Visual Arts

In the six months since the Crescent Ballroom opened, the renowned concert venue has hosted fashion shows, comedy gigs, dance nights, and (of course) plenty of concerts. As for art shows? Eh…not so much.That all changes starting tonight as painter Hugo Medina, Xico, and Cuervo Studios unveil “Celebrating Beauty,” a…

Christina Pruitt says that the idea for her latest exhibition, Swept, came from growing up in a culture of façades. The local artist was raised in West Texas. When she moved to Phoenix and joined Eye Lounge, she had the opportunity to work auto-biographically for the first time. In Texas…

It must have been intimidating. Less than six weeks on the job and Sean Malone, CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, had to announce that he was installing solar panels at Taliesin West, making it one of the first structures in the National Register of Historic Places and on…

When Legends Entertainment District announced it would be unveiling a “community-building six-story mural” on the west-facing wall of the Luhrs Building, we grabbed our cameras. The historic 10-story building at 11 West Jefferson Street opened its doors in 1924 and its red-brick exterior has gone virtually untouched since.  A mural…

If you’re planning to head down Roosevelt Street tomorrow, make sure you plan a few extra minutes to look around. More than 800 volunteers will be painting murals, landscaping lots, and building tables as part of a revitalization project and partnership between Citigroup, HandsOn Greater Phoenix, and Roosevelt Row.Volunteers have been…

Public hangings are back in vogue. At least the one hosted by Art Detour, the much-beleaguered annual tour of galleries and artist studios that this weekend is celebrating its 24th anniversary.The Art Detour Public Hanging will feature 40-odd artists, both amateur and professional, whose work will be hung at Artlink’s…

The Longhouse Studios has been on Roosevelt Row for a while (by local gallery standards). The historic house opened as a gallery in 2003 and currently exhibits local artists Jason Lee Davis, Andi Davis, Jessi Davis. Rick Toerne, Lesli Englert Yazzie, Aubrie Ganem, Jasmine Cook, Matt Yazzie, and Lori Englert.And…

Chris Bianco’s mom used to take him to antique and thrift stores all the time when he was little to look for frames for his father’s artwork. He hated it.Growing up, Bianco was surrounded by art. His mother, Francesca, was a designer who created everything from wedding veils to watercolors…

If his vibrant paintings and colorful songwriting is any indication, the mind of Cris Kirkwood is a lively place indeed. Just ask the 51-year-old musician and artist himself, who tends to live in his head often.That’s not a slight against Kirkwood — a founding member of highly influential local rock…

Math, in its root word form, simply means “learning.” A polymath is a person who excels at or is learned in many fields or subjects. We call these people Renaissance men, after polymathic rock star Leonardo da Vinci. Of course, there are many others, like John James Audubon and Charles…

Cobra Commander, Optimus Prime, Doctor Who, and The Avengers. Is this the makings of one of those epic comic book crossovers that always gets the geek world excited?Nope, it’s just a sampling of some on the numerous heroes and villains that were depicted by the finalists this year in Phoenix…

The day has come when our pets are one step closer to evolving and two steps closer to taking over our lives as we known them. Sure, your cat might still chase a string around the living room, be oddly inclined to crawl into boxes, or sadly stare while you fit…

It’s about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we’re losing track of the times we’ve said, “Woah, when did that go up?”, we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town — their artists,…

When most folks pass through the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation they likely see nothing but its blight, squalor, and the harsh living conditions of the desolate landscape. Artist Douglas Miles, however, sees nothing but inspiration for his work. That includes all of his most recent ink on paper drawings…

If you’re headed out for a few shows, or if you’re just looking for some pretty cool things to buy/see/eat/drink in downtown Phoenix we’ve got you covered. Introducing Quick PHX. You’ll spot our paper guide on newsstands, counter tops, and coffee tables starting today and if you’re lucky, throughout the year, as…

​This April, ASU’s Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory is bringing together creatives, academics and urban planners for a week of discussions on Phoenix’s problems and potential. The first-ever Phoenix Urban Design Week begins Monday, April 9, with two lectures — one centered on Images of America: Downtown Phoenix, a book of…

If you drive on 16th Street in Central Phoenix, you might notice a few coats of fresh paint on sections of the Mercer Mortuary building, at 1541 East Thomas Road. The mural originally was painted in 1998 by the late Rose Johnson and a group of students and serves as…

Local artist Ann Morton just finished filling up Harry Wood gallery on Arizona State University’s Tempe Campus with caution tape, nine-digit numbers, and disembodied voices.Morton, 57, who passed her MFA defense in Fibers with “Unentitled” on Monday, weaves (pun inevitable) non-traditional materials to themes of social and political helplessness in her…