Paradise Valley’s new artist in residence finds inspiration in travel

By Allison Kotzbauer
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In a winding Paradise Valley neighborhood, a Spanish-style house sits among greenery and desert foliage.

Beyond its circular drive follow the stone-paved path to a casita with large wooden windows letting the sun streak through, vines climbing its walls and views of the golden Arizona mountains.

It's here that Paradise Valley’s newest artist in residence, Martin Galbut, has made his studio for decades.

Galbut attended Northwestern University and became a lawyer after growing up in Florida, where he had always been creative, taking a painting class in high school and drawing throughout his childhood. But at the time, his goals were focused on something else. 

In 1971, early in his career, Galbut was deciding between moving to San Francisco or Phoenix. When he stepped off the plane in Phoenix into 70-degree weather after leaving a blizzard in Chicago, he knew he had found his place.

“If I had come in July, we'd probably be living in San Francisco,” he said. 

After about two decades as a lawyer, Galbut said he realized he needed something fulfilling to do outside of work.

“You can pick anything, but you have to have something besides what you do for a living or your profession or your career,” he said, a lesson he learned from Winston Churchill.

For the past 35 years, Galbut has created countless impressionist and tonal paintings, documenting his travels, landscapes and still lifes. Through legal clients and classes at Scottsdale Artists’ School, he has built a network of artists to paint with, learn from and share his work both in the Valley and all over the world.

“I think the key is to start early in your lifetime. And then, as the years go by, this can be more fulfilling to you as you have more time to devote to the things that you're passionate about. And it doesn't matter what it is, just so long as you have it,” he said.

Now, Galbut will have the opportunity to share that passion as Paradise Valley’s artist in residence, with his work displayed at Town Hall for a year.

“It's just a wonderful opportunity and the list of people who have won it before are amazing,” Galbut said. “So just being anywhere near that crowd is terrific. I'm very excited about it.”

His upcoming exhibit will feature roughly 80 paintings, offering a walk through his life and travels with works from Hawaii, Laguna Beach, Japan, China, Italy and more.

Galbut hopes viewers will see more than the places he painted and instead connect the works to their own memories.

“I hope they think it was a beautiful place, and it spurs on a lot of great memories of their own,” he said. “You never can tell what a person is going to like among your paintings, and I'm always surprised by their saying, ‘Oh, that's the one that really gets to me,’ you can't figure that out because they're working with their own memories and the places that they love.”

Laura Paquelet, a member of the arts board and former chair, said Galbut’s work is beautiful and reflects his years of study and practice.

“Martin loves his art. He’s a true artist,” she said. “He’s an artist at heart.”

Displaying residents’ art at Town Hall also gives the community a way to connect with one another, Paquelet said.

“You might not know the hobby or talent that your neighbor has. So it’s just a fun way to showcase his,” she said.

She said Galbut’s paintings remind her and others of their own travels and experiences, sparking memories of places they have visited.

“It’s art that people can identify with,” she said.

Galbut has also become involved in the Arizona art community. He is a trustee of the Phoenix Art Museum, hosts a painting event at the Japanese Friendship Garden each March and supports Scottsdale Artists’ School, where he began his own painting education.

“I think a couple great things about just being here is still the tremendous opportunity, if not more than when we came here. It's just amazing what's here,” he said. “Since everybody's from somewhere else, everyone's very accepting of the new people coming in, which is terrific.”

Galbut said he believes the current moment is an especially exciting time for painters.

“I think one of the things going on now is that there's a large number of really great painters, and I think 100 years from now, people will be looking back, saying, that was a great time in American art, the time we're actually living in now, because there's a lot of good painting going on.”

The public opening for Galbut’s artist in residency exhibit at town hall will be 5-7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at Paradise Valley Town Hall and will feature six Phoenix Symphony members, along with appearances and surprises from the Japanese Friendship Garden and Scottsdale Artists’ School.

This article has been edited to include quotes from  Laura Paquelet. 

Allison Kotzbauer can be reached at akotzbauer@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines

Allison Kotzbauer
Reporter | Paradise Valley

akotzbauer@iniusa.org

Community: I live in central Phoenix and my writing  focuses on Fountain Hills education, and the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale communities. 

Education: I graduated from Arizona State University in May 2026 with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. My studies focused on writing and visual story-telling.  

Random Fact: Growing up I had over 10 pets including 6 cats, 1 dog, 2 hermits crabs, and too many fish to count! 

Hobbies: I like to spend my free time hiking, crafting, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.