Arts and Entertainment

Gary Soto attended the performance of his play “In & Out of Shadows,” about the challenges faced by teenagers who entered or were brought the United States illegally.

A senior at the Metropolitan Arts Institute in downtown Phoenix, Shelly Ortiz was one of 16 filmmakers officially recognized at the White House’s first Student Film Festival on Feb. 28. Ortiz's submission was titled "Technology, Documentary, My Dad, and Me."

Catrina Kahler and Jill Bernstein from Artlink Phoenix discussed the organization's history, the evolution of Art Detour and its place in downtown Phoenix as a whole. The role of last weekend's Art d'Core Gala and attempts to connect art with the community as a two-way street were addressed, too.

Mujeres del Sol, a women’s arts collective in Phoenix, celebrated its first-year anniversary Thursday night with the "Honoring (Her)Stories in Prose, Music and Dance!" event at the Willo North Gallery on Seventh Avenue and Thomas Road.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the Exotic Art Exhibit at the Alwun House Foundation on 12th and Roosevelt streets. The exhibit celebrated its opening with a “phantasmagorical” show in the backyard of the large 1912 house on Valentine’s Day. The show will close on March 21.

Concertgoers will flood downtown Phoenix Friday night for Stateside Presents' Viva Phoenix music festival, an event boasting more than 70 local and national bands at 14 different venues within a few blocks of each other.

Phoenix's the Nash has hosted Grammy winners and community jazz lessons in its first two years. It was given the honor of being one of DownBeat jazz magazine's top jazz venues in the world in February.

Bragg's Factory Diner, located on Grand Avenue, celebrated its first anniversary with seven employee-based bands that played in the warehouse behind the restaurant, as well as a pie-eating contest.

The 26th Annual Art Detour kicked off with Art d'Core Gala on Saturday in which people gathered at Crescent Ballroom to celebrate the ever-growing arts community in downtown Phoenix.

Art Detour and the Viva Phoenix music festival will take place this upcoming weekend, making it one of the busiest and biggest weeks for art downtown. Here is a map to make sure you know your way around town.