Spectrum Inspired is offering free photo sessions for families affected by autism this weekend.
Mark your calendars: This Wednesday, March 22, Yayoi Kusama – the Japanese artist renowned for her plethora of polka dots and infinity rooms – is turning 88 years old.
Dozens of ceramic artists will open their studios to the public this weekend at 17 locations across the Valley for Arizona State University Art Museum's annual Ceramic Studio Tour. Each studio has a lead artist who has invited special “guest artists,” enticing us with a promising variety of shapes, sizes and styles.
VHS tapes: If you were a serious movie geek during the ‘80s and ‘90s, there’s a good chance you collected them. I certainly was, and I certainly did. I spent many, many hours browsing in video stores like Suncoast or Virgin Megastore for new ones, and in thrift stores and junkshops and used bookstores and discard bins at video rental joints for used ones.
Chicago multimedia artist Hannah Barco has been busy creating an intriguing new installation, titled “Fathomings,” during her one-month residency at the Arizona State University Art Museum. Last night, she debuted her new exhibit at a special preview and PHOENIX checked it out.
I really should have eaten dinner before attending the premier of "Kakehashi: A Portrait of Chef Nobuo Fukuda" at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 theater last Thursday, January 19th. But I didn't, and I began to regret the oversight about five minutes into the 45-minute documentary that was written, filmed and produced by food-centric filmmaker Andrew Gooi of Food Talkies.
Calling Harold Baldwin a “patient” man is an understatement. It takes him months, even years to finish a single piece of artwork. But it’s well worth the wait. Baldwin creates complex and meticulous works that are at once whimsical and engaging. They are moving – in every sense of the word.
Recently, his three-foot high kinetic sculpture at the Shemer Art Center, “Steam Punk Pinball,” had lines of people waiting to crank the handle and watch as two balls moseyed through the piece via bike chain. Everyone slipped into a joyful state as they looked on, mesmerized.
The perfect holiday present doesn’t have to elude you. The Shemer Art Center in Arcadia boasts a gift shop offering hundreds of one-of-a-kind gifts at truly reasonable prices. Each piece is hand-made by famous and up-and-coming local artists.
The Shemer Art Center is hidden in plain sight on the southeast corner of East Camelback and Arcadia. Near the entrance, a Latin phrase inscribed over a cozy fireplace translates to, “Art is long, life is brief.” Built in 1919, this onetime home is the oldest in the Arcadia neighborhood. It has been a museum since 1985.
While you’re browsing, check out the schedule of classes and upcoming events. And don’t forget to check out the art in the museum itself.
There's just something about vintage clothing. Fabric feels more luxurious; skirts seem fuller; waist lines appear impossibly small. It's all so elegant in comparison to today's cheaply made casual Friday wear. For Claudine Villardito, owner of the Phoenix-based online vintage clothing retailer Black Cat Vintage, vintage fashion is a "security blanket of nostalgia" with a "quality of materials and construction [that] surpasses all but the most exclusive modern clothing." Her covetable collection has been featured in museums, galleries and on period shows including "Mad Men." Meanwhile, her web shop boasts such vintage scores as Chanel suits, Yves Saint Laurent blouses and a deeply gorgeous 1960s, red Rudi Gernreich tube dress you'd have to pay me to get out of if I ever got my hands on it.
Which, much to my delight, could conceivably happen since Villardito has opened her first pop-up shop in Downtown Phoenix for the holidays. Located inside the lobby of the historic 111 Monroe building (which used to house a bank), the pop-up is sharing square footage with Villardito's husband's high-end audio store Esoteric Audio, as well as Hidden Track Bottle Shop.
Black Cat Vintage pop-up boutique is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through December 23.
Rielle Oase is assistant curator of the art exhibit at the Arizona State Fair. A student of the University of Arizona College of Fine Art, Oase never expected to get the gig. She applied to be a gallery monitor to add experience to her resume.
Chi Isiogu, Arizona State Art Fair head curator, instead brought the talented photography student on board as assistant curator of the 2016 Fine Art & Photography art show and art programming. Oase, who was was tapped to curate a photography competition blitzed with more than 900 entries, says of receiving the offer, “I almost died of excitement.” Isiogu wanted to revamp the exhibit and make it a flagship fair experience, to morph the Fair’s old-school venue - Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum – into a modern art space.
Step right up! The Arizona State Fair returns this week, along with its Fine Arts & Photography Competition & Exhibition. Come see, play and – why not? – buy a piece of wonderful and affordable local art.
Every day of the fair (October 7-30) will feature free art demonstrations, with basket weavers, foil sculptors and other artists giving you some tips of their trade so you can make your own magic. The whole family can also participate in a free community mural project that will become part of the fair. Feel free to bring your “found objects” to contribute to the mural station (rules: any item smaller than a quarter and waterproof!) to help make the mural memorable.
The PHiX sat down with Kelly Birg at the venerable Sugar Bowl restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale.
Ingrid Donaldson is an artist, art teacher, gallery owner and advocate for local artists. The PHiX visited with her at her Scottsdale gallery Blink.
She goes by the name “Glass Chi” professionally. These words – glass and Chi – combine specifically to represent both her and her art. Chibuzor Isiogu describes herself as glass-like: fragile, yet strong; the sum of the parts greater than the pieces.
“New Age” can conjure lousy memories of a funky store ripe with too much incense, or a trippy movie scene. But, lest we forget, the so-called New Age did help popularize meditation, yoga and acupuncture long before they became available on every corner.
While the stereotype of starving artists living off of ramen noodles and paint fumes isn’t always accurate – painter Damien Hirst’s net worth is reportedly several hundred thousand dollars, for example – emerging artists tend to have lean funds.
Once a children’s hobby, collecting baseball cards has become as much a National Pastime as the game itself. The first cards were created in the mid-19th century, with tobacco companies later including cards with their products to seduce buyers into purchasing enough smokes to complete the set. Kids got in on the action when cards started appearing in chewing gum packages around the time of the Great Depression.
March 18 and 19 marked the 28th anniversary of the annual Art Detour event hosted by local non-profit, Artlink, Inc. This self-guided tour of artists’ studios, art galleries and local businesses in and around Downtown Phoenix is also the foundation of monthly events like the First Fridays Art Walk and Third Fridays, when a lot of venues hold their opening receptions. The event also featured pop-up spaces, live painting, entertainment and specialty tours.
James Schwarz has a background in theater. Not on the stage, but building it. He's a scenic carpenter, to be precise, surrounded by a world of 3-D art, with all the world his diorama. Schwarz is currently studying ceramic art at Mesa Community College and chiseling his way into the heart of the local art world.
It’s that time of year again, when the annual Paint PHX event brings local and visiting muralists together to create large-scale artwork in diverse and magnificent styles on the walls of buildings around Phoenix.
Have you ever spotted a colorful mural on the side of a building or an abstract sculpture in a park and wondered why it’s there?
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