Families / Kids
From the Wire | Certified Local Fall Festival to Move Downtown
Posted on 5/10/12 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
Some news items don’t need translation. That’s why DPJ launched the From the Wire series, so we could serve the destinations here by posting information and announcements – in their own words.
Eighth Annual Certified Local Fall Festival Is On The Move!
New Downtown Phoenix location allows more space to showcase local business Phoenix, Arizona
After seven amazing years at the Duck & Decanter’s Camelback location, Local First Arizona’s annual festival of all things local will move to Downtown Phoenix’s Portland Place, a mini-park located on Portland Street between Third and Central Avenues. This beautiful green space will allow the Certified Local Fall Festival to better accommodate the many local businesses who want to be a part of the Festival as well as allow more room for attendees to stroll, shop, eat and be entertained in a unique urban setting. The Festival will be held on Saturday, November 10 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
This transition is a big move for Local First Arizona and is indicative of the rapid growth of the organization. “The Mettlers, who own the Duck and Decanter, are like family to us – they have been with us through thick and thin and they are helping us with this transition because we have just outgrown the space at our old location. They are outstanding event organizers and we are so lucky to still have them with us,” explained Kimber Lanning, Director of Local First. “We fully expect to have the same vibe, but this will allow us to include more food, more retail, more local beers and wines – it will just be the next step for us to grow an already successful event.”
Voted “Best Free Festival” in 2011’s New Times Best Of Phoenix awards, this family-friendly festival has a street fair atmosphere and has drawn upwards of 6,000 attendees in past years. The event is open to the public and will offer a variety of local businesses, restaurants, live music and children’s activities. Previous vendors include a variety of businesses that are unique to Arizona like Bookmans, Practical Art, Zia Records, Frances Boutique, Smeeks Candy Shop, Kidstop Toys, Pink House Boutique, Strawberry Hedgehog, Desert Song Yoga, Noble Beast Pet Boutique, Hubbard Family Swim School, Postino, Spinato’s Pizza, The Parlor, St. Francis, Urban Cookies, America’s Taco Shop, Changing Hands Bookstore, and Green New American Vegetarian. This year’s event will add a food truck court, an expanded beer and wine garden and more fun arts, crafts and games for kids. Live music will be provided by Arizona musicians and the first 500 attendees will receive gift bags. A raffle and silent auction will raise funds for Local First and will include stay-cation packages from around the state, free dinners and tickets to Valley-wide events.
The event historically has been a great place to get a jump start on holiday shopping, while attendees can enjoy some of the Valley’s best restaurants, breweries and wineries. Bring the whole family, there’s something for everyone!
Event Details
What: 8th Annual Certified Local Fall Festival presented by Local First Arizona
When: Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Portland Place, on Portland Street between Third and Central Avenues, Downtown Phoenix
Cost: Free to attend. Admittance to Beer & Wine Garden is $10 which includes samples of a wide variety of Arizona beers & wines. Food will be available for $1 or less.
May First Friday | The MAP
Posted on 5/04/12 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
Hi Phoenix! Here is a map of arts and biz destinations that will make your First Friday a bit more fun.
These are the spaces that participated in the recent Art Detour 24, so you may find a few that are closed this evening – and then there a few that have popped up since Detour:
• Pedal Craft PHX – if you missed this the first time around now is the time to check it out in person. Kitchen Sink Studios, 828 N. 3rd St.
• bIGGY Art Sale – First Studio will be filled with iggyart paintings and artwork from the last 7+ years. First Studio, 631 N. 1st Ave.
• Fenix PCG – an open house at the Westminster Apartments on the corner of 2nd Ave. and Roosevelt St. (BTW, we’re calling it…2nd Avenue is the next big thing to hit Downtown. Keep your eyes/ears peeled.)
Check out the map below or download the First Friday Map here
Click to enlarge.
Gear Up for Valley Bike Month
Posted on 3/30/12 by Erin Bartynski » No Comments
Click to enlarge Bike Month poster.
It’s time to celebrate spring with Valley Metro’s Valley Bike Month. Events will take place in greater downtown Phoenix and all across the valley area.
