Play the field this spring with our curated guide to the Valley’s high-season event bounty.
Pro tip: Invest in sunscreen.
By Sara Crocker, Craig Outhier & Josh Rose
CULTURE & HERITAGE FESTIVALS
To paraphrase a certain ’80s pop legend, Valley culture vultures need not wait until Cinco de Mayo to “party, karamu, fiesta, forever.” The spring is lousy with nationality- and heritage-based festivals, starting with a jam-packed mid-March weekend that includes both the St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Faire in Downtown Phoenix (March 15) and the Arizona Aloha Festival in Tempe (March 15-16).
Arizona Aloha Festival
Tempe Beach Park
March 15-16
Free, azalohafest.org
Feel the “ohana” of Hawaii and the isles of the South Pacific during this two-day outdoor experience. For more than 30 years, the Arizona Aloha Festival has celebrated Polynesian cultures through dance, music, food and artisanal handicrafts. The event has been free to attend since its inception, and guests can enter for a chance to experience Hawaii themselves thanks to a vacation raffle.
Aloha Festival: A Feast for All Five Senses
Sight
From graceful rhythmic sways to kinetic gyrations, dancers who take the Aloha Festival stage tell stories of their heritage through movement, adorned in vibrant attire. See Hawaii’s next generation of traditional dancers with the children’s performance from one of the Big Island’s dance halaus, or schools, Nā Mōhai Aloha O Ka Laua’e Pa Ola Kap.
Sound
Slack-key guitar can be gentle and soothing, yet so rich and layered that one might mistake its sounds for that of a full band. Listen to Hawaiian musician Moon Kahele play in the style that originated on the islands. Moon will perform classic and popular Hawaiian songs and will be joined by friends – fellow musicians and dancers – during his sets Saturday and Sunday.
Taste
Succulent kalua pork, fresh poke and cream-filled, sugar-dusted malasadas are just a few of the local grinds you can taste at the festival, including Valley favorite Pacific Rim & Bento. Owners Blaise and Kanani Aki grew up in Hawaii but moved to the mainland more than 20 years ago, launching their plate lunch, poke and bento bar on wheels, followed by a Mesa brick-and-mortar in 2024.
Smell
Let the wafting aroma of smoky, spicy mesquite wood guide you to Vilo Vilo’s massive mobile grill. The Utah-based vendor specializes in rotisserie-esque grilled chicken, which is regularly turned over an open flame.
Touch
For the first time since the pandemic, guests can make leis with real flowers. You’ll be guided on how to delicately string together supple orchids for a dazzling keepsake from the festival.
— Sara Crocker
SPORTING EVENTS
Baseball and spring go together like beer and peanuts in the Valley of the Sun – indeed, Major League Baseball spring training has been the single most reliable driver of tourism in Greater Phoenix for more than 50 years. While the Cactus League remains the most towering fixture in the Valley’s spring sports landscape, it’s hardly the only game in town: Spring NASCAR Weekend (March 7-9) and the Phoenix Rising FC home opener (March 8) lead a deep bench for local fans.
MLB Spring Training
Through March 25
Tickets prices vary, cactusleague.com
More than 1.6 million fans ticked Cactus League turnstiles in 2024 – the most since the pandemic and proof positive of its enduring, ritualistic appeal in the Valley of the Sun. Spanning 15 teams across 10 stadiums, the league has clearly surpassed its counterpart in Florida as America’s premier exhibition baseball tradition, from the quality of its parks to the coziness of its climate.
CACTUS LEAGUE
- 15 teams
- Convenient and tightly packed community of ballparks. Farthest driving distance: 52 miles (Surprise and Mesa).
- Typical ballpark: new, spacious, fan-friendly. Average capacity: 11,300.
- Ohtani!
GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE
- Also 15 teams
- Hope you like driving! Distended and far-flung network. Farthest driving distance: 223 miles (Dunedin and Jupiter).
- Typical ballpark: moldering, cramped, bland. Average capacity: 8,218.
- No-tani!
Inside Baseball: Diamondbacks Organist Bobby Freeman
Bobby Freeman’s career has mirrored that of a ballplayer, but you won’t find him in the dugout. The self-taught organist has worked his way from performing at Triple-A games to becoming the Arizona Diamondbacks’ first and only in-game keyboardist. At spring training, you’ll find Freeman on the concourse at Salt River Fields, testing new songs and rallying the crowd with a classic, “Charge!”
How do you get ready for the MLB season?
