Nine Places to Go During May First Friday in Downtown Phoenix

This might be the last First Friday before high temperatures really set in. Make the most of it by heading downtown tonight for the monthly art walk. There's plenty to see, including some psychedelic portraits, a new exhibit at the Heard Museum, and the work of a longtime ASU art professor.

Alwun House

1204 East Roosevelt Street
602-253-7887

This First Friday, Alwun House will be showing works by local mixed-media artist Comurshy. He blends spray and brush painting to create bold, bright, almost psychedelic character portraits filled with whimsy. Next door in the Alwun House Art Park, visitors can check out wares by local vendors, hear DJ Scapegoat spinning tunes, and get a bite at Filipino fusion food truck Krack Rolls. First Friday hours are 6 to 10.

Cahokia PHX

707 North Third Street, #130
602-767-2901

Cahokia PHX, the Indigenous-led community and creative empowerment space, will host a Mother's Day Market during May First Friday. Shop for goods by Indigenous creators such as Beaded Plume, Crafts by Ashley's, Blue Corn Custom Designs, Local Matriarch, Shiyoo Designs, Andria's Tienda, Imagine Threads Co., Bitterwater Boutique, and The Original Landlords. First Friday hours are 6 to 10 p.m.

First Studio Gallery

631 North First Avenue
602-957-7760

The 2022 "5 Star Invitational Art Show" continues at First Studio Gallery this First Friday. You can see the works of painters Elissa Nowacki and Diego Perez and photographers Lisa Marcelle and Karen Raahauge, plus a selection of art by the late Rip Woods, who taught painting and drawing at Arizona State University for more than 25 years. First Friday hours are 6 to 9 p.m.

Five15 Arts @ Chartreuse

1301 Northwest Grand Avenue, #2B
480-204-4384

The work of longtime Five15Arts member Joan Thompson will be on display at this month's First Friday. "Seeking Order" brings together Thompson's mixed-media abstract works that pulsate with color. Thompson's invited guest, Lorraine Shwer, will show her coil-built ceramic works inspired by the organic nature of clay and her Southwest surroundings.

Heard Museum

2301 North Central Avenue
602-252-8840

Be among the first to see the Heard Museum's new exhibition, "Between the Lines: Art from the No Horse Ledger Book," at tonight's First Friday event. There's no cost to visit the museum, and guests can participate in art activities, hear music spun by DJ This Just In, and catch a gallery talk about "Between the Lines" by Andrew W. Mellon Fellow Will Riding In (Pawnee/Santa Ana Pueblo). First Friday hours are 4 to 8 p.m.

Modified Arts Gallery

407 East Roosevelt Street
317-755-7971

First Friday mainstay Modified Arts will host a closing reception for the "Kin" exhibition, a collection of works by Flagstaff-based Brazilian visual artist Rodrigo de Toledo. De Toledo's work "celebrates fantastical ancestors, as portraits transported from the walls of an otherworldly and ageless temple," according to the gallery. Hours for the closing reception during First Friday are 6 to 9 p.m.

Phoenix Center for the Arts

1202 North Third Street
602-254-3100

The first show at the newly reopened Larry Wilson Gallery at Phoenix Center for the Arts is “Captured Evanescence”, a collection of works by downtown artist Gary Parsel. Parsel, who has lived in the Valley since 1965, is known for painting the essence of the architecture and neighborhoods of Phoenix that are quickly being demolished and forgotten. The First Friday opening reception will be from 7 to 9 p.m. and will include an artist meet-and-greet, live music, and a pop-up shop of art from Phoenix Center for the Arts teaching artists.

Sisao Gallery

1501 Northwest Grand Avenue

Sisao Gallery's May show is "Ties to Form," a solo exhibition of abstract renderings by artist Chris Newpher. First Friday hours are 6 to 10 p.m.

Step Gallery

605 East Grant Street

Step Gallery inside Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix Grant Street Studios will host a closing reception for "Noise Cycle." The show is the MFA thesis exhibition by ASU graduate student Guillermo Gutierrez. Hours on First Friday are 6 to 9 p.m.