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Exhibitions

Oct 7 - Dec 31, 2024

Meditative Mindscapes

Paradise Valley artist Janet Towbin’s intricate drawings and prints are tangible evidence of creative meditations.

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Ongoing

Civic Center Public Gallery

The Civic Center Public Gallery is located at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library.

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Jan 9 - Mar 27, 2025

Maps—Contours of a Story 

Maps—Contours of a Story is a juried exhibition of artist maps that illustrate moments, ideas, and stories, curated with Saskia Jorda, Phoenix multidisciplinary artist and teacher.

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Apr 10 - Jul 15, 2025

Superdelic Psychonatural  

Collaborating artists Lex Gjurasic and Ners Neonlumberjack express their reverence and joy for nature through intensely hued paintings and sculptures

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Jul 12 - Sep 23, 2024

Stick Together

This juried group exhibition of collage artworks shows the ingenious minds of artists who are sticking unusual elements together to bring a cohesive voice to the viewer.

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Apr 8 - Jul 1, 2024

Flirting with the Desert

Koryn Woodward Wasson has a crush on the Arizona desert.    Every spring, while walking or driving around her central Phoenix neighborhood, Woodward Wasson is foraging for inspiration. Frequently, obsessively, she stops all activity to photograph her local nature friends, as they announce the season with explosive color, song, and flight. Her desert subjects are a […]

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Jan 8 - Mar 30, 2024

COLORLOVE 

Throughout history, humanity has examined, philosophized, questioned, and celebrated the full spectrum of color. The most basic extraction of color seen in nature is the rainbow—sunlight, through tiny drops of water, split into its most intense, pure hues. The beauty of this vision is hard-wired into our brains.   

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Oct 10 - Dec 31, 2023

HOME-ING

Judith Ann Miller and David Dauncey have made a home together in Arizona for nearly 30 years. This exhibition centers on objects and places that say “home” to them now.

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Jul 11 - Sep 24, 2023

Kids in Focus: Photographers Mentoring Youth 

Through the nine-week Kids in Focus after-school program, skilled mentors use the art of photography with one-to-one guidance to inspire and empower at-risk youth.

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Apr 11 - Jun 30, 2023

Diversion: Recycled Textiles to Art 

About To call attention to the worldwide environmental crisis caused by textile waste, this exhibition features Arizona-based artists who have created artworks from old, self-sourced clothing and cast-off textiles as their major components. These artworks carry their own messages while diverting a small portion of textile waste from the landfills.  Approximately 92 million tons of […]

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Jan 9 - Mar 30, 2023

Rip Woods: Creating Magic 

Roosevelt “Rip” Woods, (1933–2001), was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, and grew up in Phoenix. His long art career was a standout in Phoenix for his early and recognized talent and his commitment to creating much-needed exhibition opportunities for Black artists.

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Oct 10 - Dec 31, 2022

Modern Latina: Cultura, Familia y Arte   

The identities of the Modern Latina artists are illuminated through their cultural and familial ties—all embodied in the celebration of traditions and ancestral legacies. 

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Jul 7 - Sep 30, 2022

Designed to Move: Seeds that Float, Fly or Hitchhike Through the Desert Southwest 

How can seeds inspire designs for self-activated robots or more efficient wind-turbine blades? Featuring work by photographer Taylor James, Designed to Move: Seeds That Float, Fly or Hitchhike through the Desert Southwest is a surprising, up-close look at the beauty and functional diversity of desert seed designs.  

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Apr 13 - Jun 30, 2022

INTERWOVEN: Telaraña Fiber Arts Guild 

During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, the Telaraña Fiber Arts Guild proposed a challenge to keep their members engaged with one another and celebrate Arizona’s beauty. The resulting fiber arts, and the visual images that inspired them, comprise this exhibition. 

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Jan 10 - Mar 30, 2022

FIRST: Native American Artists of Arizona 

FIRST: Native American Artists of Arizona features work by artists who descend from the first Indigenous people of North America, with histories that stretch through the millennia. 

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Oct 4 - Dec 31, 2021

Arizona Watercolor Association Juried Exhibition 

The Arizona Watercolor Association Juried Exhibition features the finest of Arizona’s watercolor artists.

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Jul 5 - Sep 20, 2021

Pictures Tell Stories: Children’s Book Illustrations 

Two Arizona collectors share their passion for children’s literature and illustration. 

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Mar 15 - Jun 21, 2021

I Am You, You Are Me: Portraits

I Am You, You Are Me: Portraits is a juried group show of portraits in all media on view at the Civic Center Public Gallery.

