Megalopolitan Life

The easiest way to check in on Arizona State University’s mega-talented art students? Visit Grant Street Studios in the warehouse district south of downtown Phoenix. The former textile factory is home to master’s candidates’ studio spaces (which are open for touring once a year and also by appointment), and the Herberger Institute facility also has two galleries where grad students, alumni, and faculty regularly display art. Your best bet for variety is Step Gallery. The student-run space hosts MFA thesis exhibitions, work from alumni, and the occasional group show. Which easily makes it one of the most exciting places to discover local art in the Valley.

Your car’s navigation will never, ever, ever route you to the 303. That’s because, based purely on mileage, it is always out of the way. But here’s the thing: If you ever dare to venture the 10-15 miles out of your way, ignore the incessant route recalculations on your navigation system, and take the lovely, practically brand-new stretch, you’ll discover that it takes exactly the same amount of time to get to where you were going as if you had taken the 101 or Grand Avenue. The only difference is, you’ll be cruising along at top speed, without any traffic to distract you from your car karaoke. If your route should take you north, the section from Interstate 17 westward is an especially beautiful drive, the empty stretch lined with saguaros and jagged mountain peaks. Sure, you’ll put more mileage on your car, but it’s a hell of a lot nicer than watching taillights during rush hour, and sometimes, an even faster way to get to where you’re going.

Parking lots are pretty utilitarian: Find a spot, leave your car, head out again. Which is why we love the lot at Uptown Plaza, the increasingly hip strip mall located on the northeastern corner of Camelback Road and Central Avenue. We don’t know who spray-painted references to cult-classic movies on random parking spots throughout the property, but we’re certainly glad they did. Time, weather, and traffic have started to fade the sayings, but drive around and look closely, and you can see “Bye Felicia” from the 1995 Chris Tucker/Ice Cube comedy Friday, “Rule #1: Cardio” from the 2009 horror comedy Zombieland, and our personal favorite, “8:30 Res @ Dorcia,” a reference to the restaurant Patrick Bateman can never get into in 2000’s American Psycho. Of course, once you park at Uptown Plaza, you’ve got plenty of great dining and shopping options to choose from, including Local Nomad, West Elm, Shake Shack, and Lou Malnati’s, which makes finding a space in the lot all the more desirable.

Based on conventional wisdom, it’s just not cool to interrupt a dinner date with a trip to the bathroom. But your date will understand when you’re dining at Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza’s Barrio Café Gran Reserva, located inside the historic Bragg’s Pie Factory in the Grand Avenue Arts District. Before Esparza opened the restaurant in 2016, she had some of the Valley’s best-loved muralists cover not only the interior walls of the dining area, but the bathrooms as well. Our favorite is a unisex bathroom painted by Angel Diaz, who chose a revolution theme complete with a figure dubbed El Soldado painted on the interior of the door. Pablo Luna painted the ladies’ room, and Lalo Cota’s work fills a nearby nook. So, at least one trip to the bathroom is a must, your dinner date be damned.

We’ve got to admit, CO+HOOTS is sort of brilliant: a shared workspace, which you pay to use, that promotes collaboration, offers mentorships and monthly networking events, and boasts the resources you need to make your business successful. In other words, CO+HOOTS has all the things you wish your local library branch had, but with a higher price point and better-looking people. Members can choose their membership level by the day, month, or year, and gain access to a co-working space filled with fellow entrepreneurs, a stocked fridge, and colorful conference rooms. On top of that, CO+HOOTS and its nonprofit foundation do so much to promote local businesses, build community, and increase diversity in the workforce. Let’s get to work.

By nature of the medium, street art is temporary. Whether it’s tagged, painted over, or eroded by the elements, it’s the kind of creative expression that isn’t designed to stand the test of time. Neither was a downtown Phoenix mural Keith Haring painted with local high schoolers back in 1986. The pop artist’s kokopelli-adjacent “urban hieroglyphics” still pull heavyweight status in the zeitgeist, gracing Urban Outfitters accessories and becoming a Google Doodle. But that mural he painted on a since-demolished building at Central Avenue and Adams Street? After years of sun exposure, it was dismantled and apparently hauled off to the dump — save for one panel that was reportedly spotted at a nearby cafe before it disappeared. What happened to the rest? Who knows?

JB Snyder’s artwork, which graces the official map for Roosevelt Row, has become the new face of an ever-evolving arts district. It’s a beautiful mix of order with chaos, infused with bright colors like lime green and canary yellow that convey a sense of vibrancy and forward movement. One of several Snyder murals in downtown Phoenix, it’s a popular background for camera-happy tourists and locals. Snyder calls the mural Dressing Room 3.0 because he’s painted three different designs on the same east-facing wall, starting in 2010. The latest design, painted in 2016, is a cheerful reminder that local love still rules in downtown Phoenix.

Once upon a time, Arizona was under water. These days, artist Danielle Wood uses ceramic sculptures to remind us of that fact. Calling to mind the interchangeability of cactus and underwater flora, she has created Desert Playa as part of the recent IN FLUX cycle of temporary, site-specific art installations across the Valley. Presented at The Arts at Marshall Square, Wood’s work assembles a fired and glazed coral colony in a muted palette of off-white and gray. At night, the sculptures are all the more striking. Lit from within, they look downright otherworldly, the utterly still shapes harking back to an age long past.

Janet Echelman, an internationally renowned sculptor, took the title for her monumental 145-foot aerial sculpture from poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s reference to the patience evident in nature. Installed in downtown Phoenix in 2009, the sculpture draws one’s gaze up toward the sky, creating shadows that mirror the complexities of urban life. During a time of fast-paced development, Echelman’s sculpture prompts reflection on the fact that patience can be a virtue or a vice in the world of urban planning. With its shifting light patterns and nighttime colors that change depending on the season, it’s a visual reminder that cities and communities are in constant flux. But the sculpture is also a beacon, drawing people from surrounding areas to converge in a common space, where the interplay of diverse ideas mirrors the sculpture’s own delicate web.

