BEST Things To Do In Phoenix
The Event Oracle knows ALL the fun things to do in the land of the Phoenix sun. Select your date above then scroll down for all the Arts, Entertainment, and Events in my crystal ball...
-
Carnival of Illusion
Arizona Biltmore Resort
2400 E Missouri Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Carnival of Illusion is an evening of Old-World Magic in the style of classic entertainers such as Buster Keaton, Mae West, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Harry Houdini. The hosts have performed as house entertainers at the world's top resorts, Fortune 100 CEOs, to the 200 Most Powerful Women in America and operate the longest-running Arizona theater show. Carnival of Illusion is "Magic, Mystery, and OOOH La La."
-
The Electric Guitar: Inventing an American Icon
Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)
4725 E. Mayo Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85050
The Electric Guitar: Inventing an American Icon, shares the untold story of the invention of the electric guitar, an instrument that revolutionized music and popular culture forever. This exclusive exhibition showcases more than eighty of the rarest electric guitars and amplifiers in the world?from some of the first ever heard to those played by the most famous electric guitarists known today. Decades before rock and roll, these instruments jolted, energized, and even confused the eardrums of the nation. The Electric Guitar: Inventing an American Icon encompasses the history of the electric guitar from the very beginning, including its most experimental period of the 1930s and 1940s, and gives a glimpse into the instrument’s influence on genres that defined American music.
-
Fragments: Broken Bowls Tell More Tales
Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park
4619 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Hear the stories pottery sherds have to tell archaeologists when theses pieces of the past are rediscovered and studied. Fragments: Broken Bowls Tell More Tales, is a temporary exhibit at Pueblo Grande Museum that explores researchers use sherds to uncover a variety of details, such as how the pottery was made, used, and where it was produced. These details aren’t always obvious during examinations of gorgeous whole pottery vessels.
Visitors typically see the most unique and complete pottery vessels of a museums’ collection on display. They seldom see, or know about, the thousands of broken pottery fragments called ‘sherds’ that are preserved in storage. Using local and traded examples, Fragments invites visitors to see how sherds help archaeologists piece together new ideas about the ancestral O'Odham, more commonly known as the Hohokam. The exhibition also features sherds that connect the Hohokam with their neighbors across the Southwest and northern Mexico during the time of the European Renaissance. Visitors can listen to local Native perspectives on archaeology and cultural preservation while experiencing traditional O’odham songs that tell of the mountains surrounding Pueblo Grande and their deep connections to past, present, and future O’odham generations.
-
Mummies of the World: The Exhibition
Arizona Science Center
600 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Mummies of the World: The Exhibition features 40 real human and animal mummies and 85 rare artifacts from across the globe. This blockbuster exhibition, arriving in Phoenix straight from Budapest, Hungary, provides a window into the lives of ancient people from every region of the world including Europe, South America and Ancient Egypt, offering unprecedented insights into past cultures and civilizations.
The exhibition will enthrall guests with dramatic displays of the mummies and their personal stories, as well as state-of-the-art multimedia stations that will take guests on a 4,500-year journey to explore the mummies’ history and origins as well as how they were created. -
Electric Desert at Desert Botanical Garden
Desert Botanical Garden
1201 N. Galvin Parkway
Phoenix, AZ 85008
You're invited you to see desert, light and sound unite in a mesmerizing display like never before. Cactus and desert become a living canvas in this nighttime experience, taking visitors on an immersive journey through the garden using light and original music.
Electric Desert includes six site-specific locations, with each experience inspired by and related to the Garden.
-
New Bloom: Industrial Nature by Michelle Stitzlein
Desert Botanical Garden
1201 N. Galvin Pkwy.,
Phoenix, AZ 85008
Desert Botanical Garden presents sculpture created with found materials from the imagination of artist Michelle Stitzlein. The impressive, large-scale works promote recycling through transforming simple objects into dynamic, natural forms. Stitzlein lives and works in Ohio, where she maintains a studio in a former National Grange Hall. Through her many efforts to promote sustainability, Stitzlein teaches art workshops at elementary schools, art camps and festivals.
