An underground art space is coming to Park Central Mall in Phoenix, but organizers don’t quite know what they will include. That’s for you to determine.
The community, including artists, students, businesses and more, can fill out a 10-question survey to let Artlink know what it would like to see in the new 20,000-square-foot basement installation. The survey also includes questions about resources, barriers and opportunities for growth in the Phoenix arts scene.
The drive for public opinion comes during Artlink’s Art Detour 33, an annual celebration of art held in late February and March in Phoenix and Arizona.
The new subterranean exhibit is also a component of ART+FORM, a community-led initiative that seeks to connect Phoenix arts and real estate development. In 2018, ART+FORM formed as a partnership between Artlink Inc. and Park Central, with support from Arizona’s Flinn Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Artlink is also partnering with Gould Evans Inc., a Phoenix-based architecture company, for curation of the underground project.
“The arts community has played a major role in urbanism and development of Central and downtown Phoenix,” Artlink president and CEO Catrina Kahler said in a press release. “ART+FORM is a progression of how arts can play a role in the development of structures and spaces. As a region, we need to keep extending this progression to keep the arts community engaged and our built environment beautiful.”
ART+FORM and the underground space are part of an ongoing revitalization effort.
Park Central opened in 1957, known then as Park Central Shopping City, on Central Avenue between Thomas and Osborn roads. The outdoor mall struggled through the 1980s and 90s, and the Great Recession took a substantial toll, according to the mall’s website.
In 2018, Park Central was purchased by Peoria-based Plaza Companies and Tucson-based Holualoa Companies, which also turned a south Scottsdale mall into ASU’s Skysong.
Now, Park Central boasts a mix of office and retail space, a nearly complete medical school campus and apartment living. It also includes a hearty dose of art curated by the mall’s developers, community partners and the public. Artlink has already commissioned five other artists for public art projects within Park Central, according to a press release.
The project’s partners hope this might signal new possibilities for future projects.
“We hope more developers use this as an example of integrating unique spaces for the arts into their projects in the future,” Sharon Harper, president and chief executive officer of Plaza Companies, said in a press release.
Contact the reporter at mailport@asu.edu.
Michelle Ailport is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In addition to being arts and entertainment editor for Downtown Devil, she also writes Downtown Digest, a weekly column with things to do.
