A Redesigned Harmon Park Opens Thursday Night

You know it’s October when we can start to redesign, re-open and dedicate public outdoor parks again (whew). Tomorrow night, the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Office of Cultural Affairs will dedicate a new-and-improved Harmon Park, at Fourth Avenue and Yavapai Street in Phoenix. The park is part of…

Calle 16 Kicks Off with an Art Auction … and a Few Margaritas

If there are two things Silvana Salcido Esparza can promise for tonight, they’re kickass cocktails and badass art. Since early September, Esparza’s been gathering artists, donations and wall space along 16th Street in Phoenix (where her restaurant, Barrio Cafe, is located). Tonight, she’s all about selling … and celebrating a…

Open for Business Launches Tonight at ASU Art Museum

We’ll admit: We’re kind of nuts about maps, and ASU Art Museum in Tempe just came out with a really good one. It’s a guide to Open For Business — the museum’s community-wide installation project — which kicks off tonight with a free opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m….

The Nietzsche Family Circus

http://www.losanjealous.com/nfc/​Bil Keane, a Phoenix comic, started drawing Family Circus in 1960. Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century German philosopher, never wrote a comic or lived in Phoenix. But we have LosAnjealous.com to thank for their meeting. Keane’s Family Circus is no stranger to getting hijaked. Before the Nietzsche Family Circus, Greg Galcik…

Colton Brock’s Color Study

It’s about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we’re losing track of the times we’ve said, “Woah, when did that go up?”, we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town — their…

Big Gus, Accomplished L.A. Tattoo Artist, Inking Folks in Mesa All Week

Big Gus, a big-timer in the Los Angeles-area tattoo scene, will be inking folks on a walk-in and appointment basis from today through this Saturday at Mesa’s Urban Art Tattoo & Piercing. The self-taught, award-winning tattooist works out of Art Junkies in Hesperia, California, where he specializes in blackline, portraiture,…

Sparks, Vinyl and Absolute Chaos During October’s First Friday

First Friday this October was a strange beast. The street closures haven’t returned, but a few old staples of First Fridaydom that have been absent during the summer are back in full swing. Wandering the streets we couldn’t help but notice (and groan at) the street-preaching megaphone wars and subsequent…

Suzanne Falk Teaches Paintslinging at Scottsdale Artists’ School

Beginning next week on Wednesday, Oct. 6 (and continuing every Wednesday, save for November 10, through November 17), Falk will be teaching a class dubbed “Beginning Oil Painting with a Focus on Realism” at the Scottsdale Artists’ School, 3720 North Marshall Way. The class is open to beginning and intermediate…

Best of Phoenix: Hero Worship

In a world where good forces are surrounded by dark ones, eight people each found one person he or she worshiped. Each New Times contributor (the worshiper), was given the opportunity to sit down, ask a few questions and share the story of his or her hero (the worshiped) as…

Eye Candy: Phoenix Design Week’s Official Poster Design

We blogged last week about the Phoenix Design Week poster contest. The Design Week website announced the winner, but we thought we’d also share: Mike Giles, phxdw.com/posters​ You can check out Mike Giles’ design up close and personal at AIR, 3419 E University Drive, now through Oct. 1. Twenty posters…

antigirl: Heart No. 23

It’s about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we’re losing track of the times we’ve said, “Woah, when did that go up?”, we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town — their…

Scottsdale Public Art Wants Your Arty Eye

Guess who wins when Scottsdale Public Art and Creative Connect team up in a couple of weeks? You, friend. On Tuesday, October 12, Scottsdale Public Art will take its first steps towards producing its next big project and they want your ideas and suggestions during a shindig at 5th &…

Free Events at Phoenix Design Week

Yesterday, we dished on what you’ll score with a ticket to Phoenix Design Week (think more than 30 guest speakers, two full days of ADOBE training and networking with local and national designers). But there are also a number of presentations and events that are open to the public and,…

Become a Caped Crusader (in Five Easy Steps)

So you can’t fly without Delta’s help. You were the slowest kid in gym class. Your 5-year-old niece hits harder than you. Big deal! You don’t need superpowers to be the stuff of comic book legends, or at least to look like you are.   I’m Exhibit A: Step 1: Choose Your…

“Rainbow is the New Black”

It’s about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we’re losing track of the times we’ve said, “Woah, when did that go up?”, we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town — their…