As I get into the first of the year, I start looking at my song list from the previous years and how I can freshen that up. I grab songs from the 1940s to the [current] Top 40, because in our ballpark there’s a demographic of fans that is all different age groups, from all over the United States and, especially during spring training, all over the world.
What is testing music like at spring training?
Every game I try to add a new song. I can practice in my studio all I want, but you never know how it’s going to fly until you get into a large venue.
What’s a song you’ve debuted before that surprised you?
We were doing “name that tune” at spring training a couple years ago, and they said, ‘Do you know “Gangster’s Paradise?”’ When I put it out there, the fans screamed and clapped, and I go, ‘Oh wow, that’s a keeper.’ I had no idea!
— Sara Crocker
Goodyear Ballpark
Unveiled in 2009, the West Valley ballpark boasts arguably the league’s most distinctive photo op in The Ziz, a 60-foot, 6-inch sculpture that looks like a giant baseball dragged through one of the wormholes in Interstellar. But you can’t drink it, so also make sure to hit Arizona Craft Beer Corner inside the park.
Fun fact: Outfield grass seats are uber-cheap ($12 for some games).
15850 N. Bullard Ave., Surprise, 623-222-2222, surprisestadium.com
Surprise Stadium
Sure, the Cactus Corn Dogs are tasty, with that honey/mustard condiment deal-io, but who’s fooling who? The biggest draws at this West Valley ballpark are the bargain-basement ticket prices, including $8 lawn seats for select games – the cheapest in the league.
Fun Fact: The Royals’ Bobby Witt is the only shortstop in MLB history with multiple 30-30 (home runs/stolen bases) seasons (2023-2024).
15850 N. Bullard Ave., Surprise, 623-222-2222, surprisestadium.com
Scottsdale Stadium
Built over the bones of the original Scottsdale Stadium (a 1950s-era ballpark that served as the Valley’s first dedicated spring training facility), this is one of the oldest extant Cactus League ballparks (est. 1991) and also one of its most visually lackluster. Its best feature: very spacious lawn seating with plenty of tree shade.
Fun Fact: The ballpark is located across the street from a hospital, which likely saved the life of Angels pitcher Matt Keough when he was rushed there in 1992 after taking a foul ball to the head.
7408 E. Osborn Rd., Scottsdale, 480-312-2173, scottsdaleaz.gov/scottsdale-stadium
Camelback Ranch
Come for the life-size bobbleheads of Tommy Lasorda and Frank Thomas, stay for the All-You-Can-Eat Bullpen Patio featuring unlimited hot dogs, popcorn and other salubrious ballpark staples.
Fun fact: Due to a surveying error, it’s the only Cactus League ballpark facing southeast instead of northeast, resulting in scant shade behind home plate.
10710 W. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, 623-302-5000, mlb.com/camelback-ranch
Sloan Park
As the Cactus League’s largest (capacity: 15,000) and most well-endowed ballpark, Sloan sports plenty of MLB-caliber accoutrements, including a left-field “party deck” and a selfie-friendly replica of the Wrigley Field sign.
Fun fact: With average attendance of 13,401 in 2024, spring training games at Sloan outdrew Oakland A’s games during the regular season (11,538).
2330 W. Rio Salado Pkwy., Mesa, 480-668-0500, mlb.com/cubs/sloan-park
American Family Fields of Phoenix
Formerly Maryvale Ballpark, this city-owned facility is an outlier among Cactus League ballparks. For one, it’s located in Maryvale. Second, it has a shady, sunken-field layout that envelops you like a cozy baseball blanket. But it’s the signature, 6th-inning sausage races that delight Brew-Crew faithful and enemy fans alike.
Fun fact: The Brewers have the only alcohol-inspired team nickname in major American sports.
3805 N. 53rd Ave., Phoenix, 623-245-5500, mlb.com/brewers/spring-training/ballpark
Peoria Sports Complex
Family-friendly? This West Valley field has family-friendly up the yin-yang, headlined by the Shipyard, a maritime-themed play area with a splash pad, slides, kids-only baseball field and other features that pay tribute to Peoria’s proud nautical history.
Fun fact: The park is located next door to P83, the new dining hub with Postino, North Italia and other Valley faves.
16101 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria, 623-773-8700, peoriasportscomplex.com
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
Between the Malibu Rum Bar, the Michelob Ultra Terrace and the Casino Arizona Bar behind center field, SRF offers you more possibilities for inebriation than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And for your little teetotalers: Cold Stone Fun Field, with its Wiffle ball batting cage and mini base-paths.