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Jan 10 - Mar 2, 2021

WEST—Arizona Artists of Color exhibition

Scottsdale Arts is committed to enlarging the conversation of what artistic statements of "the West" can be beyond traditional depictions of western art. Juried in consultation with esteemed artist Joe Willie Smith, this exhibition of Arizona artists of color captures the West’s spirit through the artists’ bold creative expressions, showing their experience and what it’s like to live here now in this pivotal time. Their voices are an important part of Arizona’s past, present, and future.  

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Oct 5 - Dec 31, 2020

Artists’ Breakfast Club, 20 Years

An exhibition of artworks from members of the Valley-based Artists’ Breakfast Club.

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Jul 31 - Sep 25, 2020

Creatures and Monsters

An exhibition of artwork by Arizona artists who explore and create the creatures of their imaginations

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May 18 - Jul 31, 2020

Mount St. Helens: Catastrophe and Renewal, 40 Years On

Upon the 40th anniversary of the most destructive volcanic eruption in U.S. history, photographer Buzzy Sullivan presents a series of photographs documenting the destruction, rebirth, and growth of Mount St. Helens.

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Apr 6 - Jun 30, 2020

Abstract Journeys of Mutation

Virtual exhibition of layered, brightly colored abstract paintings by two Phoenix artists.

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Jan 13 - Mar 31, 2020

Huggernaut, Fiber Arts of Love

This is an exhibition of small art quilts and other fiber arts addressing the warmth and comfort of love.

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Dec 2, 2019 - Jan 31, 2020

Lies Unsaid—Paintings by Cam DeCaussin

Simple curiosity, or even voyeurism, is a profound dynamic that we all, as a society, engage in.

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Oct 1 - Dec 31, 2019

Messages in Ink, Women in Print

Fine art prints are primarily artworks on paper that allow an artist to convey their message in a graphic, in-your-face way or with subtle and layered imagery.

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Sep 2 - Nov 29, 2019

Dudes and Dudettes—Fiber Arts by Marla Hattabaugh

The series Dudes and Dudettes depicts abstracted, patched-together human forms. They appear to dance, pulsate, and float in bright colors. Rich and multilayered with patterns, each one takes about a month to create with Hattabaugh’s own hand-dyed fabrics.

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Aug 1 - Sep 15, 2019

Scottsdale Collects Art: Selections from the Fine Art Collection of the City of Scottsdale

Scottsdale has a long history of support for art and artists. Many of the community’s original settlers—recruited from the East and Midwest by Scottsdale’s founder, Chaplain Winfield Scott—had an appreciation for cultural activities.

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Jun 3 - Aug 30, 2019

Before Ever After: My American Fairytale

Shachi Kale debuts a new series of paintings that address her journey after marriage, from Mumbai, India, to Chandler, Arizona, through the lens of fairytales—the lonely and difficult parts, before the princess gets her “ever after.”

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Sep 15 - Dec 31, 2018

Footprints on the Desert: Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona

Celebrate the “greatest American architect of all time” (American Institute of Architects) with the exhibition, which features notable Wright-designed buildings in Arizona, including Wright’s own winter home, studio and school: Taliesin West, located in Scottsdale.

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May 26 - Aug 31, 2018

DEEP TIME: Imagining the Ancient Inland Sea

Scottsdale Public Art and Scottsdale Arts Education & Outreach presents DEEP TIME: Imagining the Ancient Inland Sea, an immersive, family-friendly experience running May 26–Aug. 24 at the Gallery @ The Library, Scottsdale Civic Center. DEEP TIME takes visitors on a journey to the prehistoric ocean that once covered the Sonoran Desert, as imagined through the […]

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Jan 25 - Mar 30, 2018

Interactions through Art: Scottsdale Artists-in-Residence

Three former residents of the Scottsdale Creates Residency program at the Scottsdale Livery are having an exhibit of their works.

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Jan 22 - May 17, 2018

Erika Lynne Hanson

Scottsdale Public Art has awarded Erika Lynne Hanson with the latest Scottsdale Creates artist residency at the Noriega Stable Livery space in downtown Scottsdale, December 17 – May 17, 2018. . Hanson is currently an Assistant Professor of Fibers and Socially Engaged Practices at Arizona State University. Hanson’s residency will engage artists, art and community. […]

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Sep 20 - Dec 30, 2017

Frankenstein in the 21st Century: The Waking Dream, 200 Years Later

The exhibition will feature artwork that celebrates the bi-centennial of the groundbreaking gothic novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, which was published anonymously in 1818.