Julia Fournier thrifts Pucci dresses like nobody’s business, but that’s not the only reason to stop by this funky enclave, fronted by Fournier’s vintage shop, The Bee’s Knees. Fournier also shows local art, and The Hive houses Wasted Ink Zine Distro, billed as the hub for local DIY zinesters. Round things out with drinks from Silent Flight coffee and make a day of it.

This is Phoenix. When Christmas rolls around, there’s no winter wonderland, no riding in one-horse open sleighs, and no roasting chestnuts on an open fire (it’s probably a no-burn day, anyway). What we’ve got, though, are mild evenings perfect for driving around and looking at holiday light displays, and the Moon Valley Neighborhood Association’s 12 Homes of Christmas event in north central Phoenix is our favorite way to do it. The 29 subdivisions that comprise the MVNA include plenty of homeowners who go all out on the decorating front, including sound, light, and motion displays. Judges come through in early December to pick the delightful dozen, then produce a guide to the winners (along with winners in several other categories like the Spirit of Christmas award and the Santa’s Helper award). Print out a map, pick up a hot cocoa (or an iced coffee, depending on the forecast), and get ready to light up the night.

The best up-and-coming gallery in Phoenix is a reboot. The Sagrado Galleria first opened in 2012 in the Grand Avenue Arts District. But it closed for a time, and reopened in November 2016 at its new south Phoenix location. During its first year in the new space, the gallery presented works by dozens of local artists. But it’s more than just an arts venue. It’s also a community space. The Sagrado Galleria is a place where visitors from diverse backgrounds enjoy visual art, music, workshops on topics such as ancestral birthing practices and colonization, film screenings, and performances. There’s even a pop-up coffee bar and opportunities for local artisans to sell their works. The gallery also partners with community groups on murals and other projects, smashing the stereotype of art galleries as isolated, sterile places where only hardcore art lovers gather or feel at home.

The closest you’ll get to having a Lisa Sette-caliber eye is probably walking around the Valley art tastemaker’s gallery. If you’re lucky, perhaps you have pockets deep enough to purchase a piece from her stellar stable of artists. Assuming you’re not ready to drop all the dollar bills on politically charged sculptures, paintings, and mixed media, you’ll just have to settle for soaking up work by Carrie Marill, Angela Ellsworth, and Rachel Bess in a beautifully revamped subterranean Al Beadle building. Naturally, Sette, who brings three decades of curating expertise to each show, presents them all in perfectly appointed fashion.

Art festivals happen a lot around these parts. Maybe too often, even for art lovers. The old model of throwing up a bunch of booths filled with artwork isn’t all that captivating anymore. The best art festivals bring art to unexpected places, blend visual with performance art, and have plenty of ways for festivalgoers to get creative instead of being passive observers. That’s just what happened at the last Canal Convergence, when artists and community members gathered along the banks of the Arizona Canal. Festivalgoers enjoyed four nights of art installations and performances including live music, mural painting, and dance by creatives from both the local and international scenes. Most spectacular were light-based installations that set the desert landscape and waterway aglow, creating beautiful settings for snapshot-loving types and “Wow” moments that sparked lively conversations between strangers and friends.

Year in, year out, the Phoenix Film Festival spoils Valley moviegoers. Its 2017 edition brought 175 films to Harkins Scottsdale 101, where some 20,000 people came together for a week to watch local, national, and international films in an unpretentious environment. This year, the festival highlighted just how much moviemaking potential there is in Arizona by screening an array of films — including documentaries, shorts, and features — made here or by people from here. Ryan Anderson and his feature IMperfect took home best Arizona filmmaker and Arizona feature, while Peter Byck’s documentary One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts won best Arizona short.

Look, call us old-fashioned, but the food service during a film screening just doesn’t work for us. We like to get our snacks and drinks before the flick starts, so for our money, you can’t beat Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square. The food and drink is pretty damn stellar — including coffee drinks from Cartel, craft beers, wine, and upgraded takes on standard theater munchies — and the reclining, plush seats are comfy as hell. Programming works hard to match any taste: You can catch indie movies like Lady Macbeth if that’s your bag, or stick to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2-size blockbusters — Camelview screens ’em all.

Whether you’re looking for a new indie release, insightful documentary, classic film programming, or a Big Gay Sing-Along Night, the FilmBar downtown is the place for those who want an alternative to the multiplex experience. The bar’s geared toward lounging, but it’s the thoughtful programming and personalized vibe that sets FilmBar apart from its corporate competition. Since opening in 2011, FilmBar has served passionate Phoenix film fans, working with an eye toward the local community. The theater’s monthly Arizona Film Showcase offers local filmmakers a chance to show off their work on the regular.

There’s an inherent joy in seeing relatively recent film releases on the cheap, but visiting East Valley real estate mogul Michael Pollack’s Pollack Tempe Cinemas is an experience in itself. Bathed in strange, purple light, the theater serves as a home for a huge chunk of Pollack’s collection of pop culture ephemera. Life-size statues of Spock, Darth Vader, and Jar Jar Binks? Check. An animatronic band of pirates? Also check. Pollack’s peculiar aesthetic drives the feel of the place, featuring vintage tin lunchboxes with ’70s cartoon characters alongside giant photos of Pollack’s lion’s mane of hair posed next to former President George Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney. It’s a one-of-a-kind place, the kind of place worth scoping out even if you don’t catch a matinee of that superhero flick you missed when it was in regular theaters a few months ago.

Phoenix’s history runs deep. Block 23, otherwise known as that empty parking lot next to CityScape, has seen its share of activity over the years: a theater, a JCPenney, and, before that, the city’s first fire station. But when construction crews broke ground for what will eventually become a mixed-use development, they uncovered something older than all the previous tenants combined: five Hohokam pit houses believed to date back as far as 300 B.C. The site was remarkably intact given the centuries of activity above, but takeaway artifacts were few and far between. And while construction ultimately resumed, tearing up the remaining houses in the process, archaeologists were able to preserve some shards of pottery, which will be recorded, carbon-dated, and eventually gifted to the Pueblo Grande Museum.

