“New Graduate Student Exhibition” Class is in session, and the graduate students at ASU’s Art School are busy as ever. How else could they present a gallery show a mere month after their first day? Working in media including paint, metal, fibers, and ceramics, 16 artists share their work in…
Arizona is filled with transplants. About half the people who live here, including plenty of artists, come from other places. Yet their work often reflects a strong sense of place and connection to the Sonoran Desert. Some draw inspiration from the desert, while others actually use desert materials as art…
Two of five galleries operated by the Arizona State University School of Art — which are used primarily to exhibit works by students, faculty and alumni — are undergoing significant changes. One has closed temporarily while ASU looks for a new gallery space, and the other just moved from the…
The lineup for this September’s Third Friday exhibitions is looking fabulously eclectic — featuring everything from walls dotted with plant art to an art installation that offers a visual dip into the deep end of a swimming pool. Check out these 10 exhibitions, which include art by an intriguing array…
Nearly six years ago, Joey Robert Parks came up with an idea: What if he paired writers and photographers to make an exhibit about Phoenix? Not just the major landmarks, but the inner city, the nooks and crannies, the regular buildings and side streets and open lots. “I had the…
What happens in the studio shouldn’t always stay in the studio. Studio Visit is a monthly series that profiles artists in their studios. We ask them questions, they provide answers, and then we have a nice discussion about their work. This month: Carolyn Lavender, whose work is currently featured in…
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art announced on Thursday, September 10, that Peter Bugg and Christina Davis will join the arts institution on September 15 as its new curator of programming and programming coordinator, respectively. Bugg is an artist and educator who has taught at Arizona State University and in the…
A glorious mix of visual and performance art infused September’s First Friday, with a cumbia dance night at Phoenix Art Museum, House of Cirque stilt-walkers activating the Shadow Play space in the heart of Roosevelt Row, and music by Native American high school students at Heard Museum. The entertainment combined with…
From the architecture inherent in a skilled fashion designer’s white shirts to the symbolism of cultural theft infusing a dozen animal zodiac heads, the fall line-up of art exhibitions in metro Phoenix has some intriguing fare. See artist-made inflatables in Chandler, videos channeling science fiction in Scottsdale, and photographs cherished…
Never fear if you sometimes feel torn during First Friday between making the art rounds and going to see a performance. Several First Friday venues are mixing it up on September 4, delivering not only intriguing art but cool dance and music offerings, too. There’s an awful lot going on,…
More than 300 people are expected to descend on metro Phoenix during early November for the 25th International Sculpture Conference, which includes an assortment of workshops, gallery visits, panels, and studio visits. The conference is held November 4 to 7 and centered on a “New Frontiers in Sculpture” theme. It…
You can’t win if you don’t play. It’s true for the lottery, and it’s true for landing places to show your art work. Metro Phoenix artists have several opportunities to up the odds of more people seeing their work in the form of seven recently issued calls for artists. One…
In the past year alone, there’s been a lot of changes within Phoenix’s art scene. There’s always been a revolving door — some artists and other art professionals leave, but there are always new people and spaces emerging. Even the spaces that anchor our scene, such as Roosevelt Row, Grand…
Contrary to what Time Inc.’s Money magazine would have you believe, Mesa is not the best big city to inhabit in the Southwest. Mesa, you should know, is not the best big city to inhabit in the state of Arizona. Nor, hate to break it to ya, is it the best “big…
David Quan, a Brookyn-based artist with Phoenix roots, has been back in the Valley since May. Chances are good you’ve seen his work under the name Luster Kaboom — including murals on Citywide Studios and the Chocolate Factory, where his Blue Ooze surrounds a mural by Los Angeles-based El Mac,…
For a cultural institution focused on visual art, Phoenix Art Museum has been all about the drama of late. On Friday, August 14, Carlotta Soares and Stephanie Lieb of the museum’s marketing department were let go, leaving the department with one remaining member: graphic designer Felicia Penza. That same day,…
Third Friday offerings are shaping up nicely this month, even as some galleries are in their final weeks of summer hiatus. A few of the new exhibitions merit excitement, but August 21 is also a chance to get a final glimpse of a cool show that’s been up for a…
The staff changes at Phoenix Art Museum keep on coming. Jerry Smith, PAM’s longtime curator of European, American and Western art, submitted his resignation on Friday, August 14. And, according to a Tuesday, August 18, report from The Republic, PAM has hired Gilbert Vicario as its chief curator. Smith did not…
Even amid Light Rail construction, Main Street in Mesa has proved a popular place for many years now, thanks to local attractions including Mesa Arts Center, Second Friday art walks, a self-guided sculpture walk, and an assortment of shops. Most recently, new public art has taken shape — from Jake…
Phoenix Art Museum’s marketing department is almost empty. PAM public relations director Carlotta Soares and manager Stephanie Lieb were reportedly let go today, Friday, August 14. Sources close to the situation, including Evan Roberts, formerly part of the museum’s marketing team, confirm that Soares and Lieb are no longer with…
Phoenix artist Nic Wiesinger recently founded something called Rhetorical Galleries. But it’s no-brick-and mortar art space. Instead, he explains, Rhetorical Galleries is a vehicle for curating and showing new works. It’s name reflects a simple question posed by Wiesinger: What if we made this space into a gallery? That space could…
Americans these days are bombarded with a steady stream of advertisements, television programming, social media, and online offerings. Screens deliver images at airports, restaurants, doctor offices, gyms, stadiums, and even gas stations. Saturated in visual culture, we’ve grown accustomed to tuning out much of what we see. That’s the cultural…
