This time of year is grand, ain’t it? Sandwiched in between weekends stacked with events is November Third Friday, an opportunity to quietly meander through the galleries of Downtown Phoenix. Grand Avenue is the perfect spot, offering a number of amazing art shows and spaces, as well as food and drink options to start or cap off your evening.
The work of Kyle Jordre. Image courtesy of Jordre.
A good starting point is Bragg’s Pie Factory (1301 Grand Ave.), which features the insanely cool Trashy Sculpture show in its cavernous main room. Yep, it’s just like it sounds: Beautiful, one-of-a-kind sculptures made from yesterday’s scraps.
Gallery Marsiglia (1018 Grand Ave.), open from 5 to 9:30 p.m., is stuffed with art, of course, but will also feature a networking happy hour from 6:30 to 9 with Anna Weber, a consultant who can show you a thing or two about using technology to the utmost advantage for your small business.
Need a little musica? Right up the street is the Paisley Violin (1030 Grand Ave.), which is hosting a live music charity event called “Rock for Remedy!” Music starts at 5 p.m., but stay a while for a beer and one of Paisley’s impossibly tasty sandwiches.
The Phoenix Fall Space (1023 Grand Ave.), a quiet little gallery across the drag from Paisley, will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. featuring works from Jimi Girdner and Denise Fleisch. Then there’s the always edgy Deus Ex Machina gallery (1023 Grand Ave.), showing Michele Bledsoe’s “State of Grace” collection from 7 to 10 p.m.
A bit further south, step into Jordre Studio (1007 Grand Ave.) from 5 to 10 p.m., where painter Kyle Jordre splatters colors all over nearly every surface in the room.
An excellent corner to finish the evening is “Grandevelt” — the highly angular intersection of Grand, 15th Avenue and Roosevelt Street — home to the Kooky Krafts Shop (1500 Grand Ave.), Bikini Lounge (1502 Grand Ave.), Sweets ‘n’ Beats (1504 Grand Ave.) and The Trunk Space (1506 Grand Ave.), which is hosting a free artist reception with Michael Patterson (6 to 9 p.m.) and some good ole rock ‘n’ roll featuring Imaginary Colors, starting at 9.
Parking is available along any of Grand’s side streets.
