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Best Place to Buy Photography

ASU Art Auction at First Studio

If you've ever wanted to get your hands on a photograph by Mark Klett, Betsy Schneider, Carol Panaro-Smith, James Hajicek, or an up-and-coming photography student, you won't want to miss ASU Photographers' Association's annual auction. It's here, at First Studio in downtown Phoenix, where hundreds outbid each other on large-scale and tiny works that feature a variety of subjects, compositions, and techniques at rock-bottom prices and for a good cause.

The auction benefits the ASU Photographers' Association, and funds raised are used to host visiting artists and speakers, support workshops, and establish scholarships for students learning and perfecting the art of photography. And even if you're not in the market for a piece of artwork (it's cool — less competition for us), the auction is always a killer exhibition you won't want to miss.

Best Stop on Art Detour

Sarah Hurwitz's "Everything I have ever wanted to own"

For her last exhibition as a member of Eye Lounge in downtown Phoenix, Sarah Hurwitz had ambitious plans. No surprise. During her time in the art collective, the local multimedia artist transformed the gallery into an interactive meat shop, a science lab, a jungle, and a gem show with her paintings and sculptures, and in March, she took to the gallery walls and floor space to create a visual representation of everything she has ever wanted to own.

The exhibition was on view through the annual Art Detour, a downtown celebration of local art, and her work was seen by hundreds of gallery-goers who oohed and aahed over her most coveted items. Lawn gnomes, parrots, shoes, skeleton keys, shorter extension cords, wishbones, cheese-flavored snacks, portraits of American presidents — nothing was off-limits for Hurwitz, which is exactly why we love her work and exactly why we can't wait to see what she does next.

Best Use of Bullshit

Safwat Saleem's "Pardon Me, but WTF?"

Safwat Saleem is trying to make sense of the bullshit. The local artist and designer is from Pakistan and known for using his own sense of humor and artwork to explore and explain politics, culture, and relationships. In response to 9/11, Saleem created a series of artwork titled "A Bunch of Crock," which visualized and interpreted quotations from politicians about race, culture, and the environment. This year, Saleem was selected as a TED Fellow by the national Technology, Entertainment, Design organization and was asked to give a talk about his latest project. So Saleem took to the stage and talked about bullshit.

"Pardon Me, but WTF?" is a collection of stories and observations submitted by the general public and transformed by Saleem into animations and posters that attempt to make sense of life's frustrations and anomalies — children who lie about pooping in the hallway, mismatched numbers of hot dogs and buns in popular packaging, absentee fathers, and more. He's still encouraging the public to submit their stories to the project website, because he knows we could all use a good venting opportunity — especially one that turns into a kickass piece of artwork.

Best Shit Show

Amy's Baking Company

"Ugly," "loser," and "moron" may not be the first words that come to mind as a way for a restaurant owner to speak to an unhappy customer, but in 2010, Amy Bouzaglo, of the now infamous Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, chose to use them anyway. The bit of press the incident received was nothing compared to what was to come three years later, when the then-dubbed "Crazy Amy," her husband Samy, and their restaurant were featured — none too positively — on the season finale of Kitchen Nightmares. The Bouzaglos sealed their shit-show fame on the Internet shortly after the episode aired, with a social media meltdown of epic proportions which included insulting commenters ("you are just trash"), then claiming their sites had been hacked, then launching a grand re-opening campaign in late May that was tepid, at best. But why stop the shit show there? Following news of Samy's possible deportation to Israel, a strict employee contract that includes a $250 penalty for not showing up to work on holidays and weekends, and their own line of catchphrase T-shirts, there's now talk of the Bouzaglo's bad behavior landing them their own reality television show. Oh, brother.

Best Bathroom

The Yard

Since Sam Fox's The Yard opened earlier this year, the Central Phoenix restaurant complex has been drawing out our playful side with more than 1,400 square feet of patio space for all sorts of drunk gaming. And though you might think your best bet at meeting your next date will be while you're bopping about playing ping-pong and generally boozing it up, there’s one more place at this hangout where you may just bump into the man or woman of your dreams: the bathroom.

When you walk into the restroom at The Yard, you think you're entering a gender-specific space, but do a double take (or come face-to-face with a stranger of the opposite sex) and you'll realize those separate doors are really just for show. We'll admit that the first time, it was a little alarming. But looking on the bright side, the creative little trick just means you have one more chance to strike up a conversation with the hottie in the red shirt. Unless he doesn't wash his hands.

Best Neighborhood

FQ Story

Downtown Phoenix is home to some of the best neighborhoods in the Valley. Our pick for the best is FQ Story, just west of Seventh Avenue south of McDowell. It's one of those neighborhoods where nobody, except those who live there, drives through. So the tree-lined streets are quiet and filled with quaint little Craftsman bungalows, English Tudors and ranch-style homes built largely in the early part of the 20th century, with a few infills here and there. And as more and more people move downtown, the little historic district's 600 (or so) homes are filling up fast. Its proximity to downtown Phoenix attractions like Chase Field, Phoenix Art Museum, local restaurants, and more also make the Story neighborhood an attractive option for Phoenix house hunters.

Best Home Tour

Willo

Each year, the Willo neighborhood blocks off its streets, rolls in the food trucks, and throws open its doors to the rest of Phoenix. There's a reason this downtown Phoenix neighborhood has been named one of the best cottage neighborhoods in the country. In a city where most of the houses are cookie-cutter replications of each other, with slightly different shades of beige, Willo is a hodgepodge of Tudor-style homes, bungalows, and Midcentury Modern beauties. During the annual home tour, residents and visitors around the Valley take a self-guided tour through one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and get an inside look at some of the homes that make downtown Phoenix so unique.

Best Modern Architecture Tour

Docomomo

Though the name rolls right of the tongue (say it with us: do-co-mo-mo), Docomomo gets its name from quite a mouthful: International Working Party for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement. Per its website, it's an international organization with a U.S. chapter that works toward the documentation and conservation (do-co) of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods of the modern movement (mo-mo). Thankfully, there's not a vocab quiz at the end of the annual tours that Modern Phoenix puts on in conjunction with the organization. The 2012 bus tour featured commercial buildings on the west side and began at the Ralph Haver AIA-designed Copenhagen store, formerly known as the Lou Regester building. Each year, the tour leaves us looking at Phoenix with fresh eyes and newfound curiosity about the city's history.

Best Fashion Designer

Tiffe Fermaint

It seems fashion designer Tiffe Fermaint is never not working. She released the first installment of her 2013 collection, which was inspired by digital technology, in February and a glam-meets-futuristic swim line in May, and Fermaint started stitching up a children's line in between. Oh, yes, did we mention she worked a full-time job at H&M and was pregnant with her daughter Violet during all this? Because that most definitely was the case. But the designer isn't running out of material anytime soon. And for that, we are ecstatic. She consistently presents exciting, innovative designs that have us always anticipating what she might do next.

Best Fashion for a Good Cause

The Shine Project

Now, it is true that most nonprofits do not include hair tutorials on their websites. But, hey, maybe they should. Because the ladies behind The Shine Project prove that you can do good and look good at the same time. They employ underprivileged kids from all kinds of backgrounds to make pretty bracelets — hand-stamped, chain-linked, bejeweled — and use the money to help them pay for college. It's a simple concept with beautiful results, in more ways than one.

Best Of Phoenix®

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