Forget the weekday womp-womps. Here's something to do each day this week.
CraftHackEV @ Gangplank HQ Emulate as we might, we are not and never will be Martha Stewart-style domestic goddesses. Our attention to detail, ability to organize, and DIY spirit will never match that of the millionaire mogul. We need support in our attempts at craftiness, and, luckily, we aren't alone in the matter.
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Enter Craft Hack, the co-working meetup where aspiring (and established) crafters can stitch, glue, and glitter in the supportive, creative confines of Gangplank HQ, 260 South Arizona Avenue in Chandler. Every third Monday, the event offers networking and demos. Bring your projects and a smidge of can-do spirit to the monthly craft-a-thon. -- Becky Bartkowski
"Bipolar" @ Mesa Contemporary Arts A new exhibit at Mesa Contemporary Arts invites the viewer to explore the possibilities of madness. "Bipolar," by artists Alice Leora Briggs of Texas and Albert Kogel of Tucson, highlights the feverish nature of insanity. The installation is a testament to both artists' affinity for mixed-media work, encouraging museum-goers to "look in" on paintings depicting the insane and their emotional and physical surroundings. The concept mimics an observation room in an insane asylum, further straddling the line between reason and mania.
The exhibition, hosted in the Dr. Ruth Tan Lim project room, is on view through Sunday, August 11. Go a little crazy from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays (extended hours Thursdays until 8 p.m.), and from 12 to 5 p.m. Sundays, at Mesa Contemporary Arts at the Mesa Arts Center, One East Main Street. Admission to the museum is free. Visit mesaartscenter.com or call 480-644-6560. -- Janessa Hilliard
"Riding Tall" @ Phoenix Art Museum The Phoenix Art Museum's current exhibition "Riding Tall" could have simply been named "Giddyup" for all the images of cowboys on horseback. Culled from the museum's expansive collection of art of the American West, few other images -- buffalo perhaps -- are as iconic and cemented in our Western ideal as the cowboy: the Marlboro Man, the Lone Ranger, Clint Eastwood spaghetti Westerns. As a representative of a culture on the wane, the cowboys in this exhibit are sometimes plagued by stereotypes that romanticize the more frequently depicted true hard-working cowpunchers as good guys in white hats, or bad guys in black. Others give us the heavy drinking, gambling, stage-robbing gunslingers of the dime novel -- and these types did exist, too.
Get your hat and boots on and mosey over to the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 North Central Avenue, between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 17. Admission is $12 for adults, and $10 seniors and students. Call 602-257-1222 or visit www.phxart.org. -- Glenn BurnSilver
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat @ Arizona Broadway Theatre Old Testament Joseph's interpretations of dreams could be troublesome. His 11 jealous brothers abandoned him, after which everything he touched basically went platinum. The flashy musical version of the story, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, was not only written by Jesus Christ Superstar's Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, but it existed before that bigger hit (though it wasn't fully produced until after JCS' fame).
This is the kind of trivia you'll need for a trip to Peoria's Arizona Broadway Theatre, a dining and entertainment experience that's high-class but also lengthy. What else? Well, each song is in a different, distinct style, ranging from calypso to cowpoke to full-on Vegas-era Elvis tribute -- even a French cabaret bit with concertina, a bentwood chair, Apache dancing, and existential weariness.
Take your seats at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18, for a full-service dinner followed by the show, which runs through Sunday, August 18, at 7701 West Paradise Lane. Regular admission ranges from $65.50 to $84.50, although show-only tickets are also available; order them here or call 623-776-8400 for details. -- Julie Peterson
Copper State Poetry Slam @ Phoenix Center for the Arts Copper State Poetry Slam organizer Jeremiah Blue is even-handed in assessing Phoenix's stature: "We are fairly solid, in terms of slam poetry." The city's best slam poetry teams will see just how solid when they vie amongst challengers from around Arizona for the statewide championship on Friday, July 19.
The slam poetry teams from Phoenix, Tucson, and Sedona are well-versed in the gambit of four-person teams performing and being scored by audience volunteers. The audience participation also includes the Haiku Death Match on Friday and Saturday's Nerd Slam. HBO Def Poetry Jam's Jason Carney performs before Saturday's final championship showdown.
The Copper State Poetry Slam is at the Phoenix Center for the Arts, 1202 North Third Street, through Saturday night. Doors open on Friday at 4:30 p.m. with the Haiku Death Match starting at 5 and bouts at 7 and 8:45. Single-day tickets are $11, and a two-day pass is $18. For discounted advance tickets or for more information, visit www.copperstatepoetryslam.com or call 602-254-3100. -- Jose Gonzalez
