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Art Lovers Explore New Art and Dance From Phoenix to Mesa

Monday, February 13, 2017 at 12:46 p.m.

Lynn Trimble Tiffany C. Bailey does a happy dance with her husband after getting selected for a 2018 solo show in Mesa. 1/56

Lynn Trimble Audience members interacting with the Me, My Quantified Self, and I set at Unexpected Art Gallery. 2/56

Lynn Trimble Portion of the Heard Museum's new Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Grand Gallery. 3/56

Lynn Trimble While some hit Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, others checked out the twirling seats at Mesa Arts Center. 4/56

Lynn Trimble Choreographer Jessica Rajko with her metadata-related display at Unexpected Art Gallery. 5/56

Lynn Trimble Taking a peek inside one of several artworks featured in "The Kindness of Strangers" exhibit at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 6/56

Lynn Trimble Pausing from enjoying the world championship hoop dancing competition at Heard Museum. 7/56

Lynn Trimble Smiling faces at Saturday night's performance of Jessica Rajko's new dance piece. 8/56

Lynn Trimble One of many hoop dancers who performed Saturday, February 11, at Heard Museum. 9/56

Lynn Trimble Photographing art by Tiffany Bailey featured in the contemporary crafts exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 10/56

Lynn Trimble A museum-goer explores Steve Yazzie's new exhibit at Heard Museum. 11/56

Lynn Trimble Entrance to Bonnie Lambert's solo exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 12/56

Lynn Trimble One of many hoop dancers who performed at Heard Museum on Saturday, February 11. 13/56

Lynn Trimble Tiffany Fairall, curator of exhibitions for Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, during Friday's opening reception. 14/56

Lynn Trimble Painting by Steve Yazzie featured in the "Beauty Speaks for Us" exhibit at Heard Museum's new gallery. 15/56

Lynn Trimble Museum-goers pause for a photo with work by Bryan David Griffith at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 16/56

Lynn Trimble Visitors from Washington, D.C., posing in front of Tony Abeyta's mural at Heard Museum. 17/56

Lynn Trimble Work by Kazuma Sambe featured in this year's contemporary crafts exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 18/56

Lynn Trimble Work by Christian Widmer featured in the "I Remember Not Remembering" exhibit at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 19/56

Lynn Trimble Trio of friends enjoying the opening reception for new exhibitions at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 20/56

Lynn Trimble Part of Karen Jilly's solo exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 21/56

Lynn Trimble Things took a serious turn during a spoken portion of Jessica Rajko's new production. 22/56

Lynn Trimble Flagstaff artist Bryan David Griffith talks about working with his wife to dip aspen leaves in wax for his solo show in Mesa. 23/56

Lynn Trimble One of many dancers who took part in the world chanpionship hoop dancing competition at Heard Museum. 24/56

Lynn Trimble Artist Saskia Jorda checking out the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum opening reception on Friday, February 10. 25/56

Lynn Trimble Dancers performing during Jessica Rajko's new piece at Unexpected Art Gallery. 26/56

Lynn Trimble View of Friday's opening reception from a balcony at Mesa Arts Center. 27/56

Lynn Trimble Enjoying some free time between dance performances at the Heard Museum hoop dance championship. 28/56

Lynn Trimble Sara Cochran, director and chief curator, during Friday's opening reception at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 29/56

Lynn Trimble Bonnie Lambert pauses to pose for a photo with gallery-goers during the opening reception for her solo exhibition. 30/56

Lynn Trimble Intersection of visual and performing art during Jessica Rajko's new multimedia production. 31/56

Lynn Trimble Hoop dancer getting ready to perform in the world championship at Heard Museum on Saturday, February 11. 32/56

Lynn Trimble Opening night for the Bryan David Griffith exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 33/56

Lynn Trimble Campaign signs of election losers comprise a work featured in "The Kindness of Strangers" at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 34/56

Lynn Trimble Unexpected Art Gallery during the Saturday, February 11, performance of new work by Jessica Rajko. 35/56

Lynn Trimble Gallery view of the contemporary crafts exhibit at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. 36/56

Lynn Trimble Hanging out at Unexpected Art Gallery on Saturday, February 11. 37/56

Lynn Trimble Artists and friends gathered for the opening reception at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum Friday night, February 11. 38/56

Lynn Trimble Member of Tempe-based Needlewielders group featured in Jessica Rajko's new piece exploring big data. 39/56

Lynn Trimble Museum-goers checking out "The Kindness of Strangers" exhibition at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 40/56

Lynn Trimble Tools of the trade for sound artist Tony Obr, who is part of Jessica Rajko's creative team for Me, My Quantified Self, and I. 41/56

Lynn Trimble Detail of Colin Chillag work featured in "The Kindness of Strangers" at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 42/56

Lynn Trimble Looking over jewelry at the artist collective shop at Mesa Arts Center. 43/56

Lynn Trimble Checking out Kahlil Joseph's film installed at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 44/56

Lynn Trimble One of many dancers who performed Saturday, February 11, at the Heard Museum. 45/56

Lynn Trimble Friends talk after seeing Jessica Rajko's new work at Unexpected Art Gallery on Saturday night. 46/56

Lynn Trimble Crowds enjoying sunny skies for the Heard Museum's hoop dancing world championship on Saturday, February 11. 47/56

Lynn Trimble Jessica Rajko thanks the creatives who collaborated on Me, My Quantified Self, and I. 48/56

Lynn Trimble One of several new exhibitions celebrated during an opening reception on Friday, February 11. 49/56

Lynn Trimble Performer reflecting on the meaning of big data during Jessican Rajko's new piece. 50/56

Lynn Trimble Watching hoop dance performances at the Heard Museum on Saturday, February 11. 51/56

Lynn Trimble Performing artists who turned out for Jessica Rajko's production at Unexpected Art Gallery. 52/56

Lynn Trimble Checking out the "Beauty Speaks for Us" exhibition at Heard Museum. 53/56

Lynn Trimble One of several Saturday, February 11, hoop dance performances at Heard Museum. 54/56

Lynn Trimble Exploring the performance space before Rajko's piece started Saturday night, February 11, at Unexpected Art Gallery. 55/56

Lynn Trimble Audience member exploring a display created for Me, My Quantified Self, and I at Unexpected Art Gallery. 56/56

Art Lovers Explore New Art and Dance From Phoenix to Mesa

For metro Phoenix art lovers, the weekend before Valentine's Day must have felt like a whirlwind romance, given the sheer number of arts and culture offerings — from the new ceramics show at Shemer Art Center to exotic arts at Alwun House. On Friday night, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum held opening receptions for new exhibitions, where careful observers spotted works by several local artists. On Saturday, the Heard Museum opened its new Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Grand Gallery to the public, and hosted it 2017 hoop dancing championship. That night, Jessica Rajko presented one of three weekend performances for her latest dance work called Me, My Quantified Self, and I at Unexpected Art Gallery. Here's a look back at several of these events, and the people who turned out to enjoy them. All photos by Lynn Trimble.