We heard it from a school friend ages ago: “If you hold your breath through the whole freeway tunnel and make a wish, your wish will come true.” The tunnel in question is the Papago Freeway Tunnel, more commonly known as the Deck Park Tunnel, which is part of Interstate 10 and runs from approximately Third Street to Third Avenue. That’s 2,887 feet of road. We’re not exactly sure if holding your breath while driving at freeway speeds in a dimly lit concrete tube is a great idea, but we like the idea of multitasking by getting some wishes granted on the daily commute.

Have you been feeling stressed? Had something that you just can’t get off your mind? A burden weighing on your shoulders? We hate to say it, but all that worry may be causing your aura to get a bit mucked up. But it’s nothing that Ron Seavey and his team at Phoenix Rising Now can’t handle. With their aura photography and imaging technology, they’ll pinpoint what has your energy all whacked out and use energy or crystal healing to get everything back in sync. You’ll walk out of Phoenix Rising feeling refreshed, with a squeaky clean aura. And when you’re perusing the crystals Phoenix Rising Now has on display and one particular healing stone seems to be pulling you in, just go with it. Your aura may be trying to tell you something.

Located among the quaint storefronts of Historic Downtown Glendale, the Astrology Store is a metaphysical supply store and gift shop that definitely draws attention. Yes, there are books, jewelry, even a massage studio — but it also makes sense that The Astrology Store would have some decent astrology readings. The shop has a small fleet of readers specializing in astrology, among other subjects, in the store for 20- and 30-minute sessions. One reader in particular is Dave Campbell, a member of both the American Federation of Astrologers and the Arizona Society of Astrologers, who specializes in natal, forecast, relationship, relocation, asteroid, and horary readings. The shop also offers a specialty astrology class series and the Superstar Advanced Course in Asteroids, plus books on how to conduct your own astrology reading if you were so inclined.

Scottsdale artist Oliver Hibert dabbles in the erotic, the creepy, and the trippy. Small wonder he’d lend his talent for painting spectacularly psychedelic scenes to three sets of tarot card decks, including his most recent Secret Arcana edition. This 22-card divination set is a saturated, mod take on the symbols and themes of a typical tarot set. Instead of pentacles, cups, and swords, Hibert unleashes headless bodies, skeleton keys, and outer-space scenes in chartreuse, lime, highlighter yellow, and flamingo pink. And yes, the set comes with an explainer booklet that reveals what all that stuff means.

It’s about 5,000 miles from Phoenix to Dublin, so it’s not exactly practical to hop a plane to the Emerald Isle to experience the best of Irish culture. We prefer to get in on the luck of the Irish a little closer to home; namely, at the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library in downtown Phoenix. It’s hard to miss — it’s the only set of buildings that looks like a freaking castle and Irish cottage in the neighborhood — and it’s got a little bit of everything. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations? Check. Full-color facsimile of the Book of Kells? Yup. Historical exhibits, live music, genealogy resources, and Irish dance classes? Those too. You can even get married there if your nearest and dearest aren’t willing to go to Ireland for a destination wedding. Whatever the reason for visiting, we feel lucky that the Irish Cultural Center is a part of downtown Phoenix.

Some superstitions say that black cats bring bad luck. Some superstitions say black cats bring good luck. We say that black cats, like all cats, are soft and adorable and we want to snuggle them. When the urge hits, we go to La Gattara Cat Lounge & Boutique. The lounge, which opened earlier this year, is a bright space decorated in cheerful tones of pink and blue. Shag rugs, pillows, and beanbag chairs dot the floor, making it feel like someone’s basement rec room — y’know, if that person also had, like, 20 cats. Besides allowing the feline-loving public to just come in and hang out for a small fee, the lounge also holds a number of events, like yoga with cats, cat-themed movie nights, group painting sessions, and even speed dating. The cats and kittens come from a number of local rescue groups and are adoptable, so if you happen to fall in love with one feline in particular (black or otherwise), you could end up with a forever friend. Lucky you.

You’ll spot Psychic Consultations by the small sign announcing psychic readings in the front yard of a little white house at the corner of 44th Street and Glenrosa Avenue. After you find street parking, you’ll meet your reader — a European woman who specializes in tarot card readings and palmistry. Psychic Consultations covers areas like relationships, goals, career paths, and spiritual development through their palm reading-services. You’ll get a basic character reading in this quaint east Phoenix neighborhood home, which is said to provide insights to yourself, your future, and your love life in 30-minute and one-hour sessions. What’s more, they’re also available for parties and events. Plus, there are plenty of good restaurants around for after your reading.

In Phoenix, we’ve got a bad habit of tearing down our history. So go scope out the Buckhorn Baths sign while you can. The famous Mesa curiosity, posted outside of the long-shuttered Buckhorn Mineral Baths, has been the subject of much debate and was included in a historic-trust purchase. To this day, no one can quite decide what will become of it. Make the trek to Mesa and take it in. Bask in its kitschy glory. There’s something majestic about that buck deer gazing out over Mesa. It’s a relic of bygone days, of Old West mystique, and former glories. Even as Mesa morphs and sprawls, there’s something about that stoic buckhorn that seems to remind us of who we once were, of the promise and hope of the desert. We can’t put a finger on it either, but it’s worth preserving.

Call us traditionalists: On Halloween, we’re less about topical yet sexy costumes and overpriced cover charges at bars, and more into some good, old-fashioned spookiness. Which is why we love PoeFest, an annual event in downtown Phoenix that pays homage to the creepy genius of the original master of horror, Edgar Allan Poe. For much of the month of October, PoeFest puts on live renditions of some of the author’s most beloved works at the very haunted San Carlos Hotel; local actors dress up as asylum patients and perform dramatic readings of works like “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The 2016 iteration, the festival’s eighth, even included a seance where participants tried to make contact with Poe himself. The festival culminates with multiple readings of Poe’s “The Raven” at the turn-of-the-century Rosson House on October 31. The poem is pretty short, so you can get a strong dose of Halloween spirit before donning your costume and heading off to the bar.

