17 New Artist Opportunities in Metro Phoenix

Make haste if you’re an artist looking for new places to show your work in metro Phoenix. We’ve found 17 open calls for art, and some have rapidly approaching deadlines. Here’s a roundup of artist opportunities to keep on your radar in coming days and weeks. Arizona State Fair Exhibition…

The Bridge Initiative Gives Women Playwrights a Platform

The Bridge Initiative creates opportunities for women playwrights. For its next event, Bridge is partnering with Southwest Shakespeare Company to present the first reading of New York playwright Liz Duffy Adams’ newest work. Tracy Liz Miller, who co-founded The Bridge Initiative in Mesa with Brenda Jean Foley in 2014, invited…

Jen Kirkman on How Comedy and Life Get Better After 40

The last chapter of Jen Kirkman’s newest book, I Know What I’m Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself, is an homage to Joan Rivers, a comedic hero and resident mom-in-her-head. But instead of referring to Rivers as a “female comedian,” as many do, she describes her as “a stand-up who also happened…

Here Are the Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Monday, August 30, through Thursday, September 1. For more events, see our curated online calendar.  “Find Your Park in Arizona” Traveling by commercial airline will get you more than 30,000 feet in the air. But you don’t have to…

10 Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Weekend

New Times picks the best events in metro Phoenix from Friday, August 26, through Sunday, August 28. For more things to do, see our curated online calendar. Pageant As society approaches a normal attitude about gay people, female impersonation, and drag (which don’t require homosexuality but definitely brunch with it) continue…

Luis Ruiz Joins Tempe Center for the Arts as New General Manager

Luis Ruiz, who has 21 years of experience in venue management, has been hired by the City of Tempe as its new general manager and cultural facilities manager at Tempe Center for the Arts. He started on August 15. His responsibilities include organizing and managing daily operations and administration for…

7 Essential Episodes of the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

Comedian Marc Maron began the WTF with Marc Maron podcast on September 1, 2009. A fixture in the ’90s alternative comedy scene, the shift from stand-up to interviewer was not necessarily the most predictable path. However, it’s what has made audiences so dedicated to his every-man way of digging deep into the…

Jordan Daniels on His 5 Dance Essentials and Why Sam Cooke Is Awesome

If there’s one thing to know about dancers, it’s that they’re seemingly always on the move. This is no exception for Jordan Daniels, a 25-year-old dancer, instructor, and choreographer. Daniels grew up performing musical theater in church, and attended high school at Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics. “Half of…

Meet Ralph Remington, Tempe’s New Arts and Culture Deputy Director

Ralph Remington, a theater professional and former arts administrator with both Actors’ Equity Association and National Endowment for the Arts, has been hired by the City of Tempe as its Arts and Culture Deputy Director. It’s a new position created within Tempe’s Community Services Department to further implementing its 2015…

Arizona Commission on the Arts Doubles Grant Funding for 2017

Arizona Commission on the Arts has awarded 239 grants totaling more than $2.2 million to Arizona nonprofit arts organizations, local arts agencies, schools, and community organizations for the fiscal year 2017, which runs from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017. That’s more than twice the amount it awarded during…

Arizona Theatre Company Still Needs $1 Million to Stay Afloat

Two donors responded with significant gifts after Arizona Theatre Company’s recent announcement that it would need to raise $2 million by Friday, July 1, to stay afloat. The deadline for meeting its $2 million goal has been pushed back to Friday, July 15. Mike Kasser, president of the Tucson-based international real-estate…