Showing posts with label downtown art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label downtown art. Show all posts
Monday, March 08, 2010
More Fridays
Last weekend's Art Detour (most know it as the annual event where First Friday lasts all weekend) reminded me of a couple years back when the detour weekend didn’t coincide with a First Friday. Attendance for that Art Detour was way down and many of the artists and gallery owners who participate in First Fridays and Art Detour blamed the decision to sever Art Detour from First Fridays. Still, I wish they could have stuck with that experiment. I liked the idea of getting people into the arts district and Roosevelt Row more than just 12 times per year (and I’m sure a lot of the downtown restaurants and businesses did too). Perhaps some year in the future Art Detour can merge with a Third Friday to help that night’s art walk take off and at least give us 13 crazy Friday nights a year.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Frugal in (downtown) Phoenix
One of the knocks on urban living is that it's too expensive, and therefore inaccessible to middle and certainly lower-income earners. One look at some of the prices on menus at downtown Phoenix restaurants and-- still to some degree-- the prices of downtown condos-- lends a lot of credence to that argument. Obviously, high prices are a scourge these days as everyone tries to cut back on costs and save more. So can downtown Phoenix fit into a budget?
Fiancee_of_Downtown_Resident and I certainly think so. Friday night we hit the Third Fridays concert at the Civic Space Park (free), traveled to Tempe on light rail ($3.50 as I had already purchased a round trip that day for work) and purchased two huge yogurts at Mojo ($5 with a coupon) before catching a hilarious open mic on Mill Avenue (free) for less than $10 total.
The free Third Fridays concert got me thinking-- what other free or cheap hidden gems exist downtown? There are some good ones:
Fiancee_of_Downtown_Resident and I certainly think so. Friday night we hit the Third Fridays concert at the Civic Space Park (free), traveled to Tempe on light rail ($3.50 as I had already purchased a round trip that day for work) and purchased two huge yogurts at Mojo ($5 with a coupon) before catching a hilarious open mic on Mill Avenue (free) for less than $10 total.
The free Third Fridays concert got me thinking-- what other free or cheap hidden gems exist downtown? There are some good ones:
Phoenix Art Museum: free First Fridays from 6-10 p.m.
(obviously, dozens of galleries around downtown and central Phoenix are free on First and Third Fridays as well)
Heard Museum: free Third Fridays from 5:30-9 p.m. and Saturday, July 25 and August 1, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Civic Space Third Fridays concert series: free every Third Friday; also watch for the occasional free movies in the park.
Arizona Science Center/Phoenix Children's Museum/Phoenix Art Museum/Heard Museum: free with Culture Pass from various libraries including the Burton Barr Phoenix Library (admits 4).
AMC 24 at the Arizona Center: $5 movies before noon, including weekends.
Carly's: $3 wine on Thursdays.
Feel free to include any of your own free and inexpensive downtown Phoenix items in the comments...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Dark Knight, Bright Day for Downtown Phoenix
On a perfect April night last week, you could see things all starting to come together for downtown Phoenix.
On the surface, it was merely a couple hundred people taking in a free movie in a park. But when put in perspective, the screening of The Dark Knight put on by ASU students for a class project was a huge moment that illustrated how far downtown Phoenix has come.
The movie screen was in the center of a juxtaposition of downtown Phoenix's old and new. The screen sat in front of the newly-restored 1926 A.E. England Building, flanked on its left by the "Her Secret is Patience" sculpture (also referred to by many more colloquially as the "Jellyfish") and on the right by the very bright lights of the new Central Park East high rise. Moviegoers were pleasantly distracted by the light rail trains that both in front and behind them as well as the news zipper scrolling along on the ASU journalism building. And of course, beneath the movie patrons was the brand-new Downtown Phoenix Civic Space, a 2.77-acre gem of a park that just opened.
An even more positive sign was the crowd that came to watch the movie. Not only did the turnout exceed expectations (with minimal publicity, organizers expected 60-75 attendees and then at least 250 showed up), but it was a crazy blend of people: old and young, all races, ASU students, high-rise condo dwellers and homeless people. And as far as I could tell, everyone enjoyed themselves.
I've been critical of ASU in the past. Its administrators descended on downtown and acted like they owned the place-- let's not forget they wanted to tear down the A.E. England Building they're now patting themselves on the back for saving-- and at first its students publicly bashed their new environment instead of trying to go out and change it for the better. However, on this night ASU's students had a very positive effect on downtown with their ingenious, well-run program to activate the new park. This event showed the promise the university's presence can have for downtown.
