There’s something about an optimist – an energy, an excitement, a means of drawing you in. Elena Thornton is definitely an optimist, and you can feel that positive energy as soon as she opens her door. She dreams of having a performing arts building with events open to the entire community: a place for artists to create and perform, as well as spaces to include an eclectic audience. To realize her goals, she started the nonprofit Arizona Consortium for the Arts in 2007.
You’ll recall that the economy was shaky then, and by 2008 we had the official beginning of the Great Recession.
Somehow, those financial facts don’t bother Elena. She proudly shows off a framed artist’s rendering of her dream building hanging in her living room, clearly laying out the performance and classroom spaces. She lights up when talking about the building and programming and all the benefits to the community it would bring.
Her optimism springs from deep within. Elena was born in Moldova, one of the former Soviet republics. Though she knew she was Jewish, she wasn’t allowed to practice it – or even mention it to her neighbors. Her father, Leonid Tulchinsky, knew how to read Hebrew; her mother Polina made hamantaschen for Purim; but they had to hide their heritage to exist.
Then in 1976, with her parents and two brothers, Elena was able to immigrate to the United States, settling in upstate New York. Given the American opportunity to excel, Elena earned her B.A. and M.A. in secondary education and became a teacher in the Albany area, where she taught Russian language and culture. She also volunteered and translated for the Russian resettlement committee at the Jewish family services in Albany. The family could openly practice their Judaism, and Elena was able to spend more time on her paintings.
In 1994 Elena and her husband Jim moved to Phoenix and soon after enrolled their son Jeremy at the Phoenix Hebrew Academy. They were impressed with the welcoming, open arms that greeted them here in the Jewish community, and felt a particular kinship to the Chabad community. “We are so grateful to Chabad for their many kindnesses. That’s one of the reasons we continue to volunteer every year to help on their silent auction,” she explains. Elena was also an active PTA Board
Member at the former Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School while Jeremy was a student.
With Jim’s help, when Jeremy was in college, Elena and a few colleagues laid the groundwork for the Consortium. She acknowledges it’s a hard road, but she is happy to be traveling on it. In the meantime Jeremy earned his master’s degree and is an English teacher at Saguaro High School.
Realistic enough to know that the actual building may take some time to materialize, Elena and her fellow volunteers at the Consortium are busy creating and performing for the public – reaching out to show what they can already do. Online is the Blue Guitar Magazine, featuring emerging and established Arizona writers in all genres; the Blue Guitar Jr. Magazine, with articles for or by young people; and Unstrung Poetry Magazine (theblueguitarmagazine.org).
The group sponsors a monthly Open Mic program at Dog-eared Pages Used Books, where musicians and performance artists can gather and share their talents, while a new visual artist’s works adorn the wall. “We consider these events to be a real celebration of the arts and encourage folks to bring their art, poetry, music, dance, songs and stories to share,” says Elena.
Coming up on March 30 is the 6th Annual Blue Guitar Festival of the Arts, held at Desert Ridge Marketplace from noon to 6 pm. The afternoon will include a wide variety of talents of all ages, ranging from classical piano students from Arizona Classical Kids to rock bands, as well as performers from dance and theater. Elena invites the whole community to an afternoon of free arts entertainment.
In the meantime, Elena networks and partners with local nonprofit organizations that share resources and forge collaborations. Ever the optimist, Elena is confident that the resources will come from one of their artistic connections and that the drawing on her living room wall will one day be hanging on the wall of the building it depicts. She looks forward to the day when it becomes a reality, giving a home to so many artists of all genres and offering exciting new opportunities for the community to partake in the arts.
artizona.org
