Kirk Strawn
Audio By Carbonatix
New murals are springing up around metro Phoenix, as local creatives continue to make word amid the COVID-19 crisis. Here’s the scoop on where to find them, along with more arts news and events that should be on your radar this week.
New Jetsonorama Mural
Chip Thomas, an artist who goes by Jetsonorama, recently completed a mural on the Walter Studios building located on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and Roosevelt Street. He’s also a physician who works on the Navajo nation, where he’s been focused on helping to raise awareness about COVID-19 impacts. The wheat paste mural is titled Believe, and Navajo poet Esther Belen wrote a companion poem with the same title.
Throwback to the first BlakTinx Festival in Phoenix.
Audrey Pekala
BlakTinx Dance Festival
The BlakTinx Dance Festival is going virtual this year with a production called sELECTION. The event will include 17 artists “expressing their views about race, culture, and current events” in short dance films. Featured artists include Alicia-Lynn Nascimento Castro, Felix Cruz, Renya Montoya, and Angelina Ramirerez. You can watch the free performance on YouTube at 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 25.
Behind the senes at Aileen Frick’s art studio in Sunnyslope.
Aileen Frick
Artist Studio Tour
This year’s free self-guided The Senators are releasing Wild Wide Open on October 28. Danny Upshaw The Senators will drop their latest album, titled Wild Wide Open, on Wednesday, October 28. The title track and first single from the album is “about a cross-country journey to discover the Southwest for the first time.” Album cover art is by Phoenix-based creative Danielle Hacche. The central image in Thomas “Breeze” Marcus’ new mural in south Phoenix. Thomas “Breeze” Marcus Thomas “Breeze” Marcus recently completed a mural titled Ban and Muhadag Do’ag. It’s located at 3902 South Central Avenue in South Phoenix, where the artist wants to share old stories with new generations, and remind people that Natives preceded others who settled in this part of the Southwest. Works by John Randall Nelson previously exhibited at The Gallery at Tempe Center for the Arts. Lynn Trimble John Randall Nelson, an Eye Lounge alumnus whose public art dots the metro Phoenix landscape, is the featured artist for this year’s art auction benefiting Free Arts, a nonprofit working with youth who’ve experienced abuse or homelessness. The free virtual event happens online from October 21 to 26. Choreographer Candy Jimenez will also dance during “Rooted in Movement.” Dulce Dance Company Dulce Dance Company is presenting dance created by Arizona-based choreographers Candy Jimenez and Diane McNeal Hunt at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24. “Rooted in Movement” will happen at a private home in north central Phoenix, with a limited audience size. Featured dancers include Angel Castro, Nicole Olson, and others. Tickets are $25 and include a tree-themed face mask. Artist Nick Rascona with his Roommates sculpture for IN FLUX 9 in Chandler. Vision Gallery See new large-scale sculptures created by Phoenix-based artists Jeff Falk and Nick Rascona in this outdoor exhibition at Tucson Botanical Gardens, which continues through January 3, 2021. The exhibit includes site-specific works by more than 10 artists. Garden admission is $15 for adults. William Henry Powell, Columbus Before the Council of Salamanca (Col Phoenix Art Museum Phoenix Art Museum is commissioning artists and scholars from groups that are typically underrepresented in museums to create text panels sharing their knowledge and perspectives related to select works in the museum’s American art collection. Inaugural participants include Ninabah Winton and Velma Kee Craig (both Diné/Navajo). In addition, the museum has placed a poem by Anna Flores next to a painting depicting Christopher Columbus. Work by Beth Ames Swartz in the “Tikkun Olam” exhibit in 2016. Beth Ames Swartz Shemer Arts Center will recognize artist Beth Ames Swartz during its virtual Shemer Honors event on Friday, November 13, which will include the artist leading a tour through her exhibition at the center. The award recognizes artistic excellence and significant contributions to the arts community. Throwback to a previous Cultural Coalition event celebrating Dia de los Muertos. Jos Many Day of the Dead celebrations are going virtual this year, including the Mesa Arts Center event happening from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 24, and the Cultural Coalition event taking place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 25. Both events will include visual art, performance, and more. 
Senators Release New Album
New “Breeze” Mural
Free Arts Holds Auction
Rooted in Movement
‘Bird Houses & Nests’ Exhibit
Museum Launches Reframed Project
2020 Shemer Honors
Dia de los Muertos