Fun fact: The overlapping SRF concourse roof design was inspired by a Native American ramada.
7555 N. Pima Rd., Scottsdale, 480-270-5000, saltriverfields.com
Tempe Diablo Stadium
Until the final phase of a renovation project is completed in 2026, bringing with it a 360-degree concourse and new shade structures, the Cactus League’s oldest continuously operated ballpark is a bit of a snooze. Anemic beer selection, banal food. At least the view of Twin Butte down the left field line is nice.
Fun Fact: Diablo is the Cactus League’s smallest park, with fewer than 10,000 seats.
2200 W. Alameda Dr., Tempe, 480-350-5205, mlb.com/angels/spring-training/ballpark
Hohokam Stadium
Originally the spring home of the Chicago Cubs, Hohokam now hosts the quasi-homeless A’s, so don’t expect any show-stopping upgrades in the immediate future. For now, the Stomper’s Kids Zone remains: tee ball, Skee-Ball, inflated bouncy things.
Fun fact: The A’s currently have an annual player payroll of $54.2 million – the second-lowest in baseball.
1235 N. Center St., Mesa, 480-644-4451, mlb.com/athletics/spring-training/ballpark
—Craig Outhier
FOOD & DRINK FESTIVALS
The spring is when we Phoenicians get the majority of our yearly recommended intake of beatific outdoor eating and drinking. From Uncorked AZ Wine Festival (March 29) to Scottsdale’s Original Taste (April 12) to our own PHOENIX Dish Fest (March 9), the nibbles and sips rarely cease.
PHOENIX magazine Dish Fest
Clayton House in Old Town Scottsdale
March 9
Tickets start at $80, phoenixmag.com/dishfest
Plucked from the pages of our recent Top 100 Dishes of Arizona and Best New Restaurants issues, the tongue-titillating lineup of local bites at the 2025 Dish Fest promises to be one for the ages. In a major coup, smokehouse legend Little Miss BBQ will be serving its once-a-week pastrami brisket at the fest, joined by myriad indie-eatery favorites both local and statewide, including Rochelle Daniel’s Atria in Flagstaff and Maltese hand-pie innovator Malta Joe’s from Tucson. Admission also includes complimentary pours of Arizona beer, wine and spirits.
Pastizzi 101 with Malta Joe’s
Joseph Gauci’s life-long love affair with pastizzi (savory phyllo hand pies sold and devoured on the streets of Malta, a small island nation in the Mediterranean) led to the launch of a food truck and pastizzi factory in Tucson. Gauci’s classic ricotta cheese-filled pastizzi was one of the 100 Arizona dishes profiled in our January/February cover story. We asked Gauci how he built his burgeoning pastizzi empire.
Finding a long-lost family recipe.
New York native Gauci was cleaning up in his kitchen in Tucson after making Maltese almond cookies when he made a discovery. “Something fell out of my mother’s cookbook, something I’ve never seen before,” he says, noting his mother had given him the book decades prior. “It was her handwriting, and it was her recipe for pastizzi.”
A Maltese pilgrimage.
With plans to make and sell the delicacies on a large scale, Gauci headed to Malta, hoping to learn pastizzi tradecraft from local chefs. It didn’t initially go as planned. “The competition is so fierce on Malta, I had many doors shut on my face,” he says. Finally, in the town of Tarxien, where his grandparents and parents have roots, he found a door that opened – i.e. a chef willing to teach him. “The next eight hours… formed the business I have today,” he says.
Good dough takes time.
Returning to the U.S., Gauci implemented his lessons, adhering to his mother’s advice to stretch the phyllo dough “thin enough to be able to read The Times of Malta underneath,” Gauci says. He uses his steel countertop as a surrogate. “If I can see the silver through the dough, it’s time to get to work.” After stretching and rolling the dough into a large, laminated loaf, the phyllo sits overnight. The rest solidifies the fat in the dough to yield crisp layers when baked.
Leaning into tradition…
Serving his first pastizzi out of a food truck in 2019, Gauci offered styles popular across Malta: flaky, diamond-shaped pastries stuffed with ricotta cheese or curried peas.
… and breaking with it.
Gauci ultimately expanded his repertoire to include Yank-friendly pastizzi made with savory Southwestern ingredients like Hatch green chiles, and sweet pastizzi, including a blueberry cheesecake-inspired version.
