Nancy Lattanzi’s influence is all around Sedona. The art in the roundabouts? She’s the force behind them. As the arts and culture specialist with the City of Sedona, she oversees all the city’s arts and culture programming, the City Hall’s arts exhibitions and art in public places like those roundabouts. She was hired in this position back in 2013 and has been there ever since. She’s lived in Sedona since 2008. Prior to taking on her current role, she served as arts and culture commissioner for three years. “I love all forms of art. I was a dancer for many years and a performer, and I took theater,” she says. “My favorite is mixed media.” The arts have always been a part of her professional life. She graduated from college in 1978 with a degree in elementary education and minors in art and environmental science. The Long Island native worked in graphic design and as a creative director in both publishing and advertising. Some publications she worked for included Time, People, Fortune, Newsweek and Discover and the New York Times magazines.
“I love working independently, and I love working with and meeting so many different artists. We have a wonderful art community,” she says. One of her proudest on-the-job moments? When the Roadrunner roundabout piece created by a Santa Fe artist was installed, she was standing in the roundabout and heard people cheering in their cars as they drove by. “I have seven roundabouts to my name that I’ve worked on,” she says. “And to me, that’s such a wonderful legacy to leave behind. Every time I drive by them I’m like, ‘Wow, I have something to do with that.’ I helped put it together and bring it to life.” She never knows just what the day will bring.
“I have a cool job,” she says. “I love all the programs, I love the exhibits, I love to get to curate. And everything’s creative in a different form, and it’s never boring.” Sedona has long been an artistic place, and Nancy believes the arts have the ability to connect us. “I think the arts are crucial. No, the word is essential. The arts are essential to Sedona because we’re living in very trying times, and I think the arts really have no boundaries,” she says. “We just all connect through them, and everyone’s free to express how they feel through the arts, to heal through the arts, to come together through the arts. And I think it’s really important, especially in this time that we’re living in.” – By Teresa K. Traverse