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Sep 1 - Oct 31, 2017

Christopher Jagmin: Safe and Sound

For Scottsdale Public Art’s 2017 Creative Residency, local artist  Christopher Jagmin presents Safe and Sound: a series of social practice projects that create a “safe community space” where visitors may share their hopes, fears and individual histories without judgment. Each week, Jagmin will offer a new one-on-one or community-connected project for the public to interact with. The exchanges […]

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May 11 - Aug 31, 2017

Bird Cloud Island

Scottsdale Public Art presents: Bird Cloud Island by Koryn Woodward Wasson May 11 – August 31, 2017   This summer, Scottsdale Public Art and artist Koryn Woodward Wasson are transforming the Gallery at Civic Center Library into a luxurious family-friendly resort hotel titled Bird Cloud Island! Once only for birds, Bird Cloud Island is opening its doors to human families so they […]

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Apr 1 - Jun 30, 2017

Creative Residency with Lauren Strohacker: Coyote Anthropophony

Scottsdale Public Art is pleased to announce artist Lauren Strohacker Artist-at-Work for the Creative Residency at the Shipp Indian School Space, April 15 – May 31, 2017. Coyote Anthropophony is a project that combines sound, video, projection and education about coyote history, behavior, safety, and urban cohabitation strategies. Strohacker will collaborate with urbanSTEW, a Phoenix-based art and technology collective dedicated […]

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Feb 1 - Jun 30, 2017

Creative Residency at the Scottsdale Livery with David Emitt Adams: Power

Scottsdale Public Art is pleased to announce photography artists David Emitt Adams as the Artist-at-Work for the Creative Residency at the Scottsdale Livery Studio Space, February-June, 2017. Adams creates photographs with the wet plate collodion tintype process, first used in 1850. His current work, Power, explores the social, politic al and environmental landscape of the American oil […]

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Oct 3 - Dec 31, 2016

Concept to Completion: Western Cast Iron Arts Alliance Juried Exhibition of Cast Iron Sculpture

Scottsdale Public Art and Scottsdale Community College (SCC)  present a juried exhibition of cast iron sculpture by emerging and mid-career artists. Jurors Mary Bates Neubauer, professor of art at Arizona State University, and Wendy Raisanen, curator of exhibitions and collections at Scottsdale Public Art, selected 33 local and nation-wide artists out of 111 applicants. This […]

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Sep 1 - Sep 30, 2016

Creative Residency with “Artist@Work” Ron Carlos

Scottsdale Public Art presents Native American ceramic artist Ron Carlos as the “Artist at Work” for the Creative Residency at the Scottsdale Livery Studio Space during September 2016. Carlos is a descendent of both Pima and Maricopa tribes and is an enrolled tribal member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) located east of Scottsdale. […]

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May 23 - Aug 31, 2016

Nathaniel Lewis Presents: The Catacombs of Professor McGee!

Something has gone terribly wrong in the time stream! Erupting from the floors of the Scottsdale Civic Center Library is…The Catacombs of Professor McGee…in the Gallery @ The Library, Scottsdale Civic Center. This summer, Scottsdale Public Art artist-in-residence and Phoenix Art Museum Contemporary Forum 2015 Grant winner Nathaniel Lewis is transforming the gallery at Civic Center Library […]

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Jan 15 - Jun 25, 2016

Artist@Work Residency in The Livery

Nathaniel Lewis is Scottsdale Public Art’s current artist-in-residence, in our Livery Studio space during Spring 2016. Lewis will be creating his quirky, uniquely humorous artworks, sculptures and characters, and holding 3rd Thursday evening open studio events in March and April. His residency will be spent preparing for his upcoming summer installation at the Gallery@The Library, […]

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Jan 8 - Apr 30, 2016

11 Miles of Color: Repurposing Spring Crossing

Scottsdale Public Art introduces 11 Miles of Color: Repurposing Spring Crossing on view at the Gallery @ The Library, Scottsdale Civic Center opening Friday, January 8 through Saturday, April 30, 2016. Through an open call, Scottsdale Public Art and artist Randy Walker selected 11 Arizona artists to take an equal portion of the recovered materials from […]

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Sep 20 - Dec 15, 2015

sLightly Colossal

sLightly Colossal is an exhibition of sculpture exploring light by Arizona State University faculty, alumni, and graduate candidates celebrating the United Nation’s 2015 Year of Light curated by James White, Professor of Sculpture, at ASU. Artwork that uses projected light, neon, LEDs, incandescent, and reflected light dazzles the eyes. Light can be slight, and can be colossal. Light demands […]

