Coconino Center for the Arts

From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Create a Fabulous Pencil Cup!
2026-03-28 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Phoenix) | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
FREE Youth Arts Workshop Ages 7 – 14

Inspired by the Youth Art Show at CCA, entitled “From Ordinary to Extraordinary,” we’ll take a plain old boring pencil cup and make it fabulous, inspiring, funny, silly, weird, cute, or beautiful! We’ve got all the supplies–all that’s needed is your imagination. Will it have colorful patterns, beads, googly eyes, arms and legs? Best of all, you get to take it home and proudly place it on your desk to hold your creative supplies!
This is a free one-hour workshop and no experience is necessary!
All supplies are provided.

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David Huckfelt & Keith Secola
2026-04-03 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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David Huckfelt is a singer/ lyricist /activist and founding frontman of Minneapolis indie-folk cult favorites The Pines. An Iowa native and former theology student, Huckfelt attended the Iowa Writers Workshop before turning his attention to songwriting and performing. With improvisational mastery, Huckfelt’s shows and songs of no-spiritual-surrender have earned him a devoted following from small-town opera houses & theaters to national festival stages like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Edmonton and Calgary Folk Fests, and the legendary First Avenue mainroom, sharing stages with Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, Bon Iver, Calexico, Trampled By Turtles & more. An early encounter and collaboration with radical Native American poet John Trudell introduced Huckfelt as friend & partner to an array of Indigenous artists & activists including Winona LaDuke, Louise Erdrich, & Keith Secola, working for climate justice and tribal sovereignty under the banner of music + resistance. With roots in the same fertile Midwestern soil that produced legendary folk singers like John Prine and Greg Brown, David’s new solo work preserves a rugged optimism that blasts through layers of dark in real time with songs that speak volumes, soft & clear.
Keith Secola is an icon and ambassador of Native music. He is one of the most influential artists in the field today. Rising from the grassroots of North America, he is a songwriter of the people. Critics have dubbed him as the Native versions of both Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. NDN Kars (Indian cars), his most popular song is considered the contemporary Native American anthem, achieving legendary status and earning him a well deserved cult following. It has been the number one requested song on tribal radio since the 1992. In 2011, he joined the ranks of Jimmy Hendrix, Hank Williams, Crystal Gale, and Richie Valens, and was inducted into the Native Music Hall of Fame.
Born in 1957 in Cook, Minnesota, Secola is affiliated with the Anishinabe tribe. He graduated from Mesabi Community College with a degree in Public Service in 1979, and completed a BA in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota in 1982. He is married and has two children.
Secola is an accomplished artist, garnering awards and accolades as a musician, a singer, a songwriter, a composer and a producer. He is highly skilled with the guitar, flute, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and piano, and has played in venues from the halls of the Chicago Urban Indian Centre, to the walls of the bottom of the Grand Canyon. He has also performed at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and Salt Lake City 2002, and toured Europe several times. Among his numerous appearances he has graced the stages of the Rockslide Festival in Denmark, the Grand Opening Gala of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, The Kennedy Center and the SXSW in Austin, TX, and is a staple at the Grassroots Festival in Upstate New York, North Carolina and Florida.
A seven-time Native American Music Award winner, Secola has earned NAMMYs not only for his music, but also his abilities as a producer, to include The Best Linguistic Recording for producing ANISHINABEMOIN (2007). A well respected musician, he has worked with music legends such as Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Secola has also teamed with academics like author Dr. Tom Venum of the Smithsonian Folklife Institute, collaborating on the CD, AMERICAN WARRIORS: SONGS FOR INDIAN VETERANS, and with elders such as Karen Drift, a speaker of Anishenabemoin.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

The Wild Dark: An Evening with Craig Childs
2026-04-09 17:00 - 21:00 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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“The Wild Dark” Author and storyteller Craig Childs takes us on a wild journey to find the darkest of the night skies.

The Wild Dark: An Evening with Craig Childs
Coconino Center for the Arts
Step into the dark and see the night sky the way it was meant to be seen.
Join acclaimed author and storyteller Craig Childs for a visual and spoken-word journey into the world’s last truly dark places. Based on his award-winning book The Wild Dark, this special program blends immersive imagery, storytelling, and science-meets-wonder as Craig tracks the deepest night skies, the wildlife that depends on them, and what we lose when darkness disappears.
If you love the Southwest, big landscapes, astronomy, and stories that make you feel small in the best way, this night is for you.
Schedule

Doors: 5:00 PM
Show: 6:00 PM
Location: Coconino Center for the Arts

VIP Passholders
Your VIP Pass includes access to this event. No additional ticket needed.
About the book
Craig’s newest work, The Wild Dark, is the winner of the John Burroughs Medal, Southwest Book of the Year Award, and the Banff Mountain Book Award in Environmental Literature.
Praise for The Wild Dark
“Enchanting, mournful yet hopeful.”
— Booklist (starred review)
“Once this book has had its way with you, you’ll throw down your bag, ditch the headlamp, and turn off that damn phone. You’ll revert to the thing we were meant to be, wide-eyed and wild, to the bone.”
— Amy Irvine
Tickets are limited. This event is expected to sell out, so grab yours early.

