Art on Wheels: This Baby’s An Individual

​We’re on the prowl for art cars around Phoenix, like this vintage Cadillac which was spotted on McKellips Rd. in North Tempe. This Caddy has it all. Pin-striping. Airbrushed swirls. And an eye-searing electric blue paint job that sparkles like a vampire in the sun (thanks, Stephenie Meyer, for that paradoxical analogy). Basically, it’s a Lisa…

Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse Slapped as a Space Waster

​When it opened in 2000, the Sandra Day O’Connor federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix was both heralded as a sign that the courthouse was regaining ground as a center of urban life, and hated as a “dirty glass greenhouse” — literally too airy to cool in the hot Arizona summer…

“Art Quilts XV: Needleplay” Chandler’s Call To Artists

Okay, quilters, we know you’re out there. And Chandler wants to hear from you.The Chandler Arts Commission has put out the call to art quilters for their upcoming “Art Quilts XV: Needleplay” exhibition slated for November 5, 2010 through January 15, 2011 at the Chandler Center for the Arts and…

Recycle Art at The North Gateway Transfer Station

Not all public art is as massively noticeable as Janet Echelman’s Her Secret is Patience (the large “butterfly net” in downtown Phoenix. Some collection are a bit hidden, like the Municipal Art Collection at the North Gateway Transfer Station and Materials Recovering Facility. It juts out of the desert horizon…

Hipstamatic: iPhone Does Vintage

It’s not difficult to see the “hipster” in hipstamatic — but we love it nonetheless. Hipstamatic’s a new iPhone application that can turn any old iphone into a hipstamat-style camera. This may all sound Greek, so we brought in Jason Hill, who set up an Etsy store a few days ago to showcase his own prints, to explain. Hill originally wanted…

Gallery 2345: “Attitude and Gratitude”

​Just south of Sky Harbor Airport rests a small building that just months ago knew only the looks of files, wastebaskets and government workers. On May 14, its walls began to look a little different.More than 15 local artists are currently on display in Sheila Martin-Castillo’s Gallery 2345. While each artist has…

The Parlor Pizzeria: Behind the Design with Aric Mei

Aric Mei was tired of building trash. As a set designer and builder in Los Angeles, Mei’s projects were put together, torn down and thrown away in a matter of days. His current piece of work, The Parlor Pizzeria is a bit more permanent. While his personal backgrounds are in art…

Donate Your Old Keys to Art at SMoCA

Take a look at your key ring. Do you even know what half of those keys are for?Probably not. But you hang on to them anyway.Keys are oddly intimate items. The unique tools allow access to secured areas — places that we value enough to protect. Maybe that’s why it…

Pimp My Yard, Central Phoenix

It’s tough to beat the last yard we pimped but we came across this little gem along 7th Street, close to the I10 and couldn’t resist the urge to snap a few photos.No, the guy sitting in the chair is not real. And, yes, we initially thought he was real…

Behind the Domes at 24th St. and Washington

There’s not typically much to look at on east Washington Street, as you head into downtown Phoenix, which is why we immediately noticed those domes on the southeast corner of 24th and Washington. Turns out, they are part of the Robert L. Duffy High School, a charter school set to open…

Deborah Sussman Susser Does Sydney

  If you want the real scoop on the art — including the three Arizona artists being showcased — at the Sydney Biennale, you’d best be reading Deborah Sussman Susser’s blog entries. The Tempe-based writer/editor/teacher (and occasional New Times contributor) is down under this month on behalf of Arizona State University, where she teaches…

Tania Katan Reports from the Sydney Biennale

Today marks the official kick-off of the Sydney Bienniale — though technically, the day’s already over, since Sydney, Australia is 17 hours ahead of Phoenix. In any case, you can read all about it from the AZ perspective on two blogs. Deborah Sussman Susser is blogging down under for Arizona State…

Free Anti-Art School Workshop at Lost Leaf

Artists (21+) are encouraged to bring their own sketch pads, canvases and easels while Austin sits for a “long pose” from 8 to 11pm.  Drinks will be available at the bar and birthday cupcakes will be in high supply.  Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School sessions are held every second Tuesday of the month…

Phoenix Comicon: Top 10 Badge Art Contest Winners

There’s nothing comical about the badge art created for the upcoming Phoenix Comicon – it’s some seriously cool stuff. From a cartoonish portrait of Cyclops from X-Men to dark, fantastical renderings of Spider-Man villain Venom, every badge art drawing reflects a local artist’s unique style and passion for a particular…

Landscape Architect Bill Tonnesen Gets the Republic Treatment

When a friend informed us that the Arizona Republic had written a puff piece about landscape architect/art scene provocateur Bill Tonnesen, we couldn’t help but shudder a bit. The Republic, after all, has never written a profile without doing some serious ass-kissing — and Tonnesen has a track record that’s…

Steampunk Artists the Brose Brothers: Q&A

In the real world, Mitch, Casey and Ben Brose are triplets with a knack for mechanical art. In an alternate universe, they are robot cowboys on a mission to save the Wild West from boredom and madness. Born just minutes apart, the Arizona-based Brose Brothers create pieces in the steampunk…

Suzanne Falk at Oil Panters of America National Juried Exhibition

Out of 2,500 national entries, local painter Suzanne Falk was chosen by the Oil Painters of America (OPA) as one of the top 200 artists for their 19th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils.Falk is largely self-taught and paints whimsical still life works in a photo-realist style. You may…