- Friday, Feb. 3
- 6-10 p.m.
- Arizona Latin@ Arts & Cultural Center: 147 E. Adams St.
- Getting there: Walk—First and Adams streets
- Price: FREE
Recommended if you like: Arizona’s true cultural makeup, heritage, classic photography
Rising from the ashes of Downtown’s late Museo Chicano, ALAC has made it its mission to bring the art, beliefs, history and politics of the Latino community to downtown Phoenix. For its latest exhibition, the organization’s Galeria 147 on Adams will be expressing the role of Mexicans in the growth and development of Arizona. In light of the state’s upcoming centennial celebration, the gallery will showcase more than 50 historic photos of pioneering Latinos who made their way in Arizona through the last 100 years. ALAC is aiming to paint a clearer picture of the early integration of migrating American and Mexican settlers in the state, hopefully paving the way for a brighter future in relations between the two groups. The photographs present the founding and settlement of the state as a collaborative effort, utilizing the skills and efforts of a wide array of people to bring Arizona to its current place in the United States.
Kaper: 30 Years of Big Bad Red
- Friday, Feb. 3
- 7-10 p.m.
- Por Vida Gallery: 2800 N. 16th St.
- Getting there: Rail, then Bike—Central and Thomas stop, bike to 16th Street just south of Thomas Street
- Price: FREE
Recommended if you like: local pride, cultural + contemporary art
Veteran Valley painter and muralist Pablo Luna, aka Kaper, brings a showcase of his best work to help throw open the doors of downtown’s newest gallery space. Por Vida (for life, in Spanish) Gallery hopes to build on the ever-growing momentum of Calle 16, a community development and mural project on 16th Street, just northeast of the downtown core. Housed just a few doors down from the district’s founding business, Barrio Café, and its hottest gallery/studio and shop, The Hive, Por Vida aims to add new strengths to the area. The gallery, founded by Luna and fellow Phoenix art heavyweights Lalo Cota and Thomas “Breeze” Marcus, will showcase the greatest local and national urban-based art forms around, expanding on the styles the trio honed during their time at the short-lived 5 and 6 Gallery in Scottsdale. Already sporting a mural on its southern wall by internationally-renowned painter El Mac, the space hopes to make Calle 16 a place to be in Phoenix.
- Saturday, Feb. 4
- 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Heritage Square: 115 N. Sixth St.
- Getting there: Walk—Sixth and Monroe streets
- Price: FREE
Recommended if you like: classic cars, food trucks, cultural history
In celebration of Arizona’s upcoming centennial, the City of Phoenix is hosting a wide variety of events to commemorate the state’s vibrant past, present and future. This weekend, the City invites all to gather at the historic Heritage and Science Park to showcase the state’s automotive history. From its place on the frontier to today’s sprawling metropolis, Arizona’s development has always been intimately tied to the transportation, especially the automobile. Ranging from a 1905 Sears Motor Buggy to several specialized cars and trucks from the 1980s, more than 100 historic vehicles of all shapes and sizes will be on display for the public to see and imagine what purpose they served in their prime. The event’s main attraction, according to organizers, will be a 1912 Ford Model T paired with its supposed 2012 counterpart, serving as a perfect capstone to Arizona’s century of statehood.
Courtney Marie Andrews (with her band)
- Saturday, Feb. 4
- Doors at 7:30 p.m. Show at 8:30 p.m.
- Crescent Ballroom: 308 N. 2nd Ave.
- Getting there: Walk—2nd Ave. and Van Buren St.
