Phoenix and the surrounding area has several cultural activities, including the performing arts, museums, and events.
Performing arts
Several music venues take place around Arizona, but primarily in and around downtown Phoenix and in Scottsdale. One such venue is the Phoenix Symphony Hall, where performances from groups such as Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona often occur. Another venue is the Orpheum Theatre (Phoenix) which is home to the Phoenix Metropolitan Opera. Concerts also regularly make stops in the area. Venues for concerts include the US Airways Center and the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix, Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. Since 2002, Phoenix has also seen a rapid growth in local arts through The Artlink Program. Several Smaller theatres including Trunk Space, Space 55 and Modified Arts support regular independent musical and theatre performances.
Phoenix has been home to numerous popular musicians, mostly of the country and rock genres. Solo artists originally from the area include Duane Eddy, Stevie Nicks, Buck Owens, Wayne Newton, Jordin Sparks, Marty Robbins, CeCe Peniston, Dierks Bentley, and Alice Cooper. Several prominent rock groups have come from the Valley, including Meat Puppets, The Refreshments, Jimmy Eat World, Mr. Mister, Gin Blossoms, and The Tubes. Max Cavalera of Soulfly also lives in Phoenix with his family.
Several television series were set in Phoenix, including the current top-rated Medium, the 1960–1961 syndicated crime drama, The Brothers Brannagan, Alice and the CBS sitcom, The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1971–1974.
Museums
Several museums are scattered around the valley including the Phoenix Art Museum. One of the most well-known museums in the area is the Heard Museum just north of downtown. It has over 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) of gallery, classroom and performance space. Some of the signature exhibits include a full Navajo hogan, the Mareen Allen Nichols Collection containing 260 pieces of contemporary jewelry, the Barry Goldwater Collection of 437 historic Hopi kachina dolls, and an exhibit on the 19th century boarding school experiences of Native Americans. The Heard Museum attracts about 250,000 visitors a year.
Other notable museums in the city include the Arizona Science Center, Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum, Phoenix Museum of History, the Phoenix Zoo, the Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park, and the Phoenix Children's Museum.
Fine arts
The downtown Phoenix art scene has developed in the past decade. The Artlink organization and the galleries downtown have successfully launched a First Friday cross-Phoenix gallery opening.
In April 2009, artist Janet Echelman inaugurated her monumental sculpture, Her secret is patience, the new civic icon suspended above the new Phoenix Civic Space, a two-city-block park in the middle of downtown. This netted sculpture makes the invisible patterns of desert wind visible to the human eye. During the day, the 100-foot-tall sculpture hovers high above heads, treetops, and buildings, the sculpture creates what the artist calls “shadow drawings”, which she says are inspired by Phoenix’s cloud shadows. At night, the illumination changes color gradually through the seasons. The large three-dimensional multi-layered form is created by a combination of hand-baiting and machine-loomed knotting, and is the result of a collaborative effort with an international team of award-winning engineers.
Cuisine
Phoenix has long been renowned for authentic Mexican food, thanks to both the large Hispanic population and proximity to Mexico. But the recent population boom has brought people from all over the nation, and to a lesser extent from other countries, and has since influenced the local cuisine. International food, such as Korean, Brazilian, and French, has become more common throughout the valley in recent years. However, Mexican food is arguably still the most popular food, with Mexican restaurants found all over the area.