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Jun 23 - Aug 31, 2015

The Forest Floor

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THIS INSTALLATION Summer 2015’s immersive installation by Tempe artist, Melissa Martinez, conjures up the mystery and magic of a walk through the woods –  like in Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, or Jack in the Beanstalk. Take a journey of discovery free of charge during regular […]

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Mar 9 - May 31, 2015

Broadway Revealed: Behind the Theater Curtain

Broadway Revealed will bring the breadth, ambition, and showmanship of New York’s iconic theater district to Scottsdale. Featuring Artist, Stephen Joseph’s photographs of some of Broadway’s most critically acclaimed productions, this exhibition showcases the complex network of design, lighting, directing and staging that comes together to create the magical world of theater. Come discover what happens […]

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Dec 5, 2014 - Feb 28, 2015

The Long Journey: How SRP Delivers Water to the Valley

SRP has been delivering and developing the Valley’s water supply for over 100 years. One year after the passing of the National Reclamation Act of 1902, the Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association was formed. Construction on Roosevelt Dam began soon after and was completed in 1911. Roosevelt Dam has been storing water and generating power […]

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Nov 1, 2014 - Jun 30, 2015

Museum of Walking

  Angela Ellsworth and Steven J. Yazzie founded the Museum of Walking (MoW) in 2014 at Tower Center Suite 206 at Arizona State University. MoW is an educational resource center committed to the advancement of walking as an art practice. MoW houses a small-but-mighty archive and library comprised of walking related material engaging disciplines of art, science, philosophy, health, activism, […]

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Oct 14, 2014 - Feb 13, 2015

My Your Our Water

Erin V. Sotak was chosen to work with both Scottsdale Public Art and Salt River Project as Artist in Residence.  Erin learned first-hand from SRP staff through educational sessions and observation about SRP’s role in managing the Valley’s canal system. Starting in October 2014 and continuing through February 2015, Erin will be riding the multi-use paths along the canal system on a tricked-out-tricycle looking to start a conversation […]

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Sep 20 - Nov 2, 2014

Cultural Savant: The Art and Collections of Joe Willie Smith

Joe Willie Smith is an artist, musician, and designer. He is also what current American culture calls a “picker.” He has an innate sense for finding value in cast-off objects that are given away to thrift stores, found on the street, in the desert, and un-noticed by others. He is a cultural treasure hunter. And a lucky […]

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May 15 - Jul 31, 2014

Camp Dreamtree

This is a camp like you’ve never seen before! Camp Dreamtree is an interactive art installation in the shape of a camp.

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Mar 31 - May 21, 2014

The Civil War 150

A national traveling exhibition, utilizing letters, personal accounts, and images drawn from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, this exhibition traces major events during the Civil War through the eyes of soldiers, presidents, freedmen, and families. Visitors will come to understand how people dealt with the end of slavery, the nature of democracy and citizenship, the human toll of civil war, and the role of […]

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Feb 5 - Mar 21, 2014

LINCOLN: The Constitution and the Civil War

Organized by the National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office, this traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name currently touring the United States. LINCOLN: the Constitution and the Civil War has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and is being presented […]

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Oct 25, 2013 - Jan 28, 2014

Steampunk: The Exquisite Adventure

The essential social nature of Steampunk is featured in this exhibition of artwork, artifacts, costumes, characters, and adventurous stories. Local, national, and international Steampunks share their creations—building a world of romance, adventure, imagination, and beauty amid the timeless themes of exploration and investigation. This exhibition was co-curated by Scottsdale Public Art Collections and Exhibition Manager, Wendy […]

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Sep 3 - Oct 10, 2013

Portraits of Opportunity

Founded in 1981, Southwest Human Development is Arizona’s largest nonprofi­t organization dedicated to providing early childhood development programs and services for children ages birth to fi­ve. Serving 135,000 children and their families each year, Southwest Human Development offers programs and services in child health and development, Easter Seals disabilities services, Head Start, early literacy and training for […]

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Aug 19 - Oct 12, 2013

Stop, Fast, Slow

Our exhibitions team curated this show of work by local artists exploring Arizona and how we get around our cities and in between—blacktop and concrete, dirt roads and trails, freeways and interstates, sitting in traffic, on the bus and train, or cruising the bike lane, from cityscapes to desert and mountain views, high rise buildings […]

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Apr 22 - Jul 30, 2013

Luster Kaboom’s FunHouse

Luster Kaboom’s Funhouse is an alternative take on the old- time carnival midway, where what is advertised is not always what you get. The hype and anticipation of a funhouse bring you to a surprising reality that isn’t what you expect. Wavy mirrors, a Siamese horse, alien babies, the world’s biggest dog, peephole galleries to alternate […]

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Feb 1 - Apr 1, 2013

Play Ball! The Cactus League Experience

Scottsdale’s Play Ball! exhibit includes more than 500 objects spanning the earliest days of baseball in the late 1800s all the way up through the 15 Cactus League teams of today. Learn more about the history of Play Ball! The Cactus League Experience.