In the age of Atlas Obscura and murder podcast fandom, some of the city’s more sinister properties are getting some renewed attention. The most prominent is the duplex of the 1931 murderess Winnie Ruth Judd. It was at this midtown home that the infamous Judd murdered her two roommates with a .25 caliber handgun before packing their bodies into trunks and taking the train out of Phoenix’s Union Station with the victims in tow. After being caught and found guilty for her crimes, Judd was sentenced to a state mental hospital in 1933. Unlike the deceased murderess herself, however, the house lives on despite a close call with demolition last year. And while this macabre piece of real estate is private property, true crime enthusiasts can easily drive by the murder house for a shot of its eerie exterior.

For those of us that like to daydream about our future homes in Phoenix, Tonka Vista is essentially our Fight Club: We don’t talk about it, because spreading the word about Tonka Vista means surrendering some of its charm. Despite being centrally located, backing up to State Route 51 and Bethany Home Road, this midcentury marvel manages to keep a low profile. With rolling streets and homes designed by prominent architects, including Ralph Haver, Fred Guirey, and Al Beadle, Tonka Vista has just about everything you want in a Phoenix suburb: great location, scenic streets, designer dwellings, and of course, a hush-hush address.

There’s a little pocket of houses on the west side, bounded by Dunlap and Northern avenues and 35th and 43rd avenues, and a bunch of them are true-blue Ralph Haver homes. The renowned midcentury architect’s low-slung designs are unmistakable with their slanted rooflines, clerestory windows, massive mantle-less chimneys, and tidy cinder block construction. They’re also much sought after, and with fewer than 20,000 Havers in all of Arizona, we’re sure this pocket tract will be hot real estate any day now. Grab one while you can, before this neighborhood even has a nickname.

We’ve got two words for why the Modern Phoenix Home Tour keeps returning to Paradise Gardens: Beadle Mania. The north Phoenix neighborhood nestled near Shea Boulevard and 32nd Street has some of the best examples of Midcentury Modern aesthetic in town, thanks to acclaimed architect Al Beadle, who had a hand in the initial design of the area. Whether the houses are genuinely his, however, is up for debate (supposedly, Beadle did not want his name associated with the project in the end). Regardless, the ’60s-style concrete block homes are breezy and balanced thanks to curated desert landscapes and color accents that pop against earthy undertones. It’s an unassuming area of town for sure, but its restaurant scene is improving, and from the right angle, it could rival a residential area in Palm Springs.

This historic neighborhood sandwiches the Interstate 10 and serves up 20th-century charm. Founded by Francis Quarles Story in 1920 (hence the name), this 602-home hood features an assortment of Tudors, bungalows, and Spanish revivals — a good majority of which have been lovingly restored to their architectural heyday. Despite the slightly patchy surroundings, F.Q. delivers a serious draw: downtown proximity, pedestrian-friendly streets, and some serious curb appeal. So although homes in this area are of modest size, the real estate is pricey. No matter, we’re fine oohing and aahing at the neighborhood’s annual home tour in December.

The Willo Historic Home Tour is our favorite see-and-be-seen old-house extravaganza. Every February, we head to downtown Phoenix to play lookie-loo at a dozen or more beautifully restored historic homes representing a variety of styles and eras: bungalows from the ’20s, modified ranches from the ’50s, Tudors and Craftsmans and adobes. After checking out crown moldings and wood floors and neat old furnishings, we head to the street fair featuring local vendors. Unlike some historic home tours, this one features a trolley that will take us to and fro, and an all-day pass lets us revisit our favorites, too.

A good Christmas lights display is equal parts awe, merriment, and pity for one’s neighbors. The Sepanek home, south of the intersection of 44th Street and Camelback Road, makes you wonder if the rest of the people in the neighborhood simply take December off. Go to Fiji? Hibernate? It must be damn near impossible for the Sepaneks’ neighbors to muster up the Christmas spirit to deal with the steady flow of cars come holiday time, not to mention the sleep-deprivation chambers their own houses must become, with millions of watts’ worth of twinkle shining through their windows at all hours of the night. But that’s not our problem. We silently thank those poor sods as we walk the grounds of the Christmas extravaganza on their block. Kids will love the bubbles, hot chocolate, and animatronic reindeers. Adults will love the fact that it’s free. And everyone can get on board with the care and attention that has gone into each crèche, character, and carol singer; the display’s tradition has carried on for over 30 years. Ho-ho-holy electric bill!

In the blazing hot Arizona summer, it’s probably best to restrict one’s moviegoing to traditional indoor theaters. But when the temperature drops and we can bear to be outside again, Street Food Cinema is our movie experience of choice. The concept, which began in California and headed east to Phoenix in 2016, brings together classic films, local music, and food trucks for a thoroughly satisfying night of entertainment. Phoenix’s events are held from fall through early summer at Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix, where cinephiles bring a blanket or chair to sit on and watch films like Mean Girls, Edward Scissorhands, Dirty Dancing, and Back to the Future on a giant inflatable screen. Local acts MRCH, Celebration Guns, and The Senators have provided tunes for the series, and past food truck participants include favorites like Cousins Maine Lobster and Waffle Luv.

Ever since turning a bad psychedelic mushroom trip into online comedy gold at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014, Anwar Newton has proved time and again that he’s not just good for a laugh, he’s good for the Phoenix stand-up scene as a whole. On top of building a following for his own observational anecdotes, the 30-something humorist has helped shape a community of other local comics who hone their craft at Newton’s signature shows: the monthly Literally the Worst Show Ever with co-host Dan Thompson at Valley Bar and the weekly This Week Sucks Tonight at Crescent Ballroom. For upcoming shows, jokes, and posts about Ja Rule Day (a December 9 holiday invented by Newton and recently recognized by Ja himself) follow him on Twitter @thenawarnewton.

