5 Free Things to Do This Week in Metro Phoenix

Need plans, but don't want to spend a lot of coin? We've got you covered. This week check out the works of Laura Spalding Best, take a night walk with the Museum of Walking, or go see the weird works of Yuri Kobayashi. For more things to do, visit Phoenix New Times' calendar.

“Refresh and Contemplate”
Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve been to Old Town Scottsdale. There’s a lot of change taking place, even as galleries like Wilde Meyer, 4142 North Marshall Way, continue to show an intriguing assortment of fine art works. Head to Wilde Meyer between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 20, to explore a group exhibit called “Refresh and Contemplate.” Featured artists showing abstract, landscape, and figurative works with a bright, easy summertime vibe include Michael Baum, Brenda Bredvik, Timothy Chapman, Linda Carter Holman, and Lance Green. The free exhibit continues through August 31. Visit the Wilde Meyer website. Lynn Trimble

Laura Spalding Best
Phoenix artist Laura Spalding Best doesn’t spend a lot of time looking into mirrors. She’s more concerned with desert landscapes, and our relationship to water. But she does use mirrors as canvas in her art practice sometimes. Head to Practical Art, 5070 North Central Avenue, and you’ll see dainty vintage hand mirrors, and other objects she’s painted with intriguing blends of natural and manmade objects, including the utility poles that form a common thread throughout her work. It’s her way of playing with assumptions about paradise, and mirage. Explore her “Vanity” exhibition from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, August 20. Visit the Practical Art website. Lynn Trimble

John Scalzi and Mary Robinette Kowal
Fresh from WorldCon in San Jose, John Scalzi and Mary Robinette Kowal are making a rest stop in the Valley on their way to BuboniCon in Albuquerque. The pair will visit The Poisoned Pen, 4014 North Goldwater Boulevard, Scottsdale on Tuesday, August 21, at 7 p.m. Scalzi, a highlight at Phoenix Comic Fest this year, will be signing copies of his latest novel, Head-On, about a paralyzed FBI agent with a robotic body investigating the murder of a sports star. Kowal, who also moonlights as a puppeteer and voice actor, celebrates the release of her second “Lady Astronaut” novel, The Fated Sky, which expands on her award-winning story, The Lady Astronaut of Mars. For more information, call 480-947-2974 or visit the Poisoned Pen website. Michael Senft

Yuri Kobayashi
Born and raised in Japan, artist Yuri Kobayashi earned degrees in both architecture and woodworking. Today, her sculptural pieces blend traditional woodworking practices with the artist’s own Japanese aesthetic. For her “Indwelling” exhibition at ASU Art Museum, 51 East 10th Street, the artist is showing several handcrafted works that reflect her fascination with identity, empathy, and inner experience. Museum materials reveal that Kobayashi “strives to embody the surprise and wonder found in the impalpable and often illogical world in which we live.” See for yourself between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 21. Museum admission is free. Visit the ASU Art Museum website. Lynn Trimble

Sky Music Full Moon Walk
Angela Ellsworth, a Tempe-based artist who co-founded the Museum of Walking, is leading a 2.7 mile contemplative walk called the Sky Music Full Moon Walk. Ellsworth serves as the museum’s director, and credits Fluxus artist Geoffrey Hendricks with being both mentor and museum inspiration. Hence, the walk pays homage to his 1985 composition called Sky Music. Participants will walk silently together around the Elliot Ramada Loop at Papago Park, 625 West Galvin Parkway. They’ll also perform Sky Music together. The walk takes place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 26. It’s free, but RSVPs are required. Visit the Museum of Walking website. Lynn Trimble