Minimum Daily Requirements at the post office

While I love art museums and galleries, there’s something really delightful when art pops up in unexpected places like libraries or alleyways or under bridges.

What about the post office? Art isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of post office buildings. However, the downtown Tempe post office has rotating installations just inside its large windows, so you can see works both from inside and from the street.

I didn’t realize this until artist (and fellow CraftHack-er) Crystal Daigle told me about the exhibition she was curating.

It’s called “Minimum Daily Requirements,” and will be on display in the Mill Avenue post office until December 10. Each of the windows displays mixed media work by a different Phoenix-area artist, exploring their own daily requirements.

Crystal’s piece was truly a community effort, funded by a Kickstarter campaign and partially pieced together by volunteers at maker spaces under her direction. It’s called “Push Down & Tango” and, in Crystal’s words, is “designed to celebrate the resiliency of survivors, thrivers and caretakers.” The centerpiece is a large circle of fabric roses. At the base are leaves formed from prescription bottles covered with images of people dancing tango, since learning tango was a turning point for Crystal. The 3 leaves are surrounded by hand-lettered names to pay tribute to resilient people.

Phillip and I stopped by the exhibition during its opening celebration in September, just as a dust storm was rolling in. We took shelter inside the post office during the worst of it and it blew over quickly, leaving a dramatic sky as a backdrop for the gathering.

– More info –

• “Minimum Daily Requirements” (PDF) dates: 8/15-12/10/14
• United States Post Office windows at 500 S. Mill Ave. (5th Street and Mill Avenue)
• Parking: on-street meters or nearby garages 
• Transit: Light rail (Mill Ave/3rd Street stop) or Orbit Mercury
• There is no admission, but feel free to bring along any packages or cards you need to mail.
• Just found the exhibition schedule for all Tempe Community Galleries! This includes the post office and Tempe Public Library’s Connections Cafe. (Remember when I was lamenting they didn’t list the Tempe Library exhibitions anywhere? Turns out they do. Just not anywhere obvious.)