Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast earlier today has been classified a “superstorm” by meteorologists (a technicality, not because it’s less severe). Weather is severe across the coastline, where flooding is widespread across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut — and it’s come with an additional flooding of photoshopped…
Bob Ross was a beloved American artist and pop culture icon who taught quick lessons in painting on PBS’s The Joy of Painting, which aired from January 11, 1983, to May 17, 1994. He died in July of 1995. Ross was known for his slightly odd behavior and lessons imparted…
Political advertising has been around since the age of politics (and since anyone thought to scratch their candidate’s name into stone), but the art of sharing information while visually persuading voters and slamming your political opponents has evolved since it began airing on television in 1952. Marshall Reese and Antoni…
As one of the ritziest cities in the Valley, Scottsdale has more than its fair share of glitz and glamour. And depending on who you talk to, it also has a little bit of tastelessness. This was most certainly the case this past weekend when a few people celebrating the…
SMoCA Fall Opening, 10/26/12 Valley art fans flocked to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art for the Fall Opening Friday October 26, 2012, in Scottsdale. Exibitions included work by architect Hector Zamora, Phoenix-based painter Carrie Marill, Los Angeles artist Sherin Guirguis, and several other local artists. Admission was free and…
Laurie Notaro is an author, crafter, and expert at finding a good cocktail. She grew up in Phoenix, but is currently based in Eugene, Oregon. Each week, she’ll be joining us to share a crafting adventure, draw a flowchart, or remember a few of her favorite things about Phoenix. Today,…
Ignite Phoenix presented its 13th installment of local lectures to a packed house on Friday night at the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts. As always, presenters were each allotted 5 minutes and 20 slides to share their stories, ideas, and passions ranging in every topic from sustainable living to living…
Mallets and forks up, Phoenix! Chow Bella and Roosevelt Row present the third annual Pie Social and Croquet Tournament on Saturday, November 3, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix. Chow Bella’s profiling the all-star line up of pie-makers, and from now til Pie Social, we’ll…
We know, the beginning of the work week sucks. But if you take a quick look at the calendar, you’ll see we’re off to a pretty good week of art events, sports games, dance parties, and more. Here are our must-see events from now to the weekend… Monday, October 29:…
If Bob Ross were alive today, he’d be painting happy little trees all over the place in ecstatic fervor for all the arts and culture happenings in Phoenix. To help you see the forest for the trees, here’s a recap of the top arts and culture stories of the week…
To the surprise of no one with a Tumblr account or more than 500 friends on Facebook, Tardar Sauce the cat is making some serious rounds on the meme-infested internet. And to the relief of anyone with a desk job or a cat thing, her Arizona-based owners have launched a…
It’s election season, and with it come hordes of campaign signs that crowd every street corner, fence post, and obsolete storefront. They scream at pedestrians and drivers from the sidewalk: “Vote for this weasel over this snake-in-the-grass” or “Vote on this proposition, unless you hate children, kittens and old women.”…
In an age when politicians are proposing legislation to deny women access to birth control, scientists at South Carolina’s Clemson University are giving it away for free — to squirrels. According to National Geographic, a warmer winter and a boom in nuts (of the food variety) has led to a…
The saga continues. Panic over the future of the David & Gladys Wright House in Phoenix began over the summer, when the property landed in the hands of 8081 Meridian, a Nevada-based developer that expressed plans to redevelop the land, split the property and “relocate” of all existing structures on…
Safwat Saleem is on a (likely endless) mission to create a well-designed alternative to the ugly greeting card. The Phoenix-based designer cites many problems we face in current culture, including “climate change, global hunger, [and] people being massive dicks online,” but says that because ugly cards aren’t high on that…
Looking for ways to fill up your weekend? Here are your five best bets for getting out and about in the Valley of the Sun. Espionage En Couture @ Scottsdale AirCenter The undeniable highlight of Phoenix Fashion Week 2012 was the three-day event’s grand finale: a showstopping collection of pop…
Speaking with Matthew Inman is a lot like reading his wildly popular webcomic The Oatmeal: It’s a frequently funny experience, there’s a smattering of humorous vulgarity involved, and the subject matter can be random. It’s what we experienced during our recent conversation with Inman, and what the audience at Changing…
James E. Garcia has a long history of bringing politics to the stage. The Phoenix-based, award-winning journalist, educator, and playwright has told the (abridged) history of Mexico in The Eagle & The Serpent and stories of the border in Amexica: Tales from the Fourth World. For the past few weeks,…
If your idea of a silver screen hit includes history, crime, and a healthy dose of art, this is your weekend — as part of the the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, “Portrait of Wally,” is debuting October 26 through 28 at Phoenix Art Museum. Austrian painter Egon Schiele, most…
Mallets and forks up, Phoenix! Chow Bella and Roosevelt Row present the third annual Pie Social and Croquet Tournament on Saturday, November 3, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix. Chow Bella’s profiling the all-star line up of pie-makers, and from now til Pie Social, we’ll…
Sci-fi and real-world science don’t always go hand-in-hand, but a collaboration between a few of the Valley’s creative, innovative, and scientific organizations will offer insight into the intersection of science, history, and exploration. This Friday, well-known science-fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson will join Desert Initiative Direector Greg Esser, and Portuguese…
Gossip Girl and The O.C., the two teen TV shows created in the past decade by 36-year-old Josh Schwartz, are sly bait-and-switches. Both are easily marketable for their hot (mess) fashion-plate stars, wide-eyed luxury fetishism, soapy season arcs, and savvy self-reference, but both are also, at heart, deeply old-fashioned in…
