"Mezcla"
Emily Costello's latest exhibition is a reflection of her life growing up in a small Arizona town. "Mezcla," a Hispanic word alluding to the blending of diverse substances to make something new, is a fitting title for the show and an apt description of its artist, who's of Mexican and Czech descent.
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Her mixed-media works incorporating found objects announce her visions of love, life, death, spirituality and other core emotions, a reflection of her life, history and family legacy growing up in a small Arizona copper-mining town. Mezcla is open for viewing 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, May 11, at Vision Gallery, 10 East Chicago Street in Chandler. Admission is free. Visit www.visiongallery.org or call 480-782-2695. Glenn BurnSilver
"Origins"
When you think of design, we bet some combination of cool typefaces, complimentary colors, and geometric shapes, right? Yeah, okay. Design does often involve those things, but there's more to design than just graphics design. Enter the graduating students of Arizona State University's Design School. Until Tuesday, May 12, these students will be displaying their final projects in "Origins" at The Icehouse, 429 West Jackson Street.
Projects shown will showcase and represent every discipline taught within The Design School: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Visual Communication Design, Science in the Built Environment, and Urban Design. See? So much more than graphic design. The free closing reception for "Origins" goes from 6 to 9 p.m. Check asuevents.asu.edu/2015-design-school-graduation-exhibition-origins for more information. Evie Carpenter
Backstage at Saks
If you're decidedly A Carrie, still think about that "Oh My God, Shoes" video from 500 years ago, or just really, really have a thing for dressing up your feet, then you're going to want to head to Saks 5th Avenue, 2446 East Camelback Road, for a behind-the-scenes look at the luxury store's shoe department. Fashion presentation Backstage at Saks will focus on how to translate runway trends into not-insane outfits, and 10 percent of purchases will be donated to Arizona Costume Institute, which supports fashion programming at Phoenix Art Museum.
Event check-in and a reception begin at 4:30 p.m., and the program starts at 5 on Wednesday, May 13. Following the presentation, attendees will be invited for cocktails nextdoor at Christopher's Crush. Tickets are $50 via arizonacostumeinstitute.org. Becky Bartkowski
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner premièred 76 years ago and, while screamingly funny thanks to playwrights George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (usually referred to as Kaufman and Hart because, really, Moss?), it's rarely produced these days. The huge cast features characters based on real-life show-biz types from 1939 (Alexander Woollcott, anyone?). And there's a crate of penguins and a remote Christmastime radio broadcast from a suburban Ohio home.
Trust Hale Centre Theatre to do this up right, through Saturday, May 16. The troupe has plenty of costumes and props and a solid track record of reviving the classics. Showtime on Thursday, May 14, is 7 p.m. at 50 West Page Avenue in Gilbert. Snap up your tickets, $16 to $28, at www.haletheatrearizona.com or 480-497-1181. Julie Peterson
ARTELPHX 2015
If you've lived in Phoenix for at least the last couple years and haven't heard of ARTELPHX, you've been missing out big time. But don't worry; it's never too late to improve yourself. ARTELPHX Spring 2015, the fourth installment of this art show, will take over The Clarendon, 401 West Clarendon Avenue, during the weekend of Friday, May 15. And we really mean "take over."
Pieces of visual, performing, and interactive art will fill the hotel's lobby, pool area, and a fair amount of rooms. In the past, guests have been encouraged to take artistic selfies, add on to a jungle of glowing plastic tubes linked together, and witness new pieces by both emerging and established local artists. We can't don't know what will be on display this time around, but we sure we don't want to miss it. For more information and a list of exhibiting artists, visit www.artelphx.com. Evie Carpenter
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