The city of Phoenix marks the 30th anniversary of the Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission with a FREE celebration of arts and culture in downtown Phoenix on Oct. 3. The PHX Arts and Culture @ 30 Years Celebration will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center, Herberger Theater and on Monroe Street between Second and Third Streets in downtown Phoenix. Nearly 100 Phoenix-based organizations will participate through music, dance and theater performances, art-making demonstrations, presentations, and public art tours.
Councilwoman Laura Pastor, Chair of the City of Phoenix Parks, Arts, Transparency and Education subcommittee said, “We’re excited to showcase so many of our arts and culture organizations through this 30th Anniversary event. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the exciting growth of the Phoenix arts and culture sector over the past 30 years. The arts play such a critical role in building the community we all want.”
According to Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Executive Director Gail Browne, “We are especially pleased to be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Arts and Culture Commission at the beginning of Arts and Humanities Month. This is also a time of year when many cultural organizations begin their annual season of events. Through our October 3 festivities we want to invite our residents to celebrate and promote the arts while participating in the diverse cultural activities available in our city.”
Visit phoenix.gov/arts/celebrate for a full schedule of events and timeline. Highlights include the following:
HERBERGER THEATER CENTER STAGE from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
Video presentations on “Phoenix Public Art” and “Phoenix Arts and Culture @ 30: A Conversation” (recorded panel discussion with Mayor Greg Stanton, Terry Goddard, and Phoenix arts leaders); and in-person presentations on “Phoenix Urban Guide: a PUG’s Life,” and “Making Our Mark – How the Arts Define Phoenix.”
PUBLIC ART TOURS from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
Downtown public art tours, including the works at the Phoenix Convention Center, will be led by the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Public Art team. The tour will include installations such as “Art is the Guaranty of Sanity” by Louise Bourgeois, “Social Invertebrates” by Tom Otterness and others.
THE MAIN STAGE ON MONROE STREET from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
Performances by Fushicho Daiko, Mariachi Pasíon, Cyphers Center for Urban Arts, Phoenix Conservatory of Music, Rosie’s House, Arizona Caribbean Association, and Jazz in Arizona.
Mayor Greg Stanton will announce the nominees for the fourth annual Mayor’s Arts Awards from the main stage at 12:30 p.m.
THE PHOENIX CONVENTION CENTER ARCADE (off Monroe Street), the following groups will perform from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
Choral Music Performances: Arizona Masterworks Chorale, Phoenix Boys Choir, Phoenix Metropolitan Men’s Chorus/Canyon Echoes, Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix, Voices of the Desert.
Music Performances: ProMusica Arizona, MusicaNova Orchestra, Arizona Opera, Young Sounds of Arizona, Arizona Caribbean Association, Phoenix Traditional Music and Dance.
Dance Performances: Ballet Arizona, Crossroads Performance Group, Movement Source Dance Company, Center Dance, Leanne Schmidt and Company.
Theatre and Literary Performances: Four Chambers Press, La Phoenikera Writer’s Guild, Black Theatre Troupe, The Torch Theatre, Teatro Bravo.
ART MAKING DEMONSTRATIONS AND HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES IN THE HERBERGER PLAZA:
Children’s Museum of Phoenix, Deer Valley Rock Art Center, Free Arts of Arizona, Irish Cultural & Learning Foundation, Phoenix Center for the Arts, Rosson House Heritage Square Foundation & Guild, The Rag Collection, Valley Metro Transit, Xico, USA Arizona, Phoenix Airport Museum, Reimagine Phoenix, City of Phoenix Water Services Department.
ART MAKING DEMONSTRATIONS AND HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES IN THE CONVENTION CENTER ARCADE: Arizona Artists Guild, Arizona Science Center, Herberger Theater Center, Phoenix Chinese Week, Phoenix Symphony, Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona Clay Association, Arizona Matsuri, Heard Museum, Shemer Art Center & Museum Association, Release the Fear, Phoenix Police Museum.
Dozens of other groups and organizations will offer giveaways and information at tables in the Convention Center Arcade, including Arizona Humanities Council, Arizona Citizens for the Arts, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Artlink, Act One Foundation, Alwun House Foundation, Arab American Festival, Arizona Consortium for the Arts, Arizona Jewish Historical Society, Arizona Latino Arts & Culture Center, Arizona Theatre Company, Friends of the Orpheum Theatre, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix Blues Society, Phoenix Children’s Chorus, Phoenix Film Foundation, Phoenix Theatre, VSA Arizona, and Roosevelt Row CDC.
PHX Arts and Culture @ 30 Years is sponsored by the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Reimagine Phoenix, City of Phoenix Water Services Department, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the Phoenix Convention Center and Venues, and Downtown Phoenix, Inc.
