We’ve finally hit the art-meets-weather sweet spot, when temperatures are just right for making the art walk rounds during First and Third Fridays. A whole new crop of shows opens this week, and some cool shows are about to close. So start early, and enjoy this mix of art and…

Given the rich complexity of feminism past and present, we were intrigued to learn of the latest exhibition at Shade Gallery, located at monOrchid in Roosevelt Row. Titled “Feminism Today,” the exhibition features works by 13 local artists — all of them women whom curator Nicole Royse says she’s long…

An artist who created a fictional queer family history. An artist best known for rendering soup cans. An artist who works with bits of screen and guitar strings. They’re all part of spring exhibitions in metro Phoenix, which invite reflection on everything from the commodification of nature to the cult…

We saw some beautiful murals go up during Paint PHX 2015, a four-day mural painting event organized by Thomas “Breeze” Marcus and other local artists, which officially kicked off last Thursday, March 5 and continued through Sunday, March 8. Most of the activity was centered in Roosevelt Row, Grand Avenue,…

Art Detour 27 organizers ran with a clear theme this time around: Connecting the dots. And they had some fun with it. Signs with giant red dots turned up in everything from dirt lots to planters. Green dot stickers sporting the word #phxdots hashtag got slapped onto all sorts of…

After Cole and Dayna Reed closed their Phoenix GreenHAUS and relocated to Portland, windows that once allowed passersby to peek into the building at 222 E. Roosevelt were covered. It wasn’t apparent from the street, but interior demolition of the building began on February 12. Baron Properties, the company that…

As we’re all gearing up to gorge on art during Art Detour, it’s worth noting that making the First Friday rounds is a fabulous way to knock some prime exhibits off your weekend art to-do list. There’s a long list of things we’re eager to see, but these are the…

It’s never fun when the number of good choices we’re faced with outpaces the amount of time we have to enjoy them. But that’s often the case during First and Third Friday in metro Phoenix, when there’s never enough time to explore every exhibit and arts-related event taking place in…

Recently we spotted Phoenix artist Tato Caraveo in mural-painting mode at Paz Cantina on Roosevelt Row, where interior walls sport paintings by artists including Lalo Cota and a pair of sculptures now erupt from planters painted by Sabrino Peros and other local artists. You’ll spot a new Lalo Cota mural…

Truth be told, the coolest part about Canal Convergence 2015 was seeing people of all walks of life converge along the canal and surrounding parts to explore works of art and other cultural gems. For four days, from February 26 to March 1, the streets of downtown Scottsdale came alive…

We headed to the Scottsdale Waterfront at Marshall Way Bridge a couple of days ago, eager to catch Saskia Jordá in the act of art-making. We’d heard installation was well underway for her large-scale piece called Migration, which is one of several temporary art works featured in the four-day Canal…

When in doubt, start your First and Third Friday art adventures with the trio of shipping containers turned gallery spaces at the Roosevelt Row A.R.T.S. Market, where interesting work and opportunities to talk with a diverse assortment of artists abound. That’s our take home from this month’s Third Friday, where…

California has its beaches. New Jersey has its boardwalks. Arizona has its canals. For Scottsdale, one particular canal section has been elevated to near celebrity status — serving for several years now as the site of a multi-day arts and culture extravaganza called Canal Convergence. Scottsdale’s third annual Canal Convergence…

Art lovers, take note. It’s time for the annual pilgrimage officially dubbed the ASU Ceramic Studio Tour. This 14th annual event, presented by the ASU Art Museum Ceramic Research Center, features two days of self-guided studios tours and demonstrations by dozens of ceramic artists. It’s a chance to look behind…

There’s lots of good stuff to see this month, especially as galleries and studios ramp up for next month’s Art Detour event. See as much as you can during Third Friday, so you’ll have more time for other viewings once Art Detour, taking place March 7 and 8, is upon…

Although New Times named Rebecca Green’s The Storybook at The Lodge Art Studio the best mural of 2013, Green was never fully satisfied with the work. “It wasn’t really planned,” she says. But the open wall was there, so she went for it. “I’ll just give it a shot,” she…

Prescott artist Julie Comnick spent nine months asking musical instrument shops across the country for violins deemed beyond repair. After gathering close to 100 violins, she took them to a mountaintop clearing and then set them alight at dusk. For 12 hours, she watched them burn — and recorded what…

Whether you’re more into opera or erotic/exotic art, we’ve got a fun selection of ways to spend that special day — plus the night before and day after. Think theater, circus arts, museum play date, ballet, and more. Exotic Art Show February 13 Alwun House Fetish attire is welcome, but…

Artwork, street performers, food trucks, and super-size boom boxes made this month’s First Friday an especially lively affair. Folks visiting Roosevelt Row had fun with way-finding, thanks to towers of arrows pointing the way to local art venues and local businesses, and signs signaling nearby sources of artwork, coffee, beer,…