After pestering U.S. Representative Trent Franks for months, Indivisible Surprise chapter president Wendy Garcia finally got her sit-down with the conservative politician, and she was sure to share every moment of it on Facebook Live. Before entering a private room for a health care roundtable, Garcia and others were told not to take photos or videos during the meeting. Garcia coyly stood her iPhone upright between her hands as she sat across from the Republican and grilled him on his politics live on her Facebook page. Halfway through the 40-minute sit-down with Franks, his assistant asked Garcia if she had been filming the entire time. She answered truthfully. Franks said he knew and dismissed the incident, but the assistant later took Garcia aside to scold her. Smile! You’re on Candid Camera.

We don’t know who maintains this one, or how we heard about it, or even if anyone will pick it back up now that school has started again, but we love the simple idea behind @asusleeps, which is this: Take photos of members of the Arizona State University community sleeping. Not in their beds. On couches, in class, anywhere a little shut-eye is not encouraged. It’s harmless (well, probably most of the time) and hilarious and we totally volunteer to man this one if the last person’s done. Or asleep.

It’s no secret that we’re pretty big fans of designer Kelsey Dake Rushing’s work. The artist was a Big Brain finalist back in 2013 and one of our 100 Creatives the year before that. After a stint living in the Pacific Northwest, the illustrator, whose work has appeared in the New York Times and McSweeney’s, returned to Phoenix. And since then, we have been borderline obsessed with her Insta — and her terrier, Truman. Follow along for in-progress drawings in her uniquely grotesque cartoonish style, as well as desert scenes and personal snapshots. And if you’re in the market for a second string of updates from Dake Rushing, she started an account under @kelseyrushing, her married name, that’s dedicated to her house-rehabbing projects. Come for the DIY tips, stay for the impeccable design choices.

Whether podcaster Jared Duran is talking to indie icon Robyn Hitchcock, Arizona roots musician Jon Rauhouse, or storyteller Jessie Balli, he’s got an ear for hearing. Quietly pushing his guests to explain their processes and artistic drive, Duran takes the long-game approach, allowing conversation to unfold organically and welcoming insightful detours. Associated closely with literary journal Four Chambers, he tends toward lit guests — like Paul Mosier, Clotee Hammons, and poet Jia Oak Baker — but Duran’s just as engaging speaking with filmmakers and musicians. And like all great podcasters, he understands that he’s part of the draw, opening each episode with a thoughtful rundown of his recent thoughts on current events and cultural touchstones.

When Phoenix City Council member and stalwart fiscal conservative Jim Waring discovered that his sunglasses had gone missing, police launched an in-depth investigation to find the culprit. They watched surveillance video from the Phoenix Public Library’s Mesquite branch, where the $300 prescription lenses had disappeared from the men’s bathroom. They identified a suspect, described in police reports as wearing “a desirable hip pack (better known as a fanny pack),” and traced the license plates of cars leaving the library. They even tested DNA from a camouflage hat that the alleged thief had left behind. But despite all that, the sunglasses are still at large. Shortly after the Arizona Republic‘s Alia Beard Rau reported on the saga, a novelty Twitter account titled @JimsSunglasses popped up. “It’s an insurance fraud. He buried me in the desert,” the Twitterer explained.

A round of applause for Liliana Gomez. The dancer and choreographer is one of the Valley’s most omnipresent performers, one who always seems to be organizing festivals, teaching kids, and championing her fellow creatives. It surprised exactly nobody when Gomez took home a Mayor’s Arts Award for her contributions to the community in 2015 — nor when she nabbed an Artist Award from the 2017 Governor’s Arts Awards. Over the summer, she brought the first-ever BlakTina Dance Festival to Phoenix, putting the spotlight on work by black and Latinx choreographers. What’s next? We’d put money on another well-deserved award or two.

Phoenix puppeteer Stacey Gordon doesn’t need directions to get to Sesame Street. The woman behind Grand Avenue’s Puppet Pie studio has been there and back, playing the long-running PBS show’s newest character Julia, a red-haired, green-eyed girl with autism. First appearing on the show’s digital platform, Julia made her debut on the children’s TV show in April 2017. And rumor has it Gordon will shoot several more episodes, which will air on the show’s new network, HBO. No need to worry, though. Gordon’s still based in Phoenix, and teaching puppet-making workshops when she isn’t creating new creatures or performing improv.

Eisner-nominated Arizona artist Tony Parker has drawn big-name characters like Batman and Wolverine for DC and Marvel, but it’s his indie projects that showcase his style best. With writer Paul Cornell, he launched This Damned Band, a ’70s rock ‘n’ roll epic laced with occult overtones. More recently, he teamed with writer Alex de Campi for Mayday, a similarly psychedelic Cold War story loaded with druggy escapes and all-too-topical Russian conspiratorial ruses. Parker’s style is expressive and detailed, with psychedelic flourishes that evoke the late ’60s and ’70s. One of the nicest dudes in comics, you can find Parker at events like Phoenix Comicon and on Twitter, where he discusses politics as much as comics news.

You think Donald Trump invented the term “fake news”? Sad! Phoenix’s own Paul Horner mastered the art of the hoax years ago. With the help of his Super Official News website and all-too-clickable share buttons across the internet, the late prankster duped countless social media users (and a few news outlets) into believing an array of pop culture-centered lies. They include but are certainly not limited to: a Banksy street art work discovered in Roosevelt Row, the world’s biggest Starbucks opening downtown, and Bill Murray embarking on a party tour of the continental U.S. None of ’em are true, but boy, are they more amusing than “real news” headlines.

