The same way art lovers see soup cans and think Andy Warhol, Phoenicians see oozing, cartoonish, funhouse-inspired murals and think Luster Kaboom. That’s the name used by Phoenix-born artist David Quan, who has several murals here in his hometown – including an untitled piece he says locals dubbed “Nerd Monster.”…
Animal lovers, take note. It looks like the animal kingdom will dominate June’s Third Friday offerings at Phoenix galleries, where you’ll find butterflies filling a shipping container turned gallery in Roosevelt Row and all manner of fur and fowl lining the walls of an iconic television studio turned art space…
Cindy Ornstein is lamenting the loss of pink. She’s looking down at geometric patterns on an outdoor plaza, remembering the mix of bright flamingo pink with deep azure blue that once infused the public art beneath her feet. It’s Saturday night at Mesa Arts Center, where Ornstein serves as executive…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Monday, June 13, through Thursday, June 16. For more events, see our curated calendar. Drink and Draw Move over dorks and dorkesses, there’s a new D&D in town. The First Draft Book Bar is hosting its first ever life-drawing…
There’s a little strip of Scottsdale Road near Goldwater Boulevard that’s starting to look like it was pulled right out of a hipster handbook. That’s thanks in part the The Creative Center of Scottsdale, where you can explore working studios for several local artists. The Creative Center is located inside…
Summertime doesn’t have to be a drag here in metro Phoenix. Plenty of exciting things happen, and the fact that some people head to the coast just means that those who remain have more breathing room to explore. It’s a great time of year to hit local arts and culture…
I don’t remember when I first read Where the Wild Things Are — probably not when it was first published, though I was just old enough to read. I didn’t have a copy of my own, as my parents were more Little Golden Book types. I don’t remember if I loved…
May’s best artworks included photography, sculpture, painting, and video shown at art venues in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, and Gilbert. Several were created by artists working right here in the Valley. Even as one gallery showed works by Iranian artists, another showed works by an Israeli-born American artist. One artist explored…
Listen up. Bar Flies — New Times’ live reading series held monthly at Valley Bar in downtown Phoenix — is now available on the fly. The first three episodes of Bar Flies: The Podcast are ready to be downloaded free on iTunes. We’ll release a new episode each month. The…
June’s First Friday is looking mighty eclectic, with exhibitions exploring stereotypes about American Indians, science fiction literature, water conservation, LGBTQ pride, pop culture, and divinity. During a night devoted to visual arts, you’ll also have the chance to watch live hip hop and contemporary dance performance. Here’s the rundown on…
Starting June 4, visitors to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art can travel in the footsteps of two pioneers — one modern, one medieval, one an artist, one a scientist, one female, one male, but both expanding notions of Muslim identity. As part of the museum’s southwestNET series, which highlights…
Meg McNiel hunches over a small table in her Central Phoenix tattoo studio. Inside, the place is clean and virtually brand new, but it’s just another door in an old, beat-up strip mall from the outside. Although she’s only been in the space for months, the teal walls are smothered…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Monday, May 23, to Thursday, May 26. For more events, see our curated online calendar. Swipe Right for Awesomeness Gone are the days of choosing a date under the harsh light of last call. Instead, we spend endless seconds…
Anyone who’s gotten lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood knows there’s more to the Valley’s homes than faux adobe. And while there’s certainly no shortage of annual home tours dedicated to the central city’s historic neighborhoods, those who enjoy peeking into and poking around strangers’ homes had another opportunity to do…
Downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row neighborhood has a new piece of public art. And it’s likely to be a lot less controversial than the Shadow Play sculpture installed just few blocks away last fall. Created by Tempe artist Such Styles, it’s a mural-style montage of iconic Valley of the Sun imagery from desert landscapes to…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, May 20, through Sunday, May 22. For more events in the Valley, see our curated online calendar. “Reverberate Her Lines” There is no reading between here, as the message of the second annual “Reverberate Her Lines” graffiti exhibition…
There are no pyrotechnics to throw dazzle at Childsplay’s new Peter Pan. There are no Foys in the flies of Pete, or The Return of Peter Pan; no million-dollar special effects or scenic wizardry. None are needed: This comic adventure soars on skillful writing and clever performances. The play by…
There’s some serious woman power happening in the metro Phoenix arts scene, as evidenced by several exhibitions happening on May’s Third Friday. One artist uses her own body to explore issues of control, while another offers an immersive installation that challenges patriarchal narratives. Several more are using graffiti as a…
There are some pretty weird museums out there — including one dedicated to mustard in Wisconsin, a hair museum in Missouri, a salt and pepper shaker museum in Texas, and a museum of bad art in Boston. There’s nothing quite that odd here in Phoenix, but we’ve still got plenty…
If you’ve passed through security at your local airport lately, it’s likely you’ll take special notice of a Nathaniel Lewis installation featured in the “2015 Contemporary Forum Artists Grant Winners” exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum. His Playland Security, created in 2016 with wood, metal, and fabric, sets the experience of…
The state of Arizona recently granted more than $400,000 in funds for some major renovations of the iconic WPA Building at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. The partly state-owned building is also sometimes referred to as the Civic Building, the Floriculture Building, or State Fair Civic Building, In 2014, the Arizona Exposition and…
Tom and Georganne Bryant’s front door is painted dark purple and is adorned with a wreath crafted from live succulents, bright yellow paper flowers, and fragments of hand-painted pottery tied in bundles. “I wanted something for the door that would look nice in a photograph,” she says, “so I asked…
