After downtown Phoenix’s First Friday event began pulling 10,000 people into the city’s core, other sleepy communities, such as Chandler, decided to jump into the art-walk mix. Now, thanks to the neighborhood organization Sunnyslope W.I.N.S., the north-central Phoenix community of Sunnyslope is sending out a wake-up call of its own…

“Ashy to classy” was how The Notorious B.I.G. described his ascent from street-level hustler to champagne-swigging rap star. Similarly, Officer Ugg and the Garbage Pail Kids of yesteryear might affect a George Jefferson-like swagger after seeing their fellow adhesive-Americans elevated from Trapper Keepers and street lamps to gallery walls. Local…

Freaks are apparently in high demand these days. Just look at the 999 Eyes Freakshow, a roving band of human oddities and their beloved cohorts that returns for a show at Trunk Space. Says Samantha X, the odd squad’s co-founder and freak mama, “Since the last time we visited Phoenix,…

In response to his girlfriend’s loathing of late-night Latin rhythms, John Winger (as played by Bill Murray) in Stripes offers these wise words: “Tito Puente’s gonna be dead, and you’re gonna say, ‘Oh, I’ve been listening to him for years — he’s fabulous!’” The folks at AZSalsa.net keep the boogaloo…

For four generations, Matthew Moore’s family farmed land on the outskirts of town. By 2001, the Phoenix native noticed that developers, playing Rich Uncle Pennybags in a game of suburban Monopoly, had been creeping in at a startling pace. Beating them to the punch, Moore sculpted the fat of the…

Signs, signs, everywhere signs. Unfortunately, most are advertisements, shrill carnival barkers that are constantly forced upon us. Ron English doesn’t take this sitting down. The film POPaganda: The Art and Crimes of Ron English follows the contemporary pop artist as he liberates billboards from their fate as the tentacles of…

When you’re zooming too fast from one place to another, what do the constant pockets of construction say to you? Hope of a metropolis that balances our humble and quirky past with the aspirations of a prosperous future, or dread of a money-hungry wildfire obliterating open spaces and historic buildings?…

Supercross racers don’t get their blood racing by screaming down city streets on crotch-rockets or watching the open road fold out before them while riding hogs. They do, however, get a nitro-boost of adrenaline by tackling temporary terrain not found in nature on the backs of precision-crafted off-roading motorcycles. Need-for-speed…

Homer Simpson posited, “If horse racing is the sport of kings, then surely bowling is . . . a very good sport, as well.” What’s kept it from absolute perfection? How about shoe rentals, arm-straining equipment, blaring music, and seizure-inducing lights? Nintendo’s Wii Sports changed the game forever. Using the…

From Kant to Descartes, countless philosophers have grappled with immortality and impermanence. Phoenix-based artist Junjie is fighting the future that drove the old-timers mad one painting at a time with his “Junjie: Past & Present” exhibit. The solo show by the Filipino native spotlights the artist’s visually dense and layered…

“T-Bone” Hadley will drop the final curtain on his kids’ extravaganza for adults. After two years of monthly shows and a stunning array of guests that includes The Blackface Hitlers barbershop quartet, Uncle Sku’s Clubhouse will squeeze in one more excursion of fun and lessons to grow on. Will Sku…