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no shortage of storytelling events in Phoenix. From true stories to fiction, open mics to rehearsed readings, weekly roundups to monthly showcases, the desert narrative is now being told onstage and in front of a live audience. And yet, with so many outlets for pouring out tales of heartbreak and humor, there was still something missing up until this year — specifically, a space for black voices. Cue Phoenix native Rachel Egboro. The Storyline co-founder launched her own quarterly storytelling series, The Whole Story, to showcase a more comprehensive narrative of the black experience. In her first two shows, Egboro proved that she could bring not just the diversity of the black community to the stage, featuring everyone from stand-up comedian Anwar Newton to BlackPoet Ventures’ Leah Marche, but also a packed audience of listeners from all backgrounds to the theater. Needless to say, The Whole Story has opened up a whole new chapter for Phoenix storytelling.

Whether she’s describing the scene at a heartbreaking funeral for an entire family that perished in a flash flood, or recalling her hilarious journey (spoiler alert) across the finish line at her first marathon, Stina Sieg can tell the hell out of a story in all the best ways. She’s a reporter for KJZZ, our local National Public Radio affiliate, where she works tirelessly to find, report, and recount other people’s stories. We’ve also been lucky enough to hear her onstage at various storytelling events around town (including New Times’ own Bar Flies), telling her own tales. We’re never disappointed. Sieg’s got the gift and the heart, and we know her story’s just begun. We can’t wait to hear where it takes her.

Ted Simons, the host of KAET’s Arizona Horizon, knows the Valley. He’s been here three decades, hosting radio shows on KTAR and KZON, always demonstrating a blend of warm humor and deep knowledge. It’s no surprise Horizon recently won an Emmy — Simons has that kind of vibe. The host got his start at KAET, and his dedication to the station is clear. Discussing the Diamondbacks, local politics, the arts scene, or anything else on his plate, Simons aims for balanced voices and digs deep with his interview subjects, displaying a calm demeanor even while fostering healthy debate.

You’re no one in the world of hardline anti-immigration advocates unless you’ve made an appearance on the National Border Patrol Council’s podcast. Previous guests include “policy experts” from the xenophobic Center for Immigration Studies, disgraced former sheriffs Joe Arpaio and Paul Babeu, and, of course, Donald Trump. The president — then a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination — appeared on the show last May and complained that refugees entering the country “have cellphones with ISIS flags on them, and we’re supposed to say that it’s wonderful that we’re taking them in.” But along with the tirades against sanctuary policies and excoriations of former President Obama, the hourlong podcast often includes digressions into less thorny topics like the best places to get gas-station tacos and how many of the podcast’s listeners are named Ron. It’s a rare look into an agency that’s typically closed off to outsiders, which makes it a must-listen every week.

Over the past two years, this openly atheist duo have taken turns pissing off their conservative colleagues in the Arizona Legislature by giving invocations that don’t reference God or Jesus. In 2013, Mendez, then a state representative from Tempe, gave a shoutout to Carl Sagan rather than offer up a prayer to any particular deity. Afterward, Republicans barred him from giving any more invocations — unless, of course, he was willing to mention a higher power. This year, Salman, who also happens to be his partner, took up the fight when Mendez moved to the state Senate and she took his place in the Arizona House of Representatives. In April, she delivered an invocation that referenced “the humanity that resides within each and every person here” — not exactly a controversial sentiment, but one that earned her a rebuke from Republican leaders. If, one day, lawmakers finally get the memo that we’re no longer living in medieval times, we’ll probably have these two to thank.

Introducing legislation to crack down on unscrupulous individuals who defraud undocumented immigrants? Check. Fighting to get rid of the box that requires job applicants to disclose their prior convictions? Check. Trying to repeal the “No Promo Homo” law that’s responsible for rising HIV infection rates in Arizona? Check. In fact, name any issue that affects marginalized people in Phoenix, and there’s a good chance that Martin Quezada has sponsored or supported a bill intended to help fix it. Getting Republicans on board is often another story, but the Maryvale Democrat never stops trying. He’s also one of the hardest-working politicians out there: When the state Senate wrapped up its budget vote early (meaning, just a little after midnight), he headed to the House of Representatives to support his colleagues as they argued over teacher pay until the early hours of the morning. We’d suggest he run for higher office, but we’re too scared to lose one of the few progressive Democrats in the Legislature, and the one person we can consistently count on to inject a note of sanity into any debate.

During President Donald Trump’s August 22 speech at the Phoenix Convention Center, we couldn’t stop staring at the man sitting behind him — the one holding a “BLACKS FOR TRUMP” sign and wearing a T-shirt that said “Trump & Republicans Are Not Racist.” Was it the same “Blacks For Trump” guy who kept showing up for his campaign rallies in Florida? Why yes, it was. Somehow, Michael the Black Man (as he prefers to be called) had made it to Phoenix. A former member of the Yahweh ben Yahweh cult, Michael now runs a website where he rants about how the Cherokee tribe is destroying America. He’s also accused Oprah of being the devil, and Barack Obama of being endorsed by the KKK. So, in other words, it made perfect sense that he’d wind up in Arizona. The one thing that we want to know, though, is who paid for him to fly out here? Is it really that hard to find a non-white Trump supporter in Maricopa County these days?

The 2017 Academy Awards ceremony will live in infamy as the year that Warren Beatty announced the wrong freaking Best Picture winner (our mouths remain agape), but the metro Phoenix theater community will remember it as the time a local director was thanked from the winner’s podium. Emma Stone won Best Actress for her role in La La Land, and among the list of people she mentioned in her speech was Bobb Cooper, producing artistic director of Valley Youth Theatre. Stone, a Scottsdale native, performed in a number of VYT productions as a child before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 15 to pursue big-time acting dreams. We must admit, we felt a thrill of local pride not only to see the first Arizona-born actor take home an Oscar, but to hear her give love to one of our own.

