Mat Bevel Company sponsor Mary Estes loves to travel, and infuses cultural influences from around the world into her architecture design solutions. She travelled to Japan in 2017.

Mary Estes is a Principal at Norris Design in Phoenix, Arizona. With a background in both landscape architecture and architecture, she works on all types of projects, from large planning efforts to single-family residential design, and everything in between. 

“I didn’t know anything about the profession before I went to college,” says Mary. “While at Texas A&M University, my studies were in ‘Environmental Design,’ which despite how broad the name sounds, was actually more focused on architecture.” 

Mary launched her career in New York City, in small architectural practices, but soon transitioned to a landscape architectural firm. She has never looked back.  

What Mary appreciates about landscape architecture is the diversity of work.  She explains, “You can specialize in one area or you can develop a broad knowledge base. I feel like landscape architecture is where horticulture, design, ecological science, and engineering all come together.”

Mary’s passions and interests outside of work include travel, hiking and trail running (and exercise in general…), yoga, reading, and spending time with her friends and family.  She played competitive soccer for over thirty years, so lately she’s been enjoying watching the Women’s World Cup games. Through international travel, Mary infuses cultural influences from around the world into her design solutions.

Mary supported Mat Bevel Company during the “Escape Velocity” campaign to make the educational content from The Universe Within world-building course accessible to more students.  She just completed her first semester teaching as a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University, so the exposure to formal teaching has provided the motivation to help others learn. 

She says, “Mat Bevel Company allows students to explore their creativity and combine that with art and engineering, so it feels totally aligned with my professional career.  I share my knowledge with my colleagues at work, to help them grow to be competent landscape architects, and I learn something new every day.  I guess you could say I am driven by learning and knowledge.”

Thank you, Mary, for your continued support!

MBC sponsor Doug Rogers with wife Mary at the Grand Canyon.

During last year’s annual fundraiser, Doug Rogers helped Mat Bevel Company (MBC) reach its financial goal with a matching gift challenge during the last 15 days of the campaign. His support of MBC over the last several years stems from his fascination with innovation. He says, “A lot of innovation comes from people who develop the ability to think in active and creative ways. Ned Schaper’s world of Beveldom encourages people to think outside the box.”

Doug Rogers is a Certified Public Accountant who co-founded Sonora Investment Management, LLC in August 1986 with business partner Brad Toland. Prior to this, he worked for a national CPA firm in Los Angeles, California, and in industry in the financial accounting realm. A native Arizonan, Doug received his Bachelors in accounting and finance and an M.B.A. from the University of Arizona.

As a former auditor and verifier of companies’ financial statements, he’s learned that financial statements reveal some things about a company, but certainly not the whole picture. Doug’s passion and experience researching businesses help him see common-sense success patterns and predict the odds of their long-term viability for client investment portfolios.

Doug Rogers with his dog Zoey.

“Sometimes people have negative perceptions of business, but I think that’s misplaced because successful companies are solving problems. They’re creating a service or product that people choose because it’s better than someone else’s, it’s cheaper than others, or it’s one-of-a-kind.

And that’s where his interest in Mat Bevel Company comes in. Doug believes if you solve a problem that no one has solved, often that’s the ingredient of a very good business. “Most innovation requires someone to think in a creative and different way, or to make a connection that other people don’t see. Ned Schaper is compelled to take risks and think in new ways, and that’s where the world’s progress comes from.”

As a financial advisor, Doug maintains financial success follows from solving problems or simply materially improving on what already exists. He believes that the world of Beveldom transports us from the mundane to the fantastical realm, to a place where imaginative solutions can address some of today’s critical problems. He’s banking that innovative programs like The Universe Within world-building educational course and Bevel Café arts entertainment for the whole family will inspire people to re-connect with the physical world, become more aware of available resources to solve problems and strive to think creatively to help reach our greatest potential as individuals. He says, “I think Mat Bevel Company is extraordinary as a way of making that creative and mind-expanding thought happen.”

Thank you, Doug, for supporting Mat Bevel Company’s work during the 2018-2019 season!

Mat Bevel Company (MBC) Sponsor Jack Zittere is a field ecologist, whose vocation and passion is nature and how it interfaces with science and art. For him, the Surrealistic Pop Science Theater and The Universe Within world-building course represent the confluence of art, nature and science, and even more. Jack is inspired by MBC President Ned Schaper’s work which he describes as “the most original and broadly integrative bodies of work of an individual artist I’ve ever seen. The way his theater blends kinetic sculpture, poetry, science and music is wondrous and spell-binding.”

Jack and Ned met nearly 30 years ago at high teas which took place with a small group of writers and thinkers. Jack remembers these get-togethers as “a multi-disciplinary gym where we would talk about ideas and do conceptual art and science. The juggling of art and science was incredibly fun and imaginative.”

Jack was first introduced to the theater when Ned’s sister Paula Schaper moved to Tucson in 1993 to help her brother co-produce a performance series at a small venue in ‘Lost Barrio.’ Jack says, “I had never seen this type of integration before in the performance art world.”

Jack recalls when Ned moved into the former Downtown Performance Center, a 5,000-square-foot performance venue that became well-known as the Mat Bevel Institute. Jack explains, “I loved the creative community that surrounded the theater and world of Beveldom at the Mat Bevel Institute. The museum and theater became a performance center for Zeitgeist Jazz at the Institute and other public events. The Day of the Dead procession would conclude at the Institute with a huge community celebration. When the building was demolished, we lost a huge community asset.”

Jack believes that in our modern consumerist society, there is a greater need than ever to have a creative community where people can dream their dreams and spur their imaginations. He supports MBC’s theater and educational curriculum because he believes it adds a visionary component to people’s lives and the Tucson community.

What excites Jack most about MBC’s new home at Launchpad Artspace is that it provides the resources to fully implement Bevelvision Productions. “In the translation of Ned’s theater and Available Resource Technology practices into film, the world will get a glimpse of the Bevel Universe. It’s so important that people experience Beveldom because this magical world not only feeds the soul with art, it educates the mind with surrealistic physics and mechanics in an artful way.”

A dumpster diver and collector of cultural relics, Ned’s work intersects with Jack’s through the shared value of resourcefulness. Jack says, “It’s cool to see someone upcycling. To turn throw-aways into art is a grand gesture. Since my parents lived through the depression, I’ve always been impressed with people who are resourceful.”

According to Jack, “MBC’s importance is already established. Ned is so far ahead of our cultural curve, his work’s relevance will only increase with time.”