As the event ended, people were overheard saying what a great event it was, how they couldn't believe it took place downtown, and how they'd be back (WALL-E will run this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.). Hopefully this is the start of a new tradition that can take its place alongside First Fridays and Suns games as a constant in downtown life. But even if it doesn't, it was enough to illustrate to everyone there that there is at last a burgeoning urban center in the giant megalopolis.
Apparently, while no one was looking, downtown Phoenix came to life.
On the surface, it was merely a couple hundred people taking in a free movie in a park. But when put in perspective, the screening of The Dark Knight put on by ASU students for a class project was a huge moment that illustrated how far downtown Phoenix has come.
The movie screen was in the center of a juxtaposition of downtown Phoenix's old and new. The screen sat in front of the newly-restored 1926 A.E. England Building, flanked on its left by the "Her Secret is Patience" sculpture (also referred to by many more colloquially as the "Jellyfish") and on the right by the very bright lights of the new Central Park East high rise. Moviegoers were pleasantly distracted by the light rail trains that both in front and behind them as well as the news zipper scrolling along on the ASU journalism building. And of course, beneath the movie patrons was the brand-new Downtown Phoenix Civic Space, a 2.77-acre gem of a park that just opened.
An even more positive sign was the crowd that came to watch the movie. Not only did the turnout exceed expectations (with minimal publicity, organizers expected 60-75 attendees and then at least 250 showed up), but it was a crazy blend of people: old and young, all races, ASU students, high-rise condo dwellers and homeless people. And as far as I could tell, everyone enjoyed themselves.
I've been critical of ASU in the past. Its administrators descended on downtown and acted like they owned the place-- let's not forget they wanted to tear down the A.E. England Building they're now patting themselves on the back for saving-- and at first its students publicly bashed their new environment instead of trying to go out and change it for the better. However, on this night ASU's students had a very positive effect on downtown with their ingenious, well-run program to activate the new park. This event showed the promise the university's presence can have for downtown.
As the event ended, people were overheard saying what a great event it was, how they couldn't believe it took place downtown, and how they'd be back (WALL-E will run this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.). Hopefully this is the start of a new tradition that can take its place alongside First Fridays and Suns games as a constant in downtown life. But even if it doesn't, it was enough to illustrate to everyone there that there is at last a burgeoning urban center in the giant megalopolis.
Apparently, while no one was looking, downtown Phoenix came to life.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Downtown odds and ends
A well-placed source says:
* Workers will install the civic space park artwork (you know, the "jellyfish") on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
* The Suns estimate that 10% of fans at US Airways Center arrive on light rail.
* Light rail ridership numbers in February are significantly higher than January's numbers, which beat the preliminary estimates.
* Unfortunately, 44 Monroe only has 11 contracts out of 202 units in the building. A glance at the building at night-- where only a handful of condos are lighted up-- seems to confirm that statement.
* Workers will install the civic space park artwork (you know, the "jellyfish") on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
* The Suns estimate that 10% of fans at US Airways Center arrive on light rail.
* Light rail ridership numbers in February are significantly higher than January's numbers, which beat the preliminary estimates.
* Unfortunately, 44 Monroe only has 11 contracts out of 202 units in the building. A glance at the building at night-- where only a handful of condos are lighted up-- seems to confirm that statement.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
A holiday aberration, or a sign of the future?
Yesterday's First Fridays was the most poorly-attended version of the event I can remember since I started attending regularly in 2004. The question is why-- the insane heat, the fact it was Fourth of July and everyone who stayed in town was watching fireworks or the Diamondbacks, or whether the new rules on street vending have had some effect.
I happen to favor the restrictions on the vendors-- for a while it seemed First Fridays was turning into Phoenix's largest garage sale-- and happen to think that even if the crowds dissipate somewhat because of the absence of the vendors, that the focus will turn back to the art in the various galleries. And that's where it belongs.
I happen to favor the restrictions on the vendors-- for a while it seemed First Fridays was turning into Phoenix's largest garage sale-- and happen to think that even if the crowds dissipate somewhat because of the absence of the vendors, that the focus will turn back to the art in the various galleries. And that's where it belongs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)