Your to-do list is about to get a little bit longer. Here are Jackalope Ranch's top picks for things to do this week in Phoenix -- from art exhibitions to Star Trek spoofs.
"Linda Ingraham: 25 Years of Mixed Media Photography"
Linda Ingraham has a long history of exhibiting her work in the Valley. Her last major solo exhibit (Mesa, 2013) featured an unusual array of still-life images, including flying lemons. Her current exhibit at Vision Galley is a career-spanning affair, covering more than 25 years creating mixed media photography, an artform that consists of painting into the background of photographs.
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Of course, it's not as simple as that, and Ingraham often turns to surreal or iconic imagery -- such as statuary or Gothic columns -- to command a viewer's focus, while her painted backgrounds cast reverence or isolation on the subject. These ideas conjure up unexpected emotions and "visual metaphors," as she calls them, that can linger for days.
See the haunting beauty of Ingraham's work in the exhibition "Linda Ingraham: 25 Years of Mixed Media Photography" from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 7 at Vision Gallery, 10 East Chicago Street, Chandler. The free show is on view through Sunday, May 3. Visit www.visiongallery.org/exhibition-sched.html or call 480-782-2645. -- Glenn BurnSilver
'Tis the season to get back in touch with nature, take a few hikes, and head out for some camping adventures. The dangers, though, of spinning into the wild range well beyond simply getting a sunburn or bug bites. Award-winning author Nevada Barr revisits the great outdoors in her latest mystery, Destroyer Angel, and reads and discusses her work on Tuesday, April 8.
Barr's latest is her 18th outing with protagonist Anna Pigeon. The National Park Service ranger's camping trip in northeastern Minnesota with friends gets interrupted by a band of gunmen with nefarious plans. Pigeon, having slipped away before the confrontation, snaps into action in the outback when it's clear that she's all that stands between her compatriots and tragedy.
Barr is scheduled to appear at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 North Goldwater Boulevard in Scottsdale from 7 to 8 p.m. Admission is free, and copies of Destroyer Angel are $26.99. For more information, visit www.poisonedpen.com or call 480-947-2974. -- Jose Gonzalez
Break out your bingo chips and head to Derby Public House in Old Town Scottsdale to compete in some Bad Bingo. The racetrack-themed Brit bar with gastropub fare is newer on the scene, but it's drawing in customers with weekly bingo nights, along with a bunch of other free games like skeeball and Connect Four.
When you buy a $20 bingo card, you get a free drink and the chance to compete in all nine rounds of bingo that night. Past prizes have included a range of restaurant freebies, including bottle service and free dinner, as well as a Keurig coffeemaker. Other drink specials may also be on the board for the evening, but that varies from week to week.
If you're ready to try your hand at bingo glory, go to Derby Public House at 4420 North Saddle Bag Trail every Wednesday from 8 until 10 p.m. For more information, call 480-999-3311 or visit www.derbypublichouse.com. -- Heather Hoch
Locally filmed mini-series Voyage Trekkers is bringing their loving brand of nerdy sci-fi spoofs to the stage in a live performance at the National Comedy Theatre. The half-hour improv show will give audience members the opportunity to pick the setting and plot points and twists and watch the series' Doctor Rena (Gabrielle Van Buren) and Commander Powell (Logan Blackwell) act it out off the cuff. Creator Nathan Blackwell says the event will begin by screening a few episodes to provide context.
"In this case it'll feel like an original series Star Trek episode where the crew lands on a planet and has to solve a situation, complete with fake scripted commercials," creator Nathan Blackwell says. "But the audience participation will really force the performers to think on their feet."
Voyage Trekkers Live will hit the National Comedy Theatre stage located at 1111 South Longmore in Mesa on April 10 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $8 with proceeds going to fund a Voyage Trekkers movie, can be found at www.nctphoenix.com, along with more information. -- Heather Hoch
Don't be embarrassed that you're unusually excited about Phoenix Art Museum's "Hollywood Costume" exhibition. Take your cinematic apparel obsession all the way at PAM's Hollywood Costume Party from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 11. Dress as your favorite star or character, compete for prizes, and behave all red-carpety. As if you and your entourage aren't enough to send the glamour quotient through the roof, press materials claim that celebrities, designers, industry insiders, and paparazzi will also attend.
Sashay through the Great Hall of the museum at 1625 North Central Avenue, enjoy movie snacks, "light bites," and no-host beverages, and avoid the hoi polloi at special viewings of more than 100 iconic pieces, most previously unseen outside film studio archives, from Titanic, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz, The Dark Knight Rises, and many other blockbusters. Admission is $25 at www.tickets.phxart.org. Call 602-257-1222. -- Julie Peterson
