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T.G.I.F.

Is the party over?

A A A Comments By Benjamin Leatherman Thursday, Sep 1 2005

Petrisko -- a painter, photographer and performance artist -- has been knocking around the downtown art scene since the late 1980s and recently left his solo studio inside Garfield Galleria on McDowell Road to help launch a joint effort called Disinfo near 13th Avenue and McKinley, slated to open next month.

"They say in the press that they love the arts and want it downtown, but I'll let you in on a little secret: Politicians have been known to lie," Petrisko says. "And in one night, the city of Phoenix had eradicated years of trust that's been built up between us and them."

Blair Bunting

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The impact of marquee urban projects like T-Gen and Artisan Village will eventually be a death knell for the art scene's current state, he maintains.

"Roosevelt's a walking dead man, and I think now they probably realize it after First Friday. They're totally boxed in, there's no room for expansion, and it's going to be cut apart piecemeal," Petrisko says.

But if artists are ultimately priced out of Roosevelt, the party might very well move west. One reason Gina and Derrick Suarez chose to relocate the Paisley Violin to Grand Avenue earlier this year is because they hope Grand will retain its "flair" and an off-the-beaten-path feel in coming years, as Evans-Churchill becomes "more sterile."

Even if things get bangin' on Grand Avenue, Petrisko fully expects the same cycle occurring on Roosevelt Row to repeat and force artists to seek a new home.

Where to next, Pete?

"South Phoenix," he says. "The property's still cheap there, it's still run-down, and it's the last place close to downtown that's not totally shot for cheap living or cheap renting or anything."

Additional reporting by Sarah Fenske.