Tow'rs
2026-04-10 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Tow’rs is an indie folk rock band from Northern Arizona. At the heart of the band is duo Kyle and Gretta Miller. They’ve spent the last eleven years making music in their backyard studio and touring the country with their band and two kids. The music translates their memories, questions, heartbreak, and hope into raw, honest indie-folk-rock songs, driven by an alternative singer-songwriter pulse. The group is set to release their eighth studio album this coming March 2026. An intentional collection of poems made into songs meant as reminders and hopes in the quiet of morning or reflection of evening. The album will be celebrated in a series of shows along the West coast of the U.S in mid march 2026.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

EVER PRESENT: Guillermo Galindo & José Luis Sotero Opening Reception
2026-04-18 17:00 - 20:00 | AZ
5:00 – 6:00pm Members Preview
6:00pm Artists’ Talk
6:00 – 8:00pm Public Reception
EVER PRESENT: Guillermo Galindo & José Luis Sotero presents two Mexican artists whose work reflects upon their experiences of migration. Guillermo Galindo (San Francisco, CA), an acclaimed Mexican-born artist and U.S. citizen, composer, and performer, shares his newest project Sonic Biogenesis, an installation commenting on genetics, mobility, and the environment. José Luis Sotero (Nogales, Sonora, MX), a self-taught Mexican painter, presents his recent paintings El lado oscuro de la migracion (the dark side of migration) using pictorial surrealism to depict the stories of people who seek refuge from violence and poverty in hope of a better life. While both artists have long worked with themes of migration, their work reflects distinctly different perspectives and expressions. This exhibition is mindful of the important role of immigration at the center of the American experience, and current conversations on immigration taking place in the U.S., with increased awareness in border states such as Arizona.

NAU Middle East Ensemble
2026-04-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Presented by Northern Arizona University and Coconino Center for the Arts

Founded in 2023, the NAU Middle East Ensemble is a group of twenty Northern Arizona University students, faculty, and Flagstaff community members, directed by Dr. Lillie Gordon. The ensemble performs music from throughout the Middle East. Join us for an evening of lively classic and popular songs and instrumental pieces from Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and more. For this performance, our repertoire focuses on the concepts of love and wind, two words with a close relationship in Arabic poetry and song lyrics. We are pleased to be joined by world-class guest dancer Carrie Konyha for an extended set.
This performance is supported by NAU’s Honors College, Kitt School of Music, and College of Arts and Letters, as well as the Coconino Center for the Arts managed by Creative Flagstaff.

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Guest Speaker Dora Rodriguez
2026-04-23 18:00 - 19:00 | AZ
Dora Rodríguez, who almost perished in the Arizona desert while fleeing the civil war in El Salvador, will read and talk about her recently published memoir, Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain. Dora’s survival helped spark the Sanctuary Movement and led to her boundless passion for humanitarian aid and immigrants’ rights.

18th Annual Viola Awards
2026-04-25 17:00 - 22:00 | AZ
Creative Flagstaff presents The 18th Annual Viola Awards Homecoming: Look How Far We’ve Come, on Saturday, April 25th at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Flagstaff, AZ!
ALL AGES | DOORS: 6PM | SHOW: 6:30PM
More on Viola’s:
Celebrating excellence in arts, science & culture, the Viola Awards recognize artists, educators, organizations & leaders who make positive contributions to the Flagstaff community.
🌟 Upgrade to VIP and make your Viola Awards Homecoming one to remember!
VIP tickets give you early entry to the Orpheum—so you can grab the best seats before the doors open to the rest of the class. Start the night with a VIP Tailgate Pre-Game in the parking lot, complete with tasty bites from Culinary Concepts Southwest. Mix and mingle with Viola Awards finalists and selection panelists, and score a chance to win big in our VIP-only raffle—every VIP ticket purchase includes one raffle entry.
VIP Hour: 5:00–6:00 PM
Come early. Dress to impress. Celebrate like it’s your senior year.

Transonic Communities Three-Day Workshop
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-04 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Led by ARTx Keynote Presenter Guillermo Galindo.