-
Monster Fish: In Search of the Last River Giants
OdySea Aquarium
9500 East Via de Ventura
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
Guests are invited to dive beneath the surface of the world’s rivers in the new exhibition Monster Fish: In Search of the Last River Giants.
Enormous in size and rapidly dwindling in number, these ancient fish play critical roles in their freshwater habitats. Dr. Zeb Hogan, aquatic ecologist, National Geographic Fellow and host of the Nat Geo WILD series Monster Fish, has spent nearly two decades searching for and studying the rare, large freshwater fish species profiled in the exhibition. The interactive exhibition will include five extraordinary, life-size sculptures of monster fish as well as videos and hands-on interactive activities for audiences of all ages.
Monster Fish takes visitors on a journey to river basins around the world to learn about colossal fish and the people that depend on them. Through detailed maps, sculptures and custom illustrations, the exhibition showcases close to 20 fish species and their diverse freshwater ecosystems. In addition to highlighting the biology of each species, the exhibit depicts the cultural ties between the fish and local people. From mythical tales and storied traditions to threats and conservation efforts, visitors will leave with a greater understanding of the connection between humans and fish. -
I Have a Name
Arizona Heritage Center at Papago Park
1300 N. College Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281
“I Have a Name” features a collection of black and white photographs of the people on the street by Jon Linton. Through this dramatic collection, Linton puts names to the faces of the people who live in and around our communities, who have no home to call their own. This exhibition will be accompanied by extensive programming exploring the many facets of the homeless population, from the demographics of the homeless, to their impact on communities, to the service organizations who serve them. Don’t miss this riveting exhibition and programs.
-
A Place for All People
Arizona Heritage Center at Papago Park
1300 N. College Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281
This exhibition explores the African American experience, evoking the power of oration and freedom stories, the brilliance of artistic achievement, and the soaring heights of cultural expression, philosophy, sports, and politics through a series of posters from the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture. The posters serve as the backdrop for displays telling the story of African Americans in Arizona. From the churches and schools to the boardroom; to the battlefields and to the neighborhood barbershops and beauty shops where important news of the day was discussed – the stories weave a rich tapestry of African American heritage.
-
Savanna Gallery Art Exhibit
The Phoenix Zoo
455 N. Galvin Pkwy.,
Phoenix, AZ 85008
The Savanna Gallery Art Exhibit, “Art on the Wild Side,” features artists Tania Bolin, Lawrence Finkel and April Howland. The exhibit showcases their unique vision of wildlife and conservation via photography, paint and mixed media. Through this exhibit, visitors can engage in the Zoo’s mission to care for the natural world while being inspired by nature and animals. Art is available for purchase and Zoo admission is required to visit the Savanna Gallery. The Savanna Gallery is located in the Savanna Grill.
The Arizona Center for Nature Conservation/Phoenix Zoo is introducing a rotating art exhibit program to enhance our visitors’ experience and to help communicate its important national and international conservation efforts. The exhibits will embrace the mission of the Phoenix Zoo: to advance the stewardship and conservation of animals and their habitats while providing experiences that inspire people and motivate them to care for the natural world. -
“ReTrO REACTION”
Tempe Center for the Arts
700 W. Rio Salado Pkwy.
Tempe, AZ 85281
The word “retro” describes things like clothes, cars and music that reflect styles and design elements from the past. Artists are often asked, where do you get your ideas? While the creative spark is different for every individual, this exhibition explores the inspirations and art making processes of ten Arizona-based artists. Through personal retrospection, these artists give us a glimpse into how each of them absorbs, filters and reacts to ideas from the past to make relevant work in today’s rapidly changing world.
-
Metzilocan: Claudia Peña Salinas
ASU Art Museum
51 E. 10th St.,
Tempe, AZ 85281
“Metzilocan” is an installation-based solo exhibition by artist Claudia Peña Salinas, who lives and works in New York City. The exhibition expands the artist’s research on the Aztec deities of water, Tláloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, relating this ancestral symbolism and knowledge to modernist and contemporary structures. Through travel, documentation and collection, Salinas generates a poetic personal and political narrative. The works in this exhibition address topics ranging from the proliferation of images, the myth and the construction of national identity, to gender issues and the current water crisis in Mexico City.
