Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Gold.
Hi Paul, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve lived in Tucson for over fifty years. After graduating from the University of Arizona school of art (BFA, 1983), I worked as a commercial artist before getting hired at Hughes Aircraft Company in 1985, a job I got because I knew a hiring manager who owned a bar where I played chess. (I was a master-level player). I started collecting art in the 1990s, trading chess lessons for paintings by a professional artist I knew. Around 2000, I began collecting work by the Rancho Linda Vista (RLV) artists in Oracle, AZ, people I took classes with at the university.
In 2005, I began work on a book about the RLV artists – it was originally to be about Bruce McGrew (1937-1999) but eventually it spun out of control, a narrative history documenting the 100+ artists, poets, writers, and others who lived at or visited the ranch in Oracle. Over the next fifteen years, I interviewed over fifty people, including many artists and nationally known poets like W.S. Merwin and C.K. Williams.
In 2015, I retired after thirty years working at Hughes-Raytheon, but it would be five more years until I’d published “Bend in the Wash” (2021), which sold out in a couple of years. I then published two artist catalogs – “Michael Moore: Drawings” (2022) and “Bruce McGrew: Continuum” (2023). I’m currently working on a new book about Tucson artist and Olympic swimmer Rick DeMont. Big takeaways about writing were the joy of discovery and the wonderful stories I got to hear.
In the last ten years, I’ve spent increasingly more time in the world of art, donating to museum collections (including Tucson Museum of Art, University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson Medical Center, Phoenix Art Museum), posting thousands of openings and studio visits on social media, and most recently, curating shows to better support the impressive array of fine artists in southern Arizona. I’m currently most closely associated with WAMO (Warehouse Arts Management Organization), a nonprofit that renovates old buildings for use as artist studio spaces. WAMO is a big mover in the revitalization of the downtown Tucson arts scene.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I learned that retired life may not be all party time – disabled people in my family needed help, and I work to balance fun stuff like my art commitments with the priorities of helping those in need.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
During my career at Hughes-Raytheon, I worked as a technical writer and later as a risk manager, as well as a supervisor. No matter the position, I believe I specialized in customer service, making an effort to listen to people and provide the services they needed. Writing skills turned out to be a valuable asset in an engineering company. I think I survived for thirty years as a non-technical person in a technical workplace because I made myself useful, taking on sometimes difficult jobs and problem solving.
What makes you happy?
I’m happiest helping others, whether through the aperture of the art world or my many other interests. I’ve discovered the powerful benefit of giving.
Pricing:
- I generally do not take a fee for my work in the art world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://paulgoldbooks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulgold/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.gold.167527/