This workshop cultivates both individual expression and communal resonance—literally and metaphorically. Through guided exercises in listening, vocalization, and movement, and a culminating public performance, participants discover how sound resonates not only in spaces, but between people, creating unique sonic textures that emerge from group interaction. Participants will leave with heightened awareness of their sonic environment, confidence in their voice, and an understanding of sound as a medium for human connection. Led by ARTx Keynote Presenter Guillermo Galindo.
Participants are expected to attend all three sessions:
• Friday, May 1, 2026, from 5:30 – 6:30pm
• Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 9:00am – noon
• Sunday, May 3, 2026, from 2:00 – 3:00pm
Guillermo Galindo Bio:
Guillermo Galindo began as a classical composer — writing symphonies and operas — before reconceiving sound itself as a living, generative force. Drawing from shamanic traditions, Mesoamerican cosmology, and the animist understanding that all matter carries a life force, his work is animated by a single obsessive inquiry: what happens at the boundary — geographical, political, psychological, biological, and gendered — where one world ends and another begins. Recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2024), his work is held at LACMA, the de Young, Crystal Bridges, and the National Gallery. He teaches at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
This fusion of visual and sonic thinking runs throughout his work. The Sonic Botany installations pair graphic notation prints with interactive soundscapes that interrogate the commodification of the living world. Sonic Biogenesis, Genomics and Mutant Jungles (2022) treats biological form itself as a boundary — between species, between organic and synthetic life, between legible and mutant form. His exhibition Ruido Negro probes a post-Anthropocene horiz1on beyond the permanence of the human on the planet — where sound, image, matter, figuration, and code serve as elements in the perpetual creation of the living.

ARTx
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-04 | Flagstaff
Art + Ideas Experience
May 1-3, 2026

Transforming Flagstaff into an Immersive Art Experience⁠

ARTx is a 3-day Multimedia Art Experience dispersed across Flagstaff in unexpected places, aiming to spark ideas, stimulate conversation, and inspire response.⁠
2026 Keynote Experience:
Guillermo Galindo Transonic Communities

ARTISTS & EXPERIENCES

Niko Bare Alder Sculpture
Bryan Cooperrider Flagstaff Incursion
Caleb Churchill (Belleau + Churchill) Stoop Gallery
Guillermo Galindo Transonic Communities – Register here
Jason Gallegos + MOCAF bloom[in]essence
Neal Galloway Tin Can Conversations
Chris Johnson Pedal-Powered Projections: Animations on the Move
Elias Marshall The Engine of Creativity
Cathy Tompkins Gumball Poet
Jill Sans Ephemeral Bloom: Weathered By Time
Laurie Shapiro We Are All Connected to Each Other Through Nature
Rachel Wilson Wind Dancers
Tim Westerhaus + NAU Choral Studies The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy
Essie Windham I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
Canyon Movement Company Native Flowers Dance for the Flower Moon
Flag Mountain Town Market + The Hive Radiance Community Arts & Music Market
Northern Arizona Book Festival The Bibliotrail
Mountain T’s Mountain T’s Live Screen Printing
Willow Bend Environmental Education Center Nature Tales: Puppets & Pollinators

LOCATIONS
The Arb, Buffalo Park, Coconino Center for the Arts, Heritage Square, Nackard Gallery, Phoenix Ave, Willow Bend & Unexpected Places…

The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy
2026-05-02 19:30 - 21:00 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Presented as part of Flagstaff ARTx Festival: Art + Ideas Experience
NAU ensembles present an ecological concert in the stunning acoustic and gallery of Coconino Center of the Arts. Christopher Tin’s GRAMMY-nominated work The Lost Birds forms the centerpiece of this concert experience, with poetry by women writing during the Industrial Revolution. With music that pulls at our heartstrings, this experience invites us to engage with aviary beauty, the changing natural world around us, and our potential human response.
As part of Flagstaff’s ARTx Festival, this concert is offered FREE. Gallery doors open at 6:30 pm, and early arrival is recommended to enjoy the migration exhibit, “EVER PRESENT: Guillermo Galindo & José Luis Sotero, and to secure seating.
Presented as part of Flagstaff ARTx Festival: Art + Ideas Experience

ARTx Culminating Experience & Guillermo Galindo Artist Talk
2026-05-03 16:00 - 18:00 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
ARTx culminates at the Coconino Center for the Arts with closing remarks from keynote presenter Guillermo Galindo, along with recognition and appreciation for all ARTx participating artists. The program will also include a discussion of his work, including his current contribution to EVER PRESENT. Join us at 4 PM for refreshments and a chance to view the EVER PRESENT: Guillermo Galindo & José Luis Sotero exhibition. Presentation begins in the CCA Theater at 4:30 PM.

