Phoenix, Arizona / Sunday, June 23, 2019
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Avenue Weather: Partly cloudy with possible late afternoon showers. High 105 / Low 81

On the INSIDE: Editorials A2 / Entertainment A3 / Nostalgia on the Avenue A4 / Crossword A5

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Westown shopping architect honored

 (BP) – Glenn A. McCollum, the prolific mid-century Chandler architect who designed Westown Shopping City in the late 1950s, was honored in February at a reception and exhibition of his work at Chandler's Vision Gallery.
     McCollum, 93, charted an amazing career of modernist architectural design from 1954 to 1989 that saw him complete almost 500 hand-drawn architectural projects throughout Chandler and Arizona.
     In 1959, McCollum was asked by developer Grant Malouf to design the shopping center for the new Staggs-Bilt community of Westown homes north of Phoenix. McCollum initially voiced some reservations regarding the Westown location: “I told them not to build it there,” he remembers, laughing. “There was no way to get off the freeway!”
     Glenn gave the new shopping mall a typical modernist mid-century flair with sleek lines, interesting angles, design innovations such as a corrugated walkway shading structure, and an unusual juxtaposition of building materials including wood, glass, metal, flagstone and pre-cast concrete.
      In addition to the Westown project, McCollum designed several other prominent mid-century Valley shopping centers such as Papago Plaza in Scottsdale and Tri-City Mall in Mesa. The Westown shopping structure has endured for almost 60 years and currently houses a local church.
     The Vision Gallery event drew approximately 200 family, friends, and admirers of the architect, who was on hand to greet visitors and discuss his eventful career. McCollum gave a brief but emotional speech thanking the attendees and musing over some of his more memorable architectural achievements.
     Former Joan De Arc resident John Bueker was invited to the McCollum shindig in recognition of his work on the Westown Shopping City commemorative website. Bueker contributed several photos for the exhibition from his personal collection and chatted with Mr. McCollum at the Vision Gallery event.

  Charles Bueker resumes painting career
By J. Bueker

     Former JDA resident Charles Bueker, recently retired from a long and distinguished engineering career, has resumed his interest in the craft of painting, an artistic endeavor he first pursued at 3219 during the early 1970s.
     Charles announced the resumption of his painting activities back in August, declaring he had “picked up a brush today for the first time in a looooooong time.” Bueker has since produced an inspired series of watercolors primarily depicting European locations he has visited in recent years.
     Bueker’s new work features such subjects as the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Vienna, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Hungary, and the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest, along with simpler compositions like Rain and Sky, intended as an exercise to augment his basic skills. “For me, skies have been a challenge to paint using watercolors. I've been trying to polish my technique the last few weeks,” he said.
     The offspring of Avenue artist and art teacher Barbara Bueker, Charles crafted some memorable early canvases during his teen years on Joan De Arc, most notably an impressive interpretation of Goya’s The Balloon.
     Examples of Charles Bueker’s recent art work may be viewed on the “Family Art” page of the StewArt website at www.barabarastew-art.com.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA

On the INSIDE: Editorials A2 / Entertainment A3 / Nostalgia on the Avenue A4 / Crossword A5

Moon Phases:   Last Quarter: June 25    New: July 2   First Quarter: July 9  Full: July 16