Decking Paradise Valley Town Hall for fall

Town’s art collection debuted in preparation for new featured artist

A lot of people may not be aware that the town has a large, amazing collection of artwork.”

Laura Paquelet-Carpinelli, chair, Paradise Valley Arts Board

The Paradise Valley Arts Board has been hard at work to transform the art gallery at Town Hall to welcome the launch of a new exhibit featuring the town’s 2021-22’s artist-in-residence.

Starting on Oct. 26, a collage of vibrant, southwestern scenes depicting mission and desert landscapes by Paradise Valley painter Bobby Lee Krajnik will decorate the Town Hall’s main area, and will be open to all citizens for viewing through September 2022.

Krajnik, who has had her work featured in museums throughout the southwest and painted for over 25 years, pulls inspiration from her travels and contemporary art styles to create her distinctive pieces, primarily using oil as her medium. She describes her work as “[representative] of community” and hopes to “bring a smile to people’s faces or just feel a little lighter for having viewed my work.”

In preparation for the exhibit’s grand opening, the board has given new life to the city-center as well as previously displayed pieces; pulling the town’s assortment of artwork out of storage to convert the town hall into a display that celebrates the creative and rich artistic history of the community.

Making decisions: Donated art given by Paradise Valley artists dons Town Hall. (Independent Newsmedia/Arianna Grainey) 

“A lot of people may not be aware that the town has a large, amazing collection of artwork,” said Laura Paquelet-Carpinelli, chair of the Paradise Valley Arts Board. “Generally what’s happened, what hasn’t been mandatory, as a thank you gift the artist would donate a piece of art to the town.”

Each year, the board considers local creatives from all spheres of art styles to display their work for the public; the only requirement is that the artist is from Paradise Valley.

“Art is art...and so that’s the criteria,” says Paquelet-Carpinelli. “We try to rotate diverse styles of art, and highlight people who express themselves through different mediums.”

Krajnik’s art will join the impressive collection of pieces that the city has obtained through donations that have generously been gifted by previously recognized artists since the board was established in 1998.

Through these donors, the city has received works from notable local artists such as Patsy Lowry, Paolo Soleri, Carol Critchfield, and Robert and Louise McCall, to name a few. Louise McCall, who was featured in 1998 and 2010, continued her legacy by serving as a member of the board until 2016.

In addition to the annual artist-in-residence reception, the Arts Board also hosts a yearly student art show, an event that showcases a selected school’s students’ creativity and art projects with their own exhibit at the town hall’s community room.

The event, which invites the mayor, teachers, parents and students is just “one way we incorporate art as part of our community,” says Paquelet-Carpinelli. It is a celebration and reminder of the community’s creativity and “encourages people to come and view a fellow neighbor’s art and to promote Paradise Valley.”

This year, the student art show will feature work from Kiva Elementary School students, and be held in February.

Editor’s Note: Angela Anderson is a student reporter at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.