After Mesa Arts Center executive director Cindy Ornstein attended San Francisco’s first Market Street Prototyping Festival in April of 2015, she started imagining a similar festival happening in downtown Mesa. The California festival engages creative types and other citizens in creating engaging public spaces. Now, thanks to a $750,000 grant from the…

Phoenix artist Patricia Sannit received the 2016 Arlene and Morton Scult Contemporary Forum Award at Phoenix Art Museum on Wednesday, May 11.  Contemporary Forum is one of several Phoenix Art Museum support organizations. The membership-based group was founded 30 years ago, and has been providing grants to Arizona artists ever…

It’s been quite a year for Saskia Jordá, the Venezuelan-born, Scottsdale-based artist honored in May of 2015 with a prestigious award from the Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Forum. She’s shown migration-themed works during festivals in Scottsdale and Mesa, and fire-related works at art venues in Flagstaff and Tucson. The Contemporary…

For those who frequent the bustling First and Third Friday arts scene in Phoenix, it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole world filled with intriguing art beyond the city’s boundaries. Without exploring works in other cities and towns, it’s hard to get a sense of the big picture. The…

New Times picks the best thing to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, May 6, to Sunday, May 8. David Cross In the 1990s, before people were willing to offer up their firstborns for your HBO GO pass to peep the medieval soap opera Game of Thrones, the network boasted some…

Despite the blustering rhetoric emanating from so many politicians these days, it’s hard to tell at times what each might actually do to address the challenges dealt with in contemporary culture. Fortunately, local artists aren’t waiting around for someone else to tackle these issues. Several exhibitions on view during First…

Good things tend to happen on the metro Phoenix arts scene this time of year, as the Valley gets an influx of visitors, locals celebrate the onset of spring, and art students mount exhibitions highlighting their best works. Ten of our favorites works shown in April came from exhibitions in…

New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from May 2 through 5. “Student Art Show” We’ve all got hang-ups. But for art students at Mesa Community College, they’re objects presented on gallery walls. The new MCC Art Gallery, located on the college’s Dobson campus at 1833 West…

Local arts advocates are fuming because Governor Doug Ducey’s proposed executive budget for the 2017 fiscal year doesn’t include a $2 million allocation requested by Arizona Commission on the Arts, a state agency charged with stimulating the arts, fostering public participation in the arts, and encouraging an appreciation for the state’s…

Mesa has been feeling the mural love. Just last month, international street artist El Mac (Miles “Mac” MacGregor) completed a two-story mural at Mesa Arts Center. And recently, local artists worked with residents at Park Village Apartments near University and Mesa drives to design and paint murals in a trio of…

During a Thursday night art walk in April, people strolling through the Old Town Scottsdale, just west of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, saw more than the Old West-inspired paintings and sculptures many people associate with the area. Scottsdale artist Geoffrey Gersten, who creates his paintings and other works in…

What happens in the studio shouldn’t always stay in the studio. Studio Visit is a monthly series that profiles artists in their studios. We ask them questions, they provide answers, and then we have a nice discussion about their work. This month: Steve Gompf, whose work is currently exhibited in…

New Times picks the best events in metro Phoenix from April 25 through 29. For more things to do, see our curated online calendar. Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals Baseball has many rules, most of them not having anything to do with actual gameplay: Don’t step on the pitcher’s mound. Never mention a…

If you’ve made your way through Roosevelt Row recently, you’ve no doubt noticed that its urban landscape has undergone significant changes in recent months – due in large part to multi-story residential complexes. Soon one more, an apartment building called Proxy 333, will join the mix. It’s a 118-unit, six-story urban…

We’re fortunate in metro Phoenix to have several art venues with robust offerings in fine-art photography – including Tilt Gallery in Scottsdale and Art Intersection in Gilbert. And First Friday regulars know they can typically get a photo fix at Drive-Thru Gallery and Bokeh Gallery in Roosevelt Row — or…

Tempe artist Danielle Wood stood near her newest art installation on Sunday morning, April 17, talking about her work with people taking a bicycling tour of public art in Scottsdale. Several of her ceramic works, inspired by cactus and coral forms, comprise an installation called Desert Playa located in Old…

A crisp white sheet that’s hung like fresh laundry using wooden clothespins bears three carefully embroidered letters: KKK. It’s placed behind a small wooden ironing board, its flat surface bearing the diagram of a crowded slave ship cargo hold. Nearby, a white dress hangs above a small chair holding the…