Flagstaff Dance Festival
2026-05-06 19:30 - 20:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Isolated Incident Performance Group, Dewell Dance, Canyon Movement Company, and Human Nature Dance Theatre

Join Isolated Incident Performance Group/Dewell Dance, Canyon Movement Company, and Human Nature Dance Theatre for a shared evening blending dance, theatre, and live music.
IIPG/Dewell Dance will feature “The Peace They Found,” a throughline performance exploring themes of change, loss, hope, and peace. Live musicians: Ryan Biter, Andrea Graves, Clair Anna Rose, and Eric Walden.
CMC will show excerpts from “Flower Moon,” including: Brea Lengyel, Danika Rudd, and Madeline Tilley.
HNDT/Jayne Lee with Paul Moore.

"SAMARITANS" Documentary Screening
2026-05-07 18:00 - 20:00 | AZ
In the shadow of remarkable human struggle, “Samaritans” weaves a poignant narrative of hope and humanity on the US-Mexico border, shedding light on dedicated volunteers who challenge the harsh realities of migration through unwavering compassion and life- saving aid. After the film, join Writer and Director David Damian Figueroa for a Q&A.
Film Synopsis:
“Samaritans” immerses viewers in the harrowing yet heartwarming story of the dedicated older American volunteers known as the Samaritans, who have been steadfast in their mission to provide humanitarian aid along one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.
Filmed over three years, including the backdrop of the “Great Migration of 2024,” this powerful documentary navigates the severe challenges faced by tens of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the United States, while simultaneously highlighting the transformative impact of community and compassion.
Set against the stark desert landscapes of Southern Arizona, where temperatures can be unbearably high in the summer and frigidly low in the winter, the film intimately captures the fierce dedication of “extreme volunteers’—individuals who risk their safety to confront systemic inequities and provide vital assistance. With access to the frontlines where tragedy and resilience collide, “Samaritans” humanizes those navigating perilous journeys filled with desperation, determination, and a relentless pursuit of a better life.
This documentary serves as a tribute not only to the countless migrants who have sacrificed their lives seeking the American Dream but also to the advocates who refuse to disregard their plight. Through their stories, we are reminded of our shared humanity and the critical need for compassion and systemic change in the face of a humanitarian immigration crisis.

S.E. Willis & Friends
2026-05-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
An evening of Flagstaff blues

Back in Flagstaff in 1969 musicians worked in just a few places: fraternity parties, high school dances and the Oddfellows Underground on Arrowhead, a teen dance hall in the basement. We all played there. (There were country bands at the Museum Club, but no love for teenage rockers)
My band was the Vanilla Doorknob, a psychedelic name for a pretty conservative small town dance band. The other band was the Sympler Form, with Donny Roberts on guitar and Isidro Padilla on vocals. They were the bad boys, south side characters who played a lot of underground material. They were covering the Velvet Underground’s Heroin for heaven’s sake!
Isidro moved on, lineups changed, but Donny and I were pals and 17 years old then. Word got out that there was a new singer in town, an older guy from New York City who had been in the Army in Germany. That was Frank Manhardt and I remember watching him at the Underground.
He stuck around, bands changed, and he and Donny became locally famous as Freaky Frank and the Pistons. Big crowds for them down at Shaky Jake’s, the Zanzucchi family’s bar on South San Francisco. Then they moved to Tucson and did really well there as Straight Shot and the Frank and Woody Show.
Donny moved to Nashville and became a top studio musician, working with Webb Wilder and, famously, playing guitar on Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road.
I’ve been trying to think of something different to try at Coconino Center for the Arts. November’s “An Evening of Flagstaff Blues” with Tommy Dukes, Bob Blasi, Dale Caddell, Roger Smith, Chuck Curry and Greg Varlotta was quite successful, selling out for standing room only. Plans are being made for a Fall repeat, but on May 9 Roger Smith and I will be hosting a smaller gathering with Frank Manhardt (Freaky Frank) and Donny Roberts. Other guests to be announced.
This show will be more eclectic, not so Blues focused, with more Americana and even Country elements. We’re having a party 60 years in the making! I know most folks in Northern Arizona weren’t around in 1969 or even ’76, but I’m inviting you to come out and see what a lifetime of experience playing American music can achieve! Let’s have some fun!

Flagstaff Folk Festival
2026-06-13 - 2026-06-15 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Presented by Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music and Coconino Center for the Arts

The Flagstaff Folk Festival is a family-friendly, live music festival nestled under the Ponderosa Pines in Flagstaff, Arizona. Festival attendees will access more than 100 musical acts on five different stages, a full schedule of educational music-related workshops, a selection of tasty treats in our Food Court, and an Artisan Market offering one-of-a-kind creations by local artists. New festival features this year include: enhanced focus on performances by Teen musicians; a Route 66 Centennial Songwriting Competition; and a special tribute the late great cowboy poet Tony Norris. We’ll also introduce a new festival app that will allow greater connection between festival attendees and our artists, vendors and sponsors.
$20 for each indvidual day or a $35 full weekend pass
Free admission for youth 16 and under.