Like a handlebar flowing with streamers, April is filled with festive bicycling activities varying from family fun rides and used bike drives to safety seminars.
Highlights include:
• Pedal Craft PHX: April 20, Downtown
• Bike to Work and School Day: April 18, Valley-wide
• The Valley Metro Great Bike Chase and Game: April 22, Downtown
• Valley Bike Month Contest: All month long, Valley-wide
Click here for the full calendar of events.
To participate in the Valley Bike Month Contest, first enter online, then be sure to ride your bike to work, for fun, or attend a biking event during Bike Month. Prizes include a Novara Corsa bike, bike tune-ups, hotel stays, or gift certificates for food and entertainment.
Bike Valet
Adding to the Valley Bike Month activities, Valley Metro is partnering with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Urban Commons Summit, and several local bike clubs to provide free valet bicycle parking for every D-backs game during Bike Month.
All April long, cyclists can bring their bikes to the designated area at the Urban Commons Summit, just across from Chase Field on Fourth Street. A volunteer will attach a claim check to the bike, and give the matching number to the rider. All the biker has to do is hold on to their valet ticket, enjoy the game, then return within an hour after it’s over to pick up their bike. The service is free of charge (however, the volunteers will gladly accept tips).
“Cycling has seen a surge in popularity recently, especially in central Phoenix. We are modeling our program after the successful partnership between the San Francisco Giants and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition” said Suzanne Day, Valley Bike Month coordinator.
The Urban Commons Summit is donating use of the Summit at Copper Square (pictured left) space to help support the effort. Other local organizations participating to help staff the bike valet include the Arizona Bicycle Club, the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists, the Tempe Bike Action Group, and more.
The partnership offers a temporary solution to the lack of bike parking downtown, and encourages more people to use something other than their cars to get to Chase Field. Downtowners can ride on over, and those who live a little further out have an incentive to bike to their nearest light rail station to get to the game. Positively impacting local air quality, decreasing pollution, and boosting the urban bike scene — win, win, and win!
Valley Metro Great Bike Chase & Game
On April 22, the Diamondbacks play the Braves at Chase Field. That’s fun in and of itself, but for this special Bike Month event, join hundreds of other bicyclists for a group ride from Margaret T. Hance Park to to Chase Field with a few stops and festivities along the way.
Starting at 10:30 a.m., there will be individual and group bike rides, a bike expo and safety rodeo, and kids’ activities. Participants will get discounted D-backs tickets and free valet bike parking (see above), with the game starting at 1:10 p.m. Get registered for the Great Bike Chase here.
Whether you’ve participated in Bike Month before or you’re new to pedal-pushing, there’s a way for everyone to celebrate getting around on two wheels, including families, those looking to learn more about bike culture, and people who ride their bikes every single day.
Follow Valley Metro on Twitter or like them on Facebook for up-to-the-minute updates and reminders about Bike Month!
Metro Arts Institute Nurtures Young Artists
Posted on 3/30/12 by J. Seth Anderson » No Comments
Art is a process of self-discovery, and that path, when followed by a population of artists, can play an important role in creating the character of a city.
The identity of Phoenix is made stronger by our arts community, from the small business owners who occupy gallery space, to the evolution and success of First Fridays. The city benefits from the inspiration and new ideas discovered through a creative process, but “if you don’t provide for your artists, they leave.”
So says Matt Baker, founder of Metropolitan Arts Institute.
Believing arts education is one way to provide for young artists, Baker in 1998 founded Metro Arts as a tuition-free, college preparatory visual and performing arts school for grades 7-12. The charter school is modeled after California art schools like Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica and Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild-Pine Cove.
“Phoenix is an adolescent city. We need more people to found organizations that get others thinking about our identity and who we are,” said Baker, the current Head of School. “One advantage to living in an adolescent city is anyone can do that. After grad school I wasn’t planning on staying in Phoenix, but the opportunity to start this school came up, and I’m still here.”
“If you don’t provide for your artists, they leave.”