As far as escapist entertainment goes, there’s nothing like a mindless action movie. And they don’t get much more mindless than Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment of director Michael Bay’s steel-crunching, ear-splitting franchise. Viewers in Arizona, however, will have more to watch for than just the blizzard of special effects. Parts of the movie were filmed in Arizona, including scenes at Luke Air Force Base, a junkyard, and stretches of Loop 303 and State Route 88. During the shooting of Transformers, 300 people made Arizona their home for three weeks last summer. Star Mark Wahlberg had nothing but good things to say about his temporary home, calling the state “amazing” in a farewell Instagram post. We appreciate it, Mark — don’t worry about what those film critics have to say.

Set in New York circa 1928, Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie takes us to a dim, gloomy corner of a dank lobby in a crummy hotel, where a sad old guy won’t stop talking to a night clerk who’s only half-listening. iTheatre Collaborative’s excellent production was especially notable for Greg Lutz’s performance as Erie, a shady grifter down on his luck since the death of the lamented night clerk in this fleabag hotel. Hughie is really an hourlong monologue delivered by a sad sack, and Lutz filled him with bluster and melancholy. In lesser hands, this peculiar mix of emotions might have been sentimental or pathetic, but Lutz as Erie was neither — and he broke our hearts.

Billy Elliot: The Musical is, of course, the one about the 11-year-old boy who wants to study dance in a small village in northeastern England where guys are expected to learn boxing. Its Phoenix Theatre production had plenty going for it: Maria Amorocho’s showstopping take on “Grandma’s Song”; Ross Nemeth’s joyful performance as Michael; and Sam Hay’s skillful choreography, which made even non-dancers appear poised. But it was Matthew Dean’s magnificent Billy that one remembers. His en pointe was polished, his singing superb, and “Angry Dance,” in which he exploded into a ball of fury (because no one in County Durham is as angry as a kid who wants to demi-plie but can’t), was worth, as the saying goes, the price of admission.

Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson’s tidy one-act isn’t perfect, but it offers interesting perspective and burnishes its rough edges with some real literary style. And in the case of Black Theatre Troupe’s production of Rasheeda Speaking, the cast and their director offset the script’s soft spots with sturdy acting and an obvious affection for the material. In the lead, Lillie Richardson gave an almost maniacally jovial performance as a smart-tongued schemer. Her big speech toward the end of the play, in which she talks about riding the bus with white-collar white men, was an acting class in stage subtlety. Katie McFadzen made a convincing leap from confident to cowed, and both performances were polished by direction from Matthew Wiener.

Written and performed by Rubén C. González, Arizona Theatre Company’s production of La Esquinita, USA peeked at a once-booming American border town, the kind in which the poor and undereducated find themselves trapped between prosperity and failure. Fast-paced and often funny, this one-act offered a series of intertwined monologues, each brought vividly to life with a minimum of costuming or contrivance by Gonzalez, a student of the London Academy for the Performing Arts. With crafty posturing and jargony Spanglish, he created real people whose truth-talking was infused with street slang and cautious profanity. Gonzalez wisely resisted a tidy “Let’s make lemonade!” approach to the harrowing death of the American factory town, and managed to make a story drenched in fear and hopelessness that was both entertaining and poetic.

Spring Awakening is a 2006 rock musical based on an 1891 German play, a coming-of-age story that hits hard on themes like sex education, homosexuality, suicide, teen pregnancy, and abuse. Not your typical high school production. It was amazing to consider the timelessness of the themes, and, frankly, a little unnerving to see them brought to life by kids. But everything from the acting to the singing to the staging of this production was top-notch — including the “talk back” portion after the play, designed to address stirred-up feelings. Bravo to ASA for taking a risk and nailing the results.

Damon Dering is a talented director and the founder of and driving force behind one of our town’s best alt theaters. He chooses mostly provocative and underproduced gems, and has helmed some of the better productions in Phoenix theater history. But it’s Dering’s heartfelt and amusing curtain speeches that continue to stay with us. Few troupes offer much more than an annoying prerecorded welcome (“… and if you’re going to unwrap any hard candy, do it now!”) these days, but Dering continues to receive his audiences with personal stories about the production we’re about to see. He’s shameless about asking for support, fearless when admitting how tough it can be to work as an artist these days, and effusive in his praise of casts and crews and those who bother to come out to see what they’ve created. Perhaps a festival of Dering’s 30 best curtain speeches is in order for next season.

Phoenix textile artist Ann Morton chronicles the 2016 presidential election simply, succinctly, and with editing marks in her work Proof-Reading. Onto a white hankie, Morton stitched the question, “Are we fucked?” in blue string. It’s precisely the thing millions of voters were wondering during the run-up to Election Day. With red proof marks threaded on top of the blue words, she rearranges the words and eliminates the question mark. In doing so, she presents the resounding answer: “We are fucked.” The work debuted at Grand Art-Haus’ “Nasty Women” exhibition, part of a nationwide presentation of artwork benefiting Planned Parenthood. Later, Lisa Sette Gallery included the cloth piece in “Tell Me Why, Tell Me Why, Tell Me Why (Why Can’t We Live Together?).” Each time, Morton’s white flag made us laugh out loud and then sigh with despair. And we’re not sure you could ask for more from a work of political art.

Often, it seems like The Satanic Temple exists solely for the purpose of trolling the Christian right. The group frequently makes headlines by proposing to start After School Satan Clubs at elementary schools, or requesting to give invocations at city council meetings. While reminding public officials about the separation of church and state is a worthy objective in its own right, the Satanists have recently been showing off their more philanthropic side with a campaign designed to make sure that disadvantaged women and girls have access to menstrual products. “Menstruatin’ With Satan” collected sanitary pads, napkins, and menstrual cups for the YWCA, which in turn distributed them to women’s shelters and community groups across the state. The fact that many women can’t afford to buy basic hygienic supplies is a glaring problem that’s frequently overlooked by would-be do-gooders who are too squeamish to acknowledge the existence of menstrual blood, and it’s one that we’re glad to see our local band of civic-minded Satanists taking on.