Pastizzi for the people.
Launching his brick-and-mortar factory in 2023, Gauci ships frozen hand pies by the dozen across the U.S. and is fiercely bullish about building pastizzi patronage. “The pastizzi phenomenon is getting bigger and bigger. With PHOENIX magazine’s help, it’s exploded,” he says.
Dish RoundUp
Some of the illustrious restaurants and dishes confirmed for Dish Fest as this issue went to press.
Get a rush of sweet-spicy-crispy heaven with the Honey Bee pizza from Craft 64.
Revel in Bernie Kantak’s “shockingly delicious” Lucky 7 Cereal Bowl from Beginner’s Luck.
One of our perennial favorites: the pitch-perfect falafel at Casa De Falafel in Glendale.
It wouldn’t be a food festival without the glorious pani puri from Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine.
Leap to the top of the barbecue food chain with the mythical pastrami from Little Miss BBQ.
The chicken fried rice to end them all from Midtown hot spot Azlin.
Mystery dish alert! Casa Corazón will be bringing something from its new sister restaurant, Cien Fuegos.
Get your mind blown by the octopus tostada from RoRo eating-and-drinking gem Pretty Penny.
Downtown pan-Latin mom-and-pop Que Sazón will school you in the glories of empanadas.
We live in a carpaccio golden era –and you’ll find none better than the masterpiece at JT Prime in Scottsdale.
Put some briny pep in your step with pristine oysters from Buck & Rider in the exclusive VIP lounge.
Cross continents and centuries with the incomparable Dayboat Moqueca from Afican cuisine trailblazer Latha.
Go VIP
Take your Dish Fest experience up a peg with upgraded VIP tickets ($125). Benefits include early admission to the festival, plus exclusive access to the Dish Fest VIP lounge, headlined by sushi legend Shimogamo and its truffle amberjack (pictured) and vino pours from rising Arizona wine star Los Milics Vineyards, plus much more. phoenixmag.com/dishfest
Hop on the Joy Bus!
For the fourth consecutive year, a portion of Dish Fest proceeds will benefit our official charity partner, The Joy Bus, a Phoenix nonprofit organization that delivers scratch-cooked meals to people battling cancer. Founding chef Jennifer Caraway will be on hand, serving her favorite dishes from the org’s eponymous diner.
— Sara Crocker and Craig Outhier
MUSIC FESTIVALS
With the two-weekend emergence of Innings Festival (Feb. 21-22, Feb. 28-March 1), alongside local stalwarts M3F (March 7-8) and Country Thunder (April 10-13), plus new niche festivals like Chandler’s Punk in the Park (April 12) and The Chainsmokers-fronted Breakaway Music Festival (April 18-19), the spring live music scene is reaching zenith form in the Valley of the Sun.
M3F Fest
Steele Indian School Park
March 7-8
Single-day tickets start at $99, m3ffest.com
Arizona’s homegrown music festival returns with an electro-laced lineup for 2025. M3F Fest’s headliners are Brooklyn electronic-rock legends LCD Soundsystem and French house duo Justice. In total, the weekend-long event welcomes 32 artists to the stages at Steele Indian School Park, representing an array of genres, including North Carolina electro-pop pair Sylvan Esso, the jazzy, instrumental BadBadNotGood and Valley musicians, including Phoenix hip-hop artist Pariah Pete.
Pariah Pete M3F Checklist
Pariah Pete’s latest album, Terminal A, is a funk-, R&B- and jazz-laced album that he recorded with local band The Mercuries. The group performs Friday, March 7. We asked the indie upstart – aka Peter Flis – about his essentials for a great show – both as a performer and attendee.
Pre-fest fuel-up: As a go-early-stay-late kind of festival attendee, Flis agrees with the old dictum that breakfast is the most important meal of the day – and he plans to enjoy a hearty one at Valentine in the Melrose district. His go-to order? “Steak and eggs, baby,” he says.
Get centered: Meditation and breath work have been a focus for Flis over the past year. That practice has spilled into the band’s pre-show routine: “Whether that’s on the side of the stage or in a green room, that’s our ritual, of taking our breaths.”
Don’t forget the entourage: The artist brings his inner circle, a group of eight to 10 that includes his girlfriend, band, pals and producer, backstage for gigs. “I like to share those larger-than-life moments with my loved ones,” he says. Afterward, they’ll join the throngs to watch M3F. Dev Lemons and BadBadNotGoood top Flis’s must-sees.
