past events at practical art
August, 2010: "The Phoenix Series" by Tyson Crosbie
Friday, August 27th, 7:30p
Invest with Confidence by Christine CassanoJuly, 2010
Christine Cassano's recent series of cast concrete works draws attention to the disparity between how the American people are feeling the economic recession and how they are understanding it. Each peice contains a host of embedded objects representing free market commodities, as well as a piece of modern paper currency that is sealed within the work, but accessible enough to be removed and recirculated by the collector, thus raising questions about the negotiable integrity of the piece and the value of art as investment.
Inside Outside by Karrin Taylor
June, 2010
Karrin's paintings "come from within." Which means she paints what she feels, as opposed to what she sees. Her paintings are comprised of layers-- personal memorabilia, newspaper articles, obituaries of relatives, and found textures. While the final images tend toward botanical images, she thinks of her final product as metaphors. She works on panels she constructs herself, and on found remnants such as old pallets. The artist says "the organic rawness of wood adds another layer of complexity" to her work.
Sgraffito & Terra Sigliata demo with Lisa Harnish
Friday, June 18, 7pm
Sgraffito & Terra Sigliata is the multi-stage process Lisa uses to create some of the most beautiful ceramics work we have in the store. Lisa was here on Friday, June 18 to teach us more about this process and we watched her perform this art LIVE!!
Framed expresses balance through contrast while presenting the idea of escapism. Andrew Seiferth is fascinated by frames because their simple function is to display and dictate perspective. His vague landscapes mimic personal memories of locations and feelings while sometimes presenting imaginary lines and space. These paintings arrive from a lifetime of looking out, not only to escape to the environments portrayed, but also to know that such places exist.
Friday, May 21st, 7pm:Not-Your-Average-Spinning-Class!with Gwynne Sullivan!
We had a raucous evening of wine, snacks, and all of the yarn-making we could handle courtesy of local spinner extraordinnaire Gwynne Sullivan of Bewilderknits! Gwynne demonstrated multiple methods of spinning along with many different types of yarn fiber - from alpaca to wool!
April 2010: "COMPLICIT" a collaborative exhibition by Kara Roschi & Nicole Dunlap.
Complicit, a series of woodblock wall sculptures, presents viewers with an opportunity to participate, collaborate, corroborate, associate, implicate. This is brand new work from Phoenix performance artist Kara Roschi, aided and abetted by local photographer Nicole Dunlap. This was both artists' first show in the valley.
Friday, April 23rd through Sunday April 25thPractical Art celebrated its TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!
This weekend was a fantastic weekend for both our customer and artists. We gave away gift cards and t-shirts, customers could meet their favorite artists, and snack and drink all day long. We're proud to reach our two year anniversary, and thank all of you who made it possible!
Friday, March 19, 7pm: Make your own vase from an old wine bottle with Ray DelMuro! Have you been saving a favorite bottle from some wonderful wine you had? Would you like to turn that bottle into something useful? You should have joined us to learn the process Ray uses to make his great sets of drinking glasses and vases from discarded wine bottles and made your own useful vases or votives. Ray collects thousands of wine bottles from local wine bars... now it's your turn! Click here for more details about this event. 
Troy’s work explores our relationships with the objects people have made and stocked the world with, objects we have imbued with history and the resonance of life which remains even after they’ve been discarded and forgotten. His interdisciplinary approach employs multiple processes and materials: etched blown sheets of glass, kiln manipulated glass, hand forged iron, hand-stained glass, 35mm photography, and found objects. As a burgeoning artist in the Phoenix community, Troy Moody’s 10,000 sq ft. work in terrazzo is an integral part of the design of the new Phoenix Convention Center. This show was on view from Feb 1 - 28, 2010.
Friday, February 12, 2010 - have you ever seen blacksmithing in person? Clark Martinek brought his furnace and anvil to Practical Art and turned raw metal into beautiful useful things! This was an enjoyable and informative demonstration by one of the region's most prolific metalsmiths. Clark was working at Practical Art all day - until 9pm!
"My Beautiful City" and "Tempe is Different" by Catherine Slye was critically acclaimed during January, 2010. Catherine's wonderful images of the cities of Phoenix and Tempe were created starting with her own photo-montages, then drawing her images on unusual papers, using fabrics, thread and colored pencils to illustrate familiar stomping grounds -- part-reality, part fantasy. So it's Phoenix, but it's not. It's Tempe, but it's different. It's Catherine's own "Beautiful City" and when they saw this show in person, many people couldn't resisting taking a piece of their Beautiful City home with them.
Kitchen Knife Artisan Demonstration with local craftsman Lee Zierten. On Sunday, January 17 from 2-4pm Lee showed us how to sharpen our own kitchen knives, the proper implements and oils with which to do so, and he even gave us suggestions on proper cutting boards, storage, and other care tips to lengthen the lives of our quality blades. Read all about the demonstration by clicking here for part one of Wynter Holden's reporting; and then here for part two.