Bisbee: The Alchemical City of the Copper Borderlands with Virgil Hancock

This presentation covers the 150 years of Bisbee’s history. The presentation includes a historical deep dive into the copper borderlands, as well as contemporary photographs of greater Bisbee. The presentation will use the concept of alchemy to focus on the transformation of an early mining camp in the Mule Mountains of Southern Arizona into the city of Bisbee. Alchemy also provides an excellent metaphor for the continuing transformation of the town from a half company-owned copper mining town to a contemporary, vibrant, democratic, small-town tourist leader. The indigenous peoples, the immigrants to Bisbee, the fraternal organizations, the history of violence and war, the border, the central role of women, the role of the federal government and the importance of the arts will all be reviewed.

This program is cohosted by the Surprise Art and Culture Commission.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Virgil Hancock was born and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He completed medical school in 1984 and finished his psychiatric residency in 1988. His first portfolio of photographs was published in “Arizona Highways” in 1990. His photographic subjects have been primarily the Southwest and Mexico. He has four books of photography. He has had individual shows at art museums in the Southwest and his work is in statewide collections including the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. He is currently working on a photobook with text on Bisbee, Arizona.