Don’t Stop the Music
Queue up these three spots, before or after M3F, for more tunes and good times.
Central Records
Scan the records for sale at this Japanese-inspired cafe and shop Downtown. Get energized with a Litsxo brown sugar latte from its daytime coffee crew, Skoden Coffee, before heading to M3F.
The Womack
After the last encore, drive a few minutes Uptown to this 1960s-inspired cocktail lounge that boasts live music six nights a week. Sip a song-inspired cocktail and nosh on truffle popcorn while you relive your favorite fest moments with your crew.
Walter Where?House
Keep the festival vibes going Saturday night at this Downtown venue, where Australian electronic duo Flight Facilities will perform during M3F’s official afterparty. Tickets start at $27.
– Sara Crocker
FILM & FAN EVENTS
Not every spring pastime happens outdoors. Besides the Phoenix Film Festival (March 27-April 6), which now warrants the honorific “venerable,” since it celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025, the next three months will bring myriad pop-culture fan events, such as Anime Arizona in Glendale (March 21-23).
Phoenix Film Festival
Harkins Scottsdale 101
March 27-April 6
Tickets start at $45, phoenixfilmfestival.com
This year, the Phoenix Film Festival celebrates 25 years of showcasing local and independent movie-making. Started by two local filmmakers at the turn of the 21st century, the festival took off quickly, hosting 3,000 people during its inaugural run. Now, the festival attracts studio premieres and celebs, while likewise spotlighting Valley makers and sharing details about how movies are made. “We’re getting bigger films,” executive director Jason Carney says of the festival’s evolution. “Not only the quality of our competition films, but the films we get from studios.”
Top 5 Phoenix Film Festival Moments
PFF honcho Jason Carney has been with the annual film event since its inception. He shares his favorite moments from a quarter century of film festival-ing.
2021
Coda Premiere
Although Coda wasn’t the first studio acquisition to garner awards after its debut at the festival (that honor goes to 2014’s Boyhood), it had a unique local hook: The film co-stars Mesa native Troy Kotsur. Moreover, its PFF screening was the first that Kotsur, a deaf actor, viewed with a live audience. “He came out of the lobby and he was just mobbed by others from the deaf community,” Carney says. The film would go on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Kotsur.
2019
Humbled by Olmos
Actor Edward James Olmos was in attendance at the 2019 festival for a viewing of Windows on the World – a film in which he stars and his son Michael D. Olmos directs. Later, the senior Olmos channeled his own famous performance in Stand and Deliver when he sat down with Valley high school students, offering advice to budding actors and directors.
2014
Oh No, The Joe Show
Director Randy Murray was the hot-seat filmmaker in 2014, screening his documentary profiling longtime Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The film drew decidedly mixed reactions. “When you tell the story of a political figure and you piss off both sides, that means you made a good, fair documentary,” Carney recalls. The in-depth look at Arpaio, his relationship with media and how he become “America’s Toughest Sheriff” garnered the festival’s Best Documentary award.
2005
Bananas for Bacon
Actors and power couple Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick made the rounds in 2005. They received a festival honor and aired the Bacon-directed film Loverboy, in which Sedgwick starred. Guests also got a chance to see The Bacon Brothers, the band led by the actor and his brother Michael – with only one degree of separation.
2024
Sing Sing
Airing the critically acclaimed prison drama starring 2024 Best Actor Oscar nominee Colman Domingo was a coup in its own right. It was also a homecoming of sorts for director Greg Kwedar, who shot parts of his film Jockey at Phoenix’s Turf Paradise. He invited some of the riders from that movie to the Sing Sing premiere.
2025 PFF Must-Sees
Plan your calendar around these marquee screenings.
Waltzing with brando
Billy Zane (Titanic) stars as the Godfather legend in this critically acclaimed biopic. Zane will be on-hand for the screening on Saturday, March 29.
deaf President now
This riotous documentary, recounting eight days of historic protests at a deaf college in 1988, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024.
The friend
Naomi Watts, Carla Gugino and Bill Murray star in a gentle comedy about a writer who adopts a Great Dane that belonged to a late friend and mentor.
– Sara Crocker
ARTS FESTIVALS
Every Thursday is a de facto art fair in Old Town Scottsdale, in the guise of the local gallery owners’ weekly Scottsdale ArtWalk. Mark April 3 on your calendar: It’s the ArtWalk’s 50th Anniversary “Artstravaganza.” It joins a jam-packed season of art appreciation in the Valley, headlined by Tempe Festival of the Arts (March 7-9) and the inaugural Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week (March 20-23), co-presented by PHOENIX magazine.
Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week
WestWorld of Scottsdale
March 20-23
Single-day tickets start at $30, scottsdaleartweek.com
The inaugural Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week will be unlike anything Arizona has seen before. More than 100 national and international galleries from as far away as Argentina, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Brussels and Turkey will gather at WestWorld of Scottsdale, offering inventory ranging from contemporary art to American Modernism to Indigenous and Latin art. With Ferrari of Scottsdale as the title sponsor, SAW promises to blast open an exciting new entry point in the U.S. art market – think Miami’s Art Basel, but with cactus and luxury automobiles. “Between a host of visionaries who’ve been inspired by our desert landscapes and many affluent individuals who seek out their work, bringing an event of this scale and scope to Arizona was simply common sense and long overdue,” says festival director Michael Plummer.
Artist Profile: Tony Abeyta
One of the highlights of the weekend will be a special curated exhibition by Diné painter, educator, art dealer and collector Tony Abeyta. Based in Santa Fe, Abeyta will marshal his expertise in 20th-century Southwestern art to create an exhibition that will discuss the work of Indigenous and Anglo artists who helped make Scottsdale what it is today, including works by Fritz Scholder, Philip C. Curtis, Charles Loloma, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paolo Soleri, Ed Mell and Lloyd Kiva New. Featured as an appraiser on the popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow, Abeyta recently curated the popular New Terrains: Contemporary Native American Art exhibition at Phillips auction house in New York City.
Tell us about your work on Antiques Roadshow.
On the show, I’m an appraiser for tribal arts. This is my third season, and I do on-the-spot appraisals and help them to evaluate the Indigenous art people bring. I learn a lot from my co-appraisers, and I never know what will come through the door next. I just finished one that featured a Joseph Henry Sharp painting… virtually unknown, a woman had it hanging in her basement and had no idea who painted it, and it turned out to be worth $70,000.
Describe your exhibition at Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week.
The exhibition is titled Modernism in Phoenix, but it extends to Northern Arizona as well. The exhibition champions the modernist efforts of artists working from the 1950s to contemporary times. There will be a strong focus on Native American and Indigenous modernists of Phoenix… I like the era because there weren’t as many artists working then as there are today… working progressively to create new visions of the West.
What do you like about Scottsdale’s art culture?
Scottsdale keeps getting bigger, and the art scene has been going for a long time… and I feel this new art fair will breathe life back into the arts. It’s a very exciting period for the arts scene and the Valley, and I look forward to reflecting on its past history and giving new light on to how it all began with my exhibition.
Three SAW Must-Visit Galleries
Addison Rowe Gallery
The brainchild of longtime art dealer Victoria Addison, this influential Santa Fe gallery focuses on American Modernism as well as art of the Transcendental Painting Movement, which includes artists such as Emil Bisttram, Agnes Pelton and Florence Miller Pierce.
Vallarino Fine Art
Based in a townhouse in Midtown Manhattan and specializing in post-war American abstract painters, including those associated with the Stable Gallery in New York City in the 1950s and ’60s, Vallarino is known for quality offerings from artists such as Milton Avery, Karel Appel, Will Barnet, Harry Bertoia, Norman Bluhm and
Ilya Bolotowsky.
Lillian Nassau
Located on West 57th Street in New York City, this gallery has specialized in the work of Tiffany Studios and Louis Comfort Tiffany for more than 75 years. Eponymously established in 1945 by Nassau, the gallery is credited with single-handedly reviving interest in Tiffany Studios, best known for it iconic Tiffany lamps. The gallery is now owned by celebrity appraiser Arlie Sulka.
SAW Party: The Vernissage Gala
Want to take your SAW experience up a notch? Along with the booths from more than 100 national and international galleries, Thursday’s Vernissage Gala will include musical entertainment by acclaimed opera singer James Valenti and an Indigenous fashion show organized by Phoenix Fashion Week. SAW will also present two awards at the gala: The Ed Mell Memorial Arizona Artist of the Year Award, which will be given to Melissa Cody – a fourth-generation Diné weaver from No Water Mesa, Arizona, who became the first Indigenous woman artist to have a solo exhibition at MoMA PS1 in New York City – and the Scottsdale Art Week Lifetime Achievement Award, which organizers will bestow on longtime art supporter and collector Janis Lyon.
— Josh Rose
