What a difference a quarter of a century makes. Twenty-five years ago, what's now known as the arts district in downtown Phoenix was largely a single-family-home neighborhood that was rezoned as a high-rise incentive district. The rezoning was supposed to bring in huge, dense residential and office buildings. Instead, it stunted the neighborhood's growth. Residents and businesses moved out, and boarded-up buildings and vacant houses became attractive to artists because they made for affordable studio spaces and galleries.

Twenty-five years later, the same neighborhood is home to galleries, coffee shops, and restaurants that host two art walks a month and regular-ish business hours. In celebration of the efforts of these local creative pioneers -- both established and emerging -- the curator of Roosevelt Row's monOrchid gallery, Justin Germain, invited 60 artists to showcase their work and come together to applaud their efforts.

“25 Years Downtown” is a multi-media exhibition that includes work from monOrchid owner Wayne Rainey, painters Lara Plecas and Steven Yazzie, mixed-media artists Irma Sanchez and Tara Logsdon, and photographer Daniel Funkhouser.