The ASU School of Art now ranks 20th in the country among fine arts graduate schools, according to the 2016 U.S. News & World Report rating of best colleges and universities in the U.S. Last year, it ranked 22nd. Based on the 2016 report, ASU School of Art now ranks…
New Times picks the best arts and culture events in metro Phoenix from March 18 through 20. Nikki Glaser Nikki Glaser is NSFW. And we mean that outside the standard “not safe for work” acronym. The comedian, a veteran of Last Comic Standing as well as numerous late night shows and…
Mesa is making a strong showing in the local mural scene, thanks to a newly commissioned piece by Miles MacGregor, or El Mac, one of the world’s most noted street artists. The Los Angeles-based artist with Phoenix roots just finished a towering mural depicting a woman holding a rose at…
It’s abundantly clear each time First Friday rolls around that spending one evening each month exploring Phoenix arts and culture just doesn’t cut it. There’s too much art out there, and it takes more than a few hours to see even a fraction of it. But once a year, there’s Art…
Just inside the front door of my house is a small library table that’s home to a short stack of books I have no intention of ever reading. I am not interested in Hendrik Willem Van Loon’s handsomely bound memoirs, published in Bombay in 1942. I don’t care to read…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Monday, March 14, to Friday, March 18. Downtempo’s Date with Tempe Phoenix Downtempo Ride takes to the streets on two wheels in search of bike-friendly destinations and perfect Phoenix patios. Downtempo’s Date with Tempe, the latest ride in the…
On Friday, March 11, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed HB 2440, which killed the Roosevelt business improvement district created by the Phoenix City Council on January 20. The district would have taxed property owners in a specified area to fund services beyond those already provided by the City. Ducey had…
El Peezo’s newest public piece — his first in more than a year — depicts GOP front-runner Donald Trump as Jabba the Hutt, and makes an aside to the Trump family’s ancestral name. Peezo, a wheatpaste artist and former New Times Big Brain finalist, hasn’t produced any public work in…
There’s a long wall running along the south side of Bentley Projects in the Phoenix warehouse district. Topped by barbed wire, it once looked like a stark separation point between the neighborhood it borders and the arts and event venues operated by Bentley Calverley. But now, Calverley says, it feels…
Visitors who take a left after walking into a new gallery space in Mesa will encounter iconic images created by William Wegman, an artist renowned for using his own Weimaraners in his compositions. They’re displayed across from Red Vapor for Ripe Strawberries, a 2013 oil-on-panel piece by Phoenix artist Rachel Bess. Nearby,…
On a palm-lined street in a pastoral Tempe neighborhood sits an attractive, split-level home. At first glance, it bears a resemblance to the house inhabited by one of the favorite television families of the 1970s. You know, the one with the lovely lady, the fellow, and the six children? “The…
Maybe you’ve wondered how much of what you read on Wikipedia is actually true or wished there was a way to make Wikipedia content more accurate and comprehensive. If the topics near and dear to your heart include art or feminism — or both, then you can help to make…
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: Christine Cassano, whose most recent exhibition featured 330…
Is it possible to have too many good choices? Some people surely thought so during this month’s First Friday, when art was on view at dozens of Phoenix venues. Getting to each and every one of them during the course of just a few hours was impossible, but that’s not…
New Times picks the best arts and culture events in metro Phoenix from March 7 through 11. “Hierogliffic and Other Stories” Turner G. Davis’ “Hierogliffic and Other Stories” borrows from history in form and inspiration. The noted fine artist put pencil and pen to paper daily, creating images reminiscent of cave…
Museums traditionally acquire objects in two ways — via donation or purchase. As a general rule, museums show only 2 to 4% of their collections at any given time. That means their vaults are brimming with hidden gems that don’t always make it to the gallery floor. We asked five…
“Confluence: Inter-generational Collaborations” at the Heard Museum bursts at the seams with bright hues, nods to urban culture, and a strong thematic undercurrent of environmental sustainability. Rainbow-colored butterflies hang on wires from the ceiling amid glass raindrops suspended above a pond, all created from recycled materials. The piece, called Butterfly…
Most of the metro Phoenix mural action is concentrated in just a few areas – Roosevelt Row, the Grand Avenue district, and Calle 16. But now the Coronado neighborhood is home to a charming new mural by Karlito Miller Espinosa, who uses the moniker Mata Ruda. Born in Costa Rica…
Two lawmakers and a lobbyist have hurled serious accusations at the City of Phoenix over its creation of the Roosevelt business improvement district (BID). Senator Warren Petersen, Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, and lobbyist Marcus Dell’Artino say the City Council acted improperly or illegally when it voted during its January…
Launched in 2014, Paint PHX is a weekend-long mural and paint festival that has become a beloved annual affair. In the past iterations, up to 300 artists came from around the world to paint murals in Phoenix during this grassroots event. Now in its third year, Paint PHX’s celebration of…
New Times picks the best arts and culture events in metro Phoenix from March 3 to 5. Paint PHX For years it seemed downtown Phoenix was a less-than-painted desert. Today, that couldn’t be further from the truth. And while some murals and public art have been painted over or torn down…
Agnese Udinotti has seen it all. On a cold, cloudy January morning, her small frame is wrapped in layers of black, her dark hair tied back. She’s wearing shaggy, nearly knee-high Ugg boots. Taking a seat on an armless chair covered with a deep red throw in the front room…
