Steven Derks
Audio By Carbonatix
If you’re planning on being downtown for First Friday tonight, be prepared for heavier-than-normal car and foot traffic.
The NCAA March Madness Music Festival and the Fan Fest will add plenty of people to the downtown area, but that shouldn’t deter you from a great lineup of shows at Phoenix galleries.
This month, you can catch an anniversary show at one of the city’s most important galleries, see cactus-themed works inside a cathedral and much more.
Alwun House
1204 E. Roosevelt St.This First Friday at Alwun House is for the kids. Come see works by students from Phoenix Elementary School District #1. First Friday hours are 6 to 10 p.m., or you can show up early to see the Garfield Elementary School choir and the Garfield Elementary jazz band perform from 4 to 6 p.m.
Arizona Center
455 N. Third St.Arizona Center and Retail Therapy will host a First Friday event downtown featuring live music, a pop-up roller rink, a night market, creative workshops and art installations. Leashed pets are welcome. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m.
Cahokia Socialtech + Artspace
707 N. Third St., #130Opening tonight at Cahokia is the exhibition “We Are Still Here” by Lauren Thurston, which “intricately weaves her extensive tattooing background with her proud Taino heritage, offering a vibrant celebration of resilience and cultural presence through botanical, skeletal, and critter motifs alongside ornamental designs and lettering,” according to the gallery. First Friday hours are 6 to 10 p.m.
“Black Pearl,” a sculpture in Eye Lounge’s group exhibition “Anecdotes & Myths,” reflects the inner darkness of its maker, artist Swapna Das.
Jennifer Goldberg
eye lounge
922 N. Fifth St.
The eye lounge gallery is currently showing “Anecdotes & Myths,” a group show that includes new work of artist collective members Amy Bird, Swapna Das, Katherine Del Rosario, Regan Henley, Amanda Mollindo, Laura Rodriguez, Dean Terasaki, Hyewon Yoon and Summer Raine Young. First Friday hours are 6 to 9 p.m.
First Studio
631 N. First Ave.First Studio is hosting two shows this First Friday. In the gallery downstairs, see “Joan C. Thompson: A Curated Retrospective,” featuring 40 works by the artist, from 5 to 9 p.m. Upstairs is “Love Remains: Relocated,” works by Kris Kollasch. Hours for that show are 6 to 9 p.m.
Five15 Arts @ Chartreuse
1301 Grand Ave., #2BThis month’s exhibition at Five15 Arts @ Chartreuse is “Three-Way Conversations” featuring work by Daniel Prendergast. According to the artist statement, Prendergast’s “garden-centered work springs from the intersection of sustained observation, the cycles of nature and the mysteries of the (allegedly) inanimate. First Friday hours are 6 to 9 p.m.
FOUND:RE Contemporary
1100 N. Central Ave.The gallery space inside the FOUND:RE Phoenix hotel is showing works by members of the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies. First Friday hours run until 10 p.m.
The Heard Museum holds a world-class collection of Indigenous art.
Craig Smith/Heard Museum
Heard Museum
2301 N. Central Ave.The theme of this month’s First Friday festivities at Heard Museum is Hands in the Dirt. Features include a garden activity, a pottery demonstration, a guided gallery walk and music by Ethiopian jazz duo Kapsol Music. First Friday hours are 5 to 9 p.m.
Herberger Theater Center
222 E. Monroe St.The theater’s First Friday Live series continues with outdoor performances featuring diverse and eclectic music, performances, projection and visual art, interactive activities and food and drink specials. This month’s musical theme is Jazz on the Pavilion. Inside the building, you can see the gallery’s latest exhibitions from 6 to 8 p.m.
Enjoying the serene landscape at the Japanese Friendship Garden.
Airi Katsuta Photography
Japanese Friendship Garden
1125 N. Third Ave.
The city’s exquisite Japanese Friendship Garden will offer free admission from 5 to 7 p.m. this First Friday.
Luna Culture Lab
803 E. Washington St.Luna Culture Lab will debut a new exhibition tonight. “Relics of the Chamelon” by Philip Gabriel Stevenson. According to the gallery statement, “as a tradition in his artistic practice, he utilizes symbolic material, cultural references and unanswered questions prominent in his life to help conceptualize his body of work. First Friday hours are 6 to 9 p.m.
“Secret Society” by Ann Morton, part of “Modified Arts: A 25th Anniversary Group Invitational.” Note the cockroach pattern on the upholstery.
Jennifer Goldberg
Modified Arts
407 E. Roosevelt St.Modified Arts is still showing its “Modified Arts: A 25th Anniversary Group Invitational” exhibition featuring work by 25 prominent local artists. Read more about it in our recent feature. Hours are 6 to 9 p.m.
Olney Gallery at Trinity Cathedral
100 W. Roosevelt St.The gallery space inside the historic Trinity Cathedral is showing “Desert Diversity,” an exhibition of works by Steven Derks and The Southwest Society of Botanical Artists that depicts the beauty of desert plants. First Friday hours are 6 to 9 p.m.
Sisao Gallery
1501 Grand Ave.This First Friday, Sisao Gallery will show “Secret Within,” a solo exhibition of works by Iranian-American painter and illustrator Farnaz Mansouri. In her artist statement, she says, “In my art, I weave the tale of a woman’s journey to forge a new identity, blending her heritage with her evolving self.”