- Price: $6 in advance at crescentphx.com, $8 at the door
Recommended if you like: Feist, Kate Bush, local girl made good
Four full-length albums, international touring with Jimmy Eat World and hundreds of local and West Coast shows — oh, and she just turned 21. Since 2007, Courtney Marie Andrews has held the Valley’s burgeoning folk scene with rapt attention. First playing coffee shops across the West Valley, Andrews has built her career around an aching, soulful voice, deft plucks of the acoustic guitar and ambition to spare. Part of the heralded local label River Jones Music, the singer-songwriter has headlined numerous label showcases and been the subject of a New Times cover story, earning the attention of Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins in 2009. His praises led to a literal world of opportunity: Andrews contributed backing vocals on the band’s 2010 full-length Invented and joined the band for more than a year of touring across the United States, Canada and Europe in support of the album. Returning to her solo work with a new backing band and greater focus, Andrews returns to her hometown’s newest venue, the Crescent Ballroom, joined by longtime tour-mates the Pioneers of Prime Time TV, and local newcomer Dylan Pratt.
- Friday, Feb. 3
- Doors at 7 p.m., Show at 8 p.m.
- Crescent Ballroom: 308 N. 2nd Ave.
- Getting there: Walk—Second Ave. and Van Buren St.
- Price: $14 in advance at psykosteve.com, $16 at the door
Recommended if you like: Bayside, the Early November, Horrible Crowes
Like pop-punk? Miss the way it was just a few years ago? Take a step back and a step forward and see what prominent members of the late ‘90s/early 2000s scene are up to now. Brought to the Valley by veteran promoter Psyko Steve Presents, the Where’s the Band? Tour aims to bring classic fans into the present, focusing on the new solo projects of various genre stars of the past decade. The tour features five singer-songwriters who each paid their dues in full-touring bands before deciding to try something new and more exposed. Relative newcomer Evan Weiss (Into It. Over It.) joins veterans Anthony Raneri (Bayside), Ace Enders (The Early November, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business), Chris Conley (Saves the Day), and Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams) on the Crescent Ballroom stage as each performer takes a chance at introspection and intimacy rather than abrasive songs and collective themes. Along with new solo songs and favorites from their previous bands, the tour’s headliners feature a communal twist with the artists taking turns performing never-heard collaborations on the stage.
- Saturday, Feb. 4
- 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
- The Trunk Space: 1506 NW Grand Ave.
- Getting there: Bike—15th and Grand avenues
- Price: Free; comics, books, video games, etc. available for purchase
Recommended if you like: cult classics, comic books, DIY goods
Swap meets happen everywhere. But all too often, one is forced to sort through dozens of booths and stacks of junk to find the choice items buried at the bottom –– but not so this Saturday at the Trunk Space. Classic video games, comic books, trading cards and all manner of nerdy ephemera are the name of the game. Collectors of all kinds will have their appetites whetted at the venue’s first-ever Nerd Swap & Shop. Intended to be a gathering for like-minded “nerds” such as Trunk Space owner JRC, the event will be free of junk, instead focusing on the unconventional passions of the local community. Sellers of unique items are invited to email the venue if they’d like to participate in the event and clear out some much-needed space in their homes –– likely in order to make room for the many collector’s items sure to be on display at the event.
- Friday, Feb. 3
- 4:30-7:30 p.m.
- George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center: 415 E. Grant St.
- Getting there: Bike—Fourth and Grant streets
- Price: FREE
Recommended if you like: civil rights, AZ art history
Three cornerstones of the Arizona black artist community come together for a marquee exhibit inside a landmark locale. The Carver Museum was built in 1926 as the Phoenix Union Colored High School, the only high school for African-Americans in the area until desegregation in 1954. Today, the school serves as an information center on Phoenix’s checkered racial past and as a gateway to a positive racial future. The museum’s newest exhibition brings together the late “Rip” Woods, Clendolyn Corbin and Dr. J. Eugene Grigsby Jr. for a showcase unlike any other in the Valley. Combined, the three artists represent much more than a century of experience in the art world, and each played a vital role in the founding and development of Arizona’s celebrated Consortium of Black Artists. This show will serve as a fundraiser for both the museum and COBA and as an educational exhibition on the history of black art in Phoenix. Fresh off his acclaimed solo show at Roosevelt Row’s Regular Gallery, Dr. Grigsby’s work is sure to be a highlight.
Events compiled by Connor Descheemaker.
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