"The Neotenic Queen" explores the secrets of desert wildlife, both flora and fauna.

Featured on the June 22nd, 2023 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

• Visit the border town of Naco, Sonora and hear about "Studio Mariposa", a beautification project that is letting kids impact the way the world sees the U.S.- Mexico border in this story from Kendal Blust at Fronteras.

Alexia Miranda rings the water out of a sponge as she helps clean up after a day of painting the border wall in Naco, Sonora.

Kendal Blust/KJZZ

Gretchen Baer stands in front of Studio Mariposa in Naco, Sonora.

Kendal Blust/KJZZ

(From left) Carlos Gamez, Debra Sierra and Gretchen Baer paint the border wall side by side.

Kendal Blust/KJZZ

• So, what are our desert dwelling neighbors, including roadrunners, foxes, termites and Saguaro cacti really like? Author Alejandro Canelos tells about he secrets revealed in his short story collection The Neotenic Queen: Tales of Sex and Survival in the Sonoran Desert, featuring illustrations by wildlife artist Rachel Ivanyi.

VIEW LARGER Cover of "The Neotenic Queen" by Alejandro Canelos.

Illustrations from "The Neotenic Queen" done by Rachel Ivanyi.

Courtesy of Neotenic Press

VIEW LARGER Illustration from Alejandro Canelos' "The Neotenic Queen" done by Rachel Ivanyi.

Courtesy of Neotenic Press

VIEW LARGER Alejandro Canelos, the author of "The Neotenic Queen: Tales of Sex and Survival in the Sonoran Desert".

VIEW LARGER "Puppet Master" by Rachel Ivanyi illustrates the role of humans as the true invasive species. This piece is part of the 2023 Artists for Conservation International Exhibition of Nature in Art.

Courtesy of Rachel Ivanyi

• And, “Children of the Holocaust” is a living-history project launched by AZPM in 2022. Project producer Laura Markowitz interviewed 19 survivors who were children during the Holocaust and now live in Southern Arizona. This week, hear the story of artist Chris Tanz, who was only a baby when her loving parents made a daring escape from Nazi-occupied Poland.

VIEW LARGER Henryk Tanz, Chris’s father, practiced law in Poland before the Holocaust.

Courtesy of Chris Tanz

VIEW LARGER Chris’s mother, Regina Wiernicka Tanz. She and Henryk met in Krakow and married on September 4, 1939—three days after Germany invaded Poland.

Courtesy of Chris Tanz

VIEW LARGER Chris Tanz, age 12.

Courtesy of Chris Tanz

VIEW LARGER At the age of 12, Chris became a U.S. citizen along with her parents and brother. Her father had been a lawyer in Poland before the war, but as an immigrant, he found work in the garment industry, cutting fabric for dresses.

Courtesy of Chris Tanz

VIEW LARGER Chris wrote An Egg to Sit On to help children develop the ability to adopt someone else’s point of view. It was first published in 1978.

Courtesy of Chris Tanz

VIEW LARGER Chris’s public art installation “Joining Hands,” near the Julian Wash greenway in Tucson, depicts her vision of community: people joining hands in friendship. She was inspired by a design on a 1,000-year-old Hohokam pot that was found in the area. Pictured are Chris, husband Jean-Paul Bierny, and the crew of masons who ‘ installed the work.

Courtesy of Chris Tanz

Webpage by Leah Britton.