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Jan 20, 2013

100 Years 100 Ranchers

An Official Legacy Project of the Arizona Centennial Photography by Scott T. Baxter  In fall 2004, Scott T. Baxter began documenting 100 ranchers whose families have been ranching in Arizona since 1912 or earlier. Since spring 2011, 100 Years 100 Ranchers has been shown throughout Arizona from Terminal Four at Sky Harbor to Wickenburg’s Desert Caballeros Western […]

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Jul 9 - Aug 27, 2012

Tracking Monsters and Squirrels: Myth Inspired Sculptures by Christy Puetz

Phoenix resident Christy Puetz creates intricately- beaded creatures with fantastic environments and compelling stories. She uses a free-form, non-traditional peyote beading stitch along with other beading techniques to cover her creatures in a rich tapestry of beads. Puetz  brings her artist studio in the gallery to bead, chat and create artwork during her artist residency, July 9 […]

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Mar 19 - Jun 28, 2012

100+ Journals

“This is an experiment, and you are part of it.” With the above invitation, San Francisco graphic designer Brian Singer launched the 1000 Journals Project in August 2000. The journals feature 100 unique cover designs created by a variety of artists. The blank notebooks were left in various public places, sent abroad with travelers, and passed from hand-to-hand, inviting […]

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Sep 19 - Nov 30, 2011

Somewhere In Between

Sarah Hurwitz’s new imaginative environment, a half-magical cave of mystery, half-Earth science diorama floats in the upper spaces of TheGallery@theLibrary September 19th-November 30th, 2011. Hurwitz’s never-never cave gives a constant flow of visual stimuli, placing the audience beneath the work and guiding them on a journey to a space beyond reality. Find your endless childhood, escapism […]

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Jul 9 - Aug 27, 2011

Tracking Monsters & Squirrels: Myth-Inspired Sculpture

Phoenix resident Christy Puetz creates intricately beaded creatures from fantastic environments with compelling stories. She uses a free-form, non-traditional peyote beading stitch along with other techniques to cover her creatures in a rich tapestry of beads. Puetz brought her artist studio to the gallery at the Civic Center Library where she created artwork, facilitated workshops, and chatted […]

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May 21 - Sep 2, 2011

Zap! Pow! Bam! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950

During the economic and political turmoil of the 1930s and 1940s, comic books offered America champions who shaped the values of an entire generation. ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950 explores the genesis of cultural icons such as Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and Captain America, and the ways that […]

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Mar 6 - Apr 30, 2011

Haikou: Scottsdale’s Gateway to China

Scottsdale Public Art presents an exhibition of painting and sculpture by Ding Mengfang and Chen Xuebo. These two esteemed artists are from Haikou, China, Scottsdale’s newest Sister City. About Sister Cities: Town twinning is a concept whereby towns or cities in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links. […]

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Sep 10 - Nov 26, 2010

When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina

When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina features interview-poems and photographs of a cross-section of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who passed through, evacuated to, or relocated to Arizona. Firsthand accounts and dramatic stories of Katrina evacuees highlight the exhibition. Drawn from the recently released book of the same title, the exhibit tracks in detail twelve individual […]

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Jun 17 - Aug 30, 2010

Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak in His Own Words and Pictures

Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak in His Own Words and Pictures gives kids of all ages a cool place this summer to have some fun and learn more about beloved and celebrated artist and writer Maurice Sendak.  The free exhibit provides hands-on interaction with Sendak’s stories and characters. Visitors can dress up like a “wild thing” and […]

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Apr 11, 2009 - Jul 11, 2011

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

Created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring (IFF), the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project is a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft.  The crochet reef has received worldwide acclaim through previous exhibitions in New York, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles. The Scottsdale Public Art Program is thrilled to bring […]

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Jan 12 - Feb 26, 2009

Cowboys & Images: Printing in the West

The work of Andy Chuka, Jay Dusard, and Robb Kendrick celebrates the everlasting spirit and energy of the American West. Their collective work spans three generations and—though it commemorates historic western traditions and the lore the cowboy—the work is at the same time very contemporary in nature.  A common thread unites the three artists but each conveys […]

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