Art Detour: Printmakers Manny and Janet Burruel

This weekend is Phoenix Art Detour 2018 with open galleries, performances, and special events throughout the Downtown Roosevelt Row and Grand Avenue arts districts.

If you’re familiar with Phoenix Fridays, think of Art Detour as a 5-day, super-sized First Friday.

One of the unique spaces where there will be art on display is Olney Gallery, which is inside of Trinity Cathedral at Roosevelt and 1st Ave.

We visited recently and saw a colorful monosilkscreen exhibition by Manny and Janet Burruel.

A longtime artist and curator of the gallery, Manny’s passion for the intricate process of printmaking was so contagious that his wife Janet also caught the bug! They now spend long Saturdays in the studio and take classes together.

Even though Janet has just started printmaking within the past year, she already produces beautiful work in her own distinct style with natural forms evoking the peaceful feeling of watching moonlight stream through tree branches.

While Janet tends to focus on flora, many of Manny’s subjects are fauna. His work currently on display includes vibrant dinosaurs and desert creatures.

The Burruels’ exhibition lasts throughout the month of March. If Manny or Janet is there when you go, say hi. They’re lovely people and happy to chat about their art.

– More Olney Gallery Info –

Located inside Trinity Cathedral, 100 W. Roosevelt, Phoenix. Gallery entrance is directly off the front courtyard (facing Roosevelt).
Open to the public Tuesday through Friday, 9am – 4pm, as well as First Friday evenings (6-9pm), and Art Detour weekend.
Light rail stop: Central/Roosevelt
Parking: On First Friday evenings, you can park at Phoenix Art Museum or Arizona Center and take any of the free trolleys or walk (0.6 mi.) During the day, there is street parking or a garage just north of the Cathedral. Disabled parking spaces are on the north and east sides of the Cathedral and in the parking garage.
Trolley: The blue, pink, and orange routes of the free First Friday trolleys all have stops right outside.
Food and other recommendations in our Downtown Phoenix post.

October 2, 2017

Museum Day in the Garden

Last Saturday was Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day. The weather was too good to be inside, but they count the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) as a museum, so we took advantage of the free admission and spent the afternoon walking garden paths.

I guess a botanical garden is kind of like an outdoor museum with living plants and animals.

We saw a hummingbird and bees buzzing around the Garden’s flowers and a big lizard was just hanging out on a rock next to the bench where I was sitting.

Since the DBG no longer allows picnicking, we ate our lunch at a nearby picnic area in Papago Park and were entertained by ground squirrels scurrying around and birds attempting to carry off pieces of a pizza someone had left behind.

Maybe they’re the reason DBG banned picnicking. You really don’t want grackles flying through your museum and dropping half-eaten pizza slices.

February 16, 2017

Lunch Hour Opera

Arizona Opera has this cool concept of a monthly brown bag lunch recital. On the third Thursday of the month, you’re invited to pack a lunch and see a free concert in the atrium of Arizona Opera Center near McDowell and Central (basically across the street from the Phoenix Art Museum).

We decided to give it a try this month, and I picked up Phillip on his lunch hour.

The recital was a series of songs introduced and sung by Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio soloists accompanied by piano. We saw Katrina Galka and Mariya Kaganskaya.

It was absolutely captivating. While there are no costumes or props, the simplicity of the setup allows you to focus on the music. Even at this recital, the soloists didn’t hold back, launching full throttle into the performance, pouring the emotion of each song out through their posture, expressions, and voices.

Things to know about Arizona Opera’s Brown Bag Recitals:

The soloists are extremely talented.
The place was packed and parking was gone. Cars were even parked along curbs, and we double-parked next to one of them. You may be able to sneak a spot at the Phoenix Art Museum. (No guarantees on availability or legality, though.)
There’s a light rail stop nearby at McDowell.
Being late is awkward. If people are rushing over during their lunch hour, there are bound to be late arrivals, and the parking lot entrance opens right in the front of the room. (Hi, everyone.) I believe there is another entrance on the street side of the building.
You’re encouraged to bring your lunch, but no one was eating.
Definitely worth going, if you have a flexible enough schedule to get there early or work in the Arts District/Downtown. (Phillip works in east Phoenix, and even that was cutting it too close.)

Phillip and I tested out the being late theory for you. (Yes, it is awkward.) (You’re welcome.) We crept to the back, scanning the room in vain for open seats. We were standing there listening to a song introduction, when a man appeared from a back room to offer to get us chairs, reemerged to set two up, then silently disappeared again, as if riding off into the sunset.

After a duet from Hansel and Gretel, the recital ended with “I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady. There was enthusiastic applause, and then the pianist and soloists remained in the atrium, as the audience spilled out into the parking lot.

The next Arizona Opera performance will be a world premiere adaptation of a Zane Grey novel! (A couple photos from the program are above.)

Riders of the Purple Sage Opera –

Feb 25, 26: Tucson Music Hall. Tickets $25-120.
Mar 3, 4, 5: Phoenix Symphony Hall. Tickets $25-155.

February 9, 2017

Phoenix Pizza Festival

What is “the most perfect food ever”?

Pizza.

At least, that’s according to the (probably biased) organizers of the Phoenix Pizza Festival.

The annual event benefits Downtown Phoenix, Inc. This past fall, it was held at Margaret T. Hance Park in Downtown Phoenix, next to the Burton Barr Library.

A $10 advance ticket got you in the gate, and then you could wander around sampling pizza for $2-4 a slice, listening to bands, and/or playing a few rounds of cornhole. There were at least a dozen pizza makers, plus beer, wine, lemonade, and gelato.

The pizza ranged from high quality, foodie-grade slices to what a friend of ours would affectionately call “emergency pizza.”

My favorites were from Dough Mama and Lacy + Wendy’s Catering.

In the spirit of the event, some people even dressed up. We chatted with DJ and (self-proclaimed) Pizza Expert Mastamonk, who was wearing a pepperoni-patterned pajama onesie, pizza socks, and a cap that said “send pizza.”

Later in the afternoon, toppings started to run out and certain items were off the menu – so plan on arriving on the early side for a better selection. On the other hand, vendors got increasingly generous about offering discounted pies or sneaking you extra slices just before they had to pack it up for the day.

It was a fun way to discover new Phoenix-area pizzas. So mark your calendar for the 2017 Pizza Festival, tentatively scheduled to be held in the same location (Hance Park) on November 21st.

And, if you happen to have a pizza onesie laying around the house, this would be the place to wear it.

We were guests of the Phoenix Pizza Festival.

November 7, 2016November 7, 2016

October Photo: Cactus

The multi-colored lights shining on the cactus outside the Phoenix Art Museum caught my eye.

Before posting the photo, I messed around with the saturation until the cactus started to look like a 2-dimensional tangle of colors. Maybe it was the colorful paintings we had just seen, but it somehow felt like the way it was supposed to be.