Portals of the Imagination

When one door slams shut, another usually opens. Take Tempe's Aztec Self Storage; its 120 doors closed and then reopened as the more artistic-sounding 1700Curry. The business at 1700 East Curry Road is still a place to store your high school memories, but on Saturday, May 17, the four acres of asphalt will evolve into the "Convergent” Outdoor Mural/Graffiti Art Show and Concert. The plan is to showcase the facility’s newly redecorated door panels, which numerous paint-slingers have been covering with personalized artworks for much of May.

1700Curry owner Rob Evans tells New Times he ultimately dreams of transforming the space from a place to park used furniture to a communal colony where creative types can be supported by their own commerce. With help from trendy LAS Gallery, ASU Art Museum’s John Spiak, and Evans’ own experience with five15 Gallery, Evans rounded up numerous graf artists (including the nationally acclaimed Such) to design the space. Check out the new digs against a backdrop of live sounds by the likes of Runaway Diamonds, Greenhaven, and The Earps.