Spend enough time in public office without disgracing yourself, and you’re bound to wind up with a park or an elementary school named after you. Doug Ducey, however, has a horse. Like, an actual living, breathing animal. Back in February, the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group announced that the first wild colt of the year had been born — and, in a transparent bid for attention, named it after the Arizona governor. “Without Governor Ducey’s support for the thousands of citizens who stood up for the Salt River wild horses when the federal government threatened to round them up, little Ducey might not have been born wild and free this year,” the group explained in a cloying press release. Their stunt apparently was successful, since it was Ducey the horse, not Ducey the governor, who dominated the evening news that night. And we have to admit it: He’s pretty cute.

Speeding down Indian School Road or other thoroughfares in east Phoenix in 2016, motorists probably couldn’t read everything on Leonore Driggs’ campaign sign. However, they would have noticed the large judge’s gavel above her name, and possibly the words “justice of the peace” and “experienced.” And they would have noticed the photo of Driggs dressed in what looks like a black robe. No doubt, many motorists who glanced at the sign briefly would have thought something like, “A judge wants my vote for re-election.” But the gavel was just clip art. The “experience” part — Driggs later said — referred only to her life experience, which did include some time working as an assistant at the office of her husband, attorney and former State Senator Adam Driggs. The black outfit? Just a black dress, which Driggs said she wore in the photo because it was “slimming.” Driggs said she hadn’t meant to mislead anyone. Whether that’s true or not, the campaign sign was brilliantly misleading. Not that it mattered when election time came. Driggs and her husband investigated her two competitors for the Arcadia-Biltmore precinct JP post and got both of them kicked off the ballot on technicalities. Voters, having no other options at the ballot box, gave Driggs a real black robe and the $102,000-a-year job.

Mud fight? Try mud war zone. For Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, and other conservative state leaders, legal cannabis is an evil that should be defeated at any cost. On one side was the Campaign to Legalize Marijuana Like Alcohol, headed up by a dispensary operator who stood — along with others who “owned” the nonprofit dispensaries — to make millions if voters approved Prop 205. On the other side, the group formed to oppose the effort, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, took campaign ads to new lows. Ducey was the guest of honor at anti-Prop 205 parties. He encouraged people to give generously to ARDP, and boy, did they — outspending the $5 million kicked in by the national Marijuana Policy Project and the self-interested dispensaries by a few hundred thousand dollars. Discount Tire magnate Bruce Halle gave ARDP $1 million. A lot of other people who hope the governor feels indebted to them also gave big bucks. Insys Therapetics, now under criminal investigation for the way it marketed the dangerous drug fentanyl, donated $500,000 to ARDP. ARDP turned to alcohol distributors, the electric utility, and even a popular pizza joint. The gambit worked, and possession of any amount of marijuana in Arizona remains a felony offense.

It’s not a bird or a plane — it’s a public official’s middle finger. State Representative Don Shooter swears he was just scratching his nose, but video from news channel KTVK shows the representative staring at the camera and smiling as he scratched his nose multiple times with his middle finger back in April. Observers say Shooter, who represents Arizona’s 13th district, blatantly and intentionally used the forbidden finger while making eye contact with a reporter doing an investigative piece involving him. Good for you, Representative Shooter. We’ve often dreamed of doing the same.

Forget for a moment about Donald Trump and the pardon. Finding out that ex-lawman Joe Arpaio had become a convicted criminal was sweet. Not to mention that Arizona U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton made the right call. Arpaio certainly did have contempt for the 2011 ruling by another federal judge that under his leadership, the sheriff’s office discriminated against Latinos. For many, that ruling was a disappointment because it left Arpaio in power. Even when voters kicked the sheriff out of office in November, many wanted more. And more came on July 31, with Bolton’s decision following a bench trial that Arpaio was guilty of a crime. At the least, and despite the fact that it was only a misdemeanor, the conviction symbolized the idea that justice had finally been served on a corrupt bigot of a sheriff who had gotten away with his crimes for far too many years. Even Trump’s pardon can’t take that away.

Pick me! Pick me! That was former state Senator Kelli Ward’s not-so-subtle message when she suggested that she ought to replace ailing Senator John McCain. Never mind that McCain has insisted he’ll remain in the Senate, despite the fact that he has glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. In her comments to an Indiana radio show — awkwardly delivered just days after McCain’s diagnosis — Ward appealed to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, who has the authority to appoint someone to an open Senate seat. She added that McCain should “step away as quickly as possible.” There’s no love lost there — McCain trounced Ward when she challenged him in the 2016 Republican primary. Ward has yet to give up on her senatorial dream. Until that call comes from Ducey, Ward plans to face off in the 2018 primary against Arizona’s other senator, Jeff Flake. Looks like she might just have the backing of a certain POTUS.

We aren’t saying that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. But we’re not not saying that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. While several have taken credit for the conspiracy theory that ran rampant through the internet during the 2016 presidential election, meme-obsessed Valley dwellers know whom to thank for the ridiculous, hilarious, and preposterous notion that Cruz could be the evasive NorCal murderer who claimed to have killed 37 people. Tempe’s own Jonathan Novak runs the “Ted Cruz Is the Zodiac Killer” Facebook page. And we are reasonably sure that Novak isn’t the Zodiac Killer. So, there’s that.

“Lobbyist” is often a dirty word, but not when it comes to Samuel Richard. The former Protecting Arizona’s Family Coalition executive director, who left the organization in July to start his own progressive lobbying firm, routinely puts in long nights at the State Capitol (sometimes bringing along a flask when floor sessions drag on past 11 p.m.). His goal? Ensuring that wealthy Arizonans aren’t the only ones with a voice in the democratic process. Whether advocating to overturn the state’s overly stringent restrictions on temporary cash assistance for low-income families or campaigning against predatory payday loans, he’s dedicated to fighting the good fight in a Legislature that often would rather focus on petty shenanigans like banning a ban on plastic bags.