Maybe all you know of Michelangelo is that he’s one of four Italian Renaissance artists whose names got co-opted for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Chances are, you’ll still get a charge from seeing a collection of his drawings now on view at the Phoenix Art Museum. Frankly, you…
Gracie Whyte and Laura Berg have a thing for dancing in unexpected places. The women behind the Los Angeles-based dance duo known collectively as WHYTEBERG have performed to Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” in the left turn lane of a street in Echo Park, and to the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me…
Break out your best happy dance. Choreographer, performer, writer, and educator Liz Lerman recently joined the faculty for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at ASU. As Institute Professor, she’ll lead programs and courses that span disciplines within and beyond the Herberger Institute. Lerman founded the Liz Lerman…
Shooting photographs has long been a part of William LeGoullon’s art practice. But about three and a half years ago, the trajectory of his work changed after LeGoullon tried his hand at shooting a gun. “I went out shooting with some friends,” he says. “It’s a strangely seductive experience.” They’d…
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: Jeff Zischke, whose works for Scottsdale Public Art…
The Grand Avenue Arts District saw plenty of change in 2015. Chartreuse gallery opened inside the historic Bragg’s Pie Factory building, Palabras began creating a Spanish/English bookstore, and artists working with Colibri Center for Human Rights in Tucson painted an immigration-themed mural on the La Melgosa building. But more changes are…
Even if you didn’t enjoy Snakes on a Plane and are currently fretting over poisonous, slithering creatures possibly finding their way to California shores thanks to El Niño, odds are, you’ll still dig the new mural at the recently opened Cobra Arcade Bar in Roosevelt Row. Painted by internationally renowned street artists El…
Stéphane Janssen has traveled the globe taking his clothes off for the sake of art. The Scottsdale-based art collector has posed dozens of times for New York artist Spencer Tunick, who creates and photographs art installations using nude bodies as his medium. Now, after years of collecting and posing for Tunick’s…
Some of you were still recovering from New Year’s Eve celebrations when January First Friday went down on January 1. We get it. But now you’ve got plenty of ways to redeem yourself during Third Friday and some new places to get your local art fix — including the new…
The hair salon and art space Palabra is moving to a new location on Friday, January 15, according to owner Jorge Ignacio Torres, who was a visual arts finalist for the New Times’ Big Brain Awards in 2015. Torres revealed the new address, which is 909 North First Street, via Instagram…
Roosevelt Row underwent some serious changes in 2015. The small section of downtown Phoenix renowned for its thriving arts scene saw several buildings, including those that were home to GreenHaus and Bodega 420, demolished to make way for new multi-level residential developments. Lauren Lee’s iconic Three Birds mural was torn down in…
Murals abound in metro Phoenix – where local and international artists regularly add to the city’s vibrant street art scene. You can’t turn a corner without seeing some sort of street art, whether it’s a large-scale mural or a tiny wheat paste work. It’s part of what makes Phoenix look…
Famed muralist El Mac, who grew up in Phoenix but now lives in Los Angeles, has been commissioned by Mesa Arts Center to paint a mural at its venue. “We’re still in the design phase,” says Tiffany Fairall, associate curator for Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, which is located on the…
We expected to see all sorts of cats and guitars at Chartreuse, where they’re the subject of an exhibition that opened on First Friday, January 1. We hadn’t quite anticipated the fact that once you get cats and guitars on the brain, it’s hard not to find them lurking around…
Masses of nude bodies photographed floating in the Dead Sea, fine art paintings by graffiti artist El Mac, and plays performed on Valley Metro Light Rail trains — they’ll all be part of the 2016 arts and culture scene here in metro Phoenix, where works of visual and performance art…
Artist Irma Sanchez left her Phoenix studio space early Wednesday afternoon on a mission. She was headed to a spot near Central Avenue and Buckeye Road, close to the neighborhood where she grew up, to install a set of three white tiles painted with black symbols and letters referencing a…
Odds are, you’ll be spending part of New Year’s Day recovering from celebrating into the wee hours the night before. But there’s some serious incentive to bounce back by nightfall, when many downtown Phoenix galleries will be open for the first First Friday of 2016. Here are five new art…
The audience was sparse one late October evening at Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. A curtain opened to reveal dancer Lenna DeMarco seated center stage atop a simple, pine-colored chair. With her short, silver-streaked hair tucked behind her ears, the 67-year-old dance faculty emeritus with Glendale Community College wore…
Too often deemed esoteric or frivolous by those who don’t run in literary circles, the literary journal has never really been the medium for the masses. Frankly, they’ve always been kind of a fringe thing. But Four Chambers 03, released in November 2015, affirms the literary magazine’s relevance and utility by…
The metro Phoenix gallery scene saw some significant changes in 2015. Several galleries closed, some new ones opened, and a few moved to new locations. Here’s a look back at the most noteworthy changes. Openings Art|Object Jeff Zischke – an artist familiar to most locals for his public art created…
It was a banner year in metro Phoenix for exhibitions featuring works created or collected by some of the world’s most famous artists. Phoenix Art Museum presented exhibitions featuring works by Leonardo da Vinci, Andy Warhol, and Ai Weiwei. And the Heard Museum presented photographs from Frida Kahlo’s personal collection…
There’s a new reason to head to Grand Avenue’s arts district. Unexpected Art Gallery, located at 734 West Polk Street, opened during the Grand Avenue Festival on November 14. Since then, it’s hosted the annual exhibition of the ASU Sculpture Club, a one-night show held during First Friday on December…
