Partnership said her group took a survey of Tucson artists and found about 175 seriously interested in the downtown.