– Matt Baker, Metropolitan Arts Institute
In public high schools, art and music programs always seem to be on the chopping block, while a heavy emphasis is placed on athletic programs. For students serious about sports, traditional high schools provide fields, weight rooms, pools, and dedicated coaches.
Talented athletes have more opportunities to be seen by scouts or receive scholarships than do talented artists who may not even have a chance to take an art elective until their junior year of high school. By then, too much time has passed to create a well-rounded portfolio.
“Students come to Metro Arts in 7th and 8th grade, explore different art forms, then come into their freshmen year prepared. Like playing a sport, it’s best to start young,” said Baker.
280 students are enrolled this year with 60-100 on a waiting list. Prospective students must be in good academic standing with at least a C average, have passed the AIMS test, and had no serious disciplinary action on their student record.
“Being an artist doesn’t mean you get to be lazy. It means you are creative. You have to produce,” said Baker. At Metro Arts, students have the guidance, encouragement, and opportunity to do just that.
Part of the vision of Metro Arts is to create a pre-professional environment that exposes students to the realities of life in the art world. Two big art shows are held each school year in which students compete to get in by submitting their best work, which is juried, just as in the professional world. Students have other opportunities to show their work at the Phoenix Art Museum, the ASU Art Museum and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
An Artist Grows in Phoenix
Last year as a freshmen, Bela Elvin painted a self-portrait; won second place at the Arizona Student Film Festival for a public service announcement she collaborated on about healthy eating titled “A Series of Unhealthy Events;” starred in a play; and wrote her own for the 5 Minute Play Festival titled “Dr. Khatte Tells his Tail,” a one act play about an intellectually suppressed cat.
Self portrait by Bela Elvin.
Now a sophomore, she is gaining valuable hands-on experience and building an impressive portfolio while also completing the required high school academic courses in biology, geometry and humanities.
Bela’s mother, Katie Elvin, a poet and artist herself, was renting a room at 11 East Ashland, a former art gallery in Phoenix, when Bela was born.
“She came into the world surrounded by art. When she was a little girl I knew I wanted her to attend an art school,” said Elvin. “Artists think differently and may not flourish in a traditional school. I wanted to help her build skill sets to do the things she wants to do in the future.”
Bela speaks about her school and education with the maturity of a sophomore in college, not a sophomore in high school. Her passion for her work and excitement about the training she receives at Metro Arts brightens the room like houselights in a theater.
“If you just want to breeze through classes and do the bare minimum required to pass, you can do that just like you can anywhere. But if you want to make the most of your arts education, you can. The teachers have experience and vast knowledge of what they do. The academic teachers are just as passionate about their subjects as the arts teachers.” She says her math teacher considers the subject an art form. “I was terrible at math until I took his algebra class.”
All the arts teachers are also working artists from the Phoenix arts community. The Assistant Head of School, Lisa Starry, is the Artistic Director of Scorpius Dance Theater. Bela’s Mixed Media teacher is Sue Chenoweth, a painter whose most recent solo exhibition, “Spyhopping” opened at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in 2010. Chenoweth’s work has also been shown in New York and other galleries in Phoenix. Bela says she is excited to study under such an accomplished artist this year.
After she graduates from Metro Arts Bela plans to attend McGill University in Montreal, Canada to pursue a degree in psychology and theater, but for now she is focused on making the most of her sophomore year. She wrote another play that has been accepted into the 5 Minute Play Festival and she has kept busy by working on that production.
Her favorite memory of the last school year was when Alan Arkin visited Metro Arts and spoke to the student body.
“He told us that when someone asks us what we do, not to say, ‘I’m an actress’ but instead to say ‘I’m a person who acts.’ He told us to put ourselves being a human before our work. I liked his message because he was teaching us not to define ourselves simply by our work because that doesn’t say who we are as people, ” said Bela.
Perhaps our city can be defined by people like her.
Video: Art Detour 2012
Posted on 3/26/12 by Perry Allen » No Comments
What is art in Phoenix? A short piece compiled from my trip around Downtown Phoenix for Art Detour weekend. Thank you to all the artists, patrons, volunteers, and proprietors who took the time to speak with me.
(shot & cut by perry allen for dpj)
