Staff Reports | Happenings & Events
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art will celebrate the opening of three new exhibitions and immersive installations during its Fall Opening Celebration from 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.
The event will showcase Desert Perspectives, alejandro t. acierto: Model Home and What Keeps the Earth Still, exhibitions opening throughout September at the museum.
What Keeps the Earth Still, opening Sept. 19, is a site-specific installation, performance and cyanotype-mapping project by interdisciplinary environmental arts collaborative Desert ArtLAB. The project explores connections among land, ecology and cultural memory.
Led by April Bojorquez and Matt Garcia, Desert ArtLAB centers Indigenous and Chicano/a perspectives on ecological practice, food sovereignty and self-determination. The installation examines how communities maintain relationships to place across generations despite changing borders, systems and political narratives, according to a press release.
“Sixteen years ago, we created Desert ArtLAB in response to the social, cultural and ecological realities we were experiencing at the time,” Bojorquez said. “It’s especially meaningful to return to the Phoenix metro area to exhibit our work.”
Visitors will be able to view Desert ArtLAB’s exhibition during the Fall Opening Celebration. Admission to the event is free and open to the public with an RSVP. The evening will also include a cash bar, light refreshments and opportunities to meet artists and other attendees.
“We are so excited to share these new exhibitions that each uniquely address the desert landscape,” Julie Ganas, SMoCA’s curator of engagement and digital initiatives, said. “It is wonderful to have the opportunity to gather with artists and the community to celebrate the amazing thought and work put into these exhibitions at the Opening Celebration.”
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is at 7374 E. Second St. in Scottsdale.
Museum hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays.
General admission is $16 for nonmembers and $13 for students, seniors 65 and older, and veterans. Admission is free for Scottsdale Arts ONE Members, health care workers, first responders and visitors 18 and younger. Admission is pay-what-you-wish every Thursday and on the second Saturday of each month.
