By Sydney Ritter | Scottsdale Arts
This January, Scottsdale Arts presents a fresh and fun lineup of events to kick off the new year.
January starts by welcoming “DUNGEONS & DRAGONS The Twenty-Sided Tavern” from its successful off-Broadway run with five shows in Scottsdale from Jan. 8–11. The stages inside Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will also lift their curtain on many entertaining performers, such as Leftover Salmon on Jan. 16, Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap on Jan. 22 and Ballet Hispánico New York on Jan. 31.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art will also offer a range of programming in January, from two events in the Glow Up @ SMoCA series — a sound bath on Jan. 8 and gentle yoga on Jan. 22, both held inside Squidsoup’s “Infinite” — and an encore presentation of “Mystery in the Museum @SMoCA: The Case of the Whispering Walls.”
The following is a list of events and exhibitions from Scottsdale Arts:
Glow Up @SMoCA: Sound Bath
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Tickets: $26.50
Refresh your aura and bathe in the serene light of Squidsoup’s “Infinite” as a sound bath, led by Melinda Milton, eases you into deep relaxation.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS The Twenty-Sided Tavern
Thursday, January 8, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, January 9, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 10, 2026, 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 11, 2026, 2 p.m.
Tickets start at $56
The global phenomenon that is Dungeons & Dragons is now live on stage in an experience that Nerdist calls “rip-roaring funny” and “truly a wonder to behold!”
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel | Chopin—The Romantic
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $34
Meet the romantic side of Chopin through exhilarating polonaises, dreamy nocturnes, charming waltzes, poignant mazurkas and the narrative Ballade in A Flat.
Modern Messages: Ahchipaptunhe and Jacob A. Meders Opening Reception
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, 5 p.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Tickets: Free
Join us for the opening reception of “Modern Messages: Ahchipaptunhe and Jacob A. Meders” to meet the artists creating modern, meaningful work that resides outside traditional expectations.
Leftover Salmon
Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $51
With nontraditional instrumentation and an innate ability to push songs in new psychedelic directions, the architects of jamgrass have created their own weirdly unique style.
Arizona Concours d’Elegance
Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, 9 a.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center
Tickets start at $110
The 8th edition of the Arizona Concours d’Elegance will display exceptional vehicles from around the world, guaranteed to impress and excite not only dedicated car lovers but anyone who appreciates the beauty of expressive design, enjoyed in the atmosphere of a stylish garden party.
Glow Up @SMoCA: Gentle Yoga
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Tickets: $26.50
Go with the flow and relax in this gentle yoga class, led by Melinda Milton inside the immersive light exhibition “Squidsoup · Infinite.”
Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap
Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $50
With playful exuberance and spontaneous charm, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and pianist Bill Charlap bring new life to American Songbook classics and jazz standards.
Phoenix Chorale
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, 2 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $15
Immerse yourself in “TRANSCENDENCE,” a contemporary choral-orchestral experience from the Grammy-winning Phoenix Chorale, where music, visuals and place converge in a sweeping journey through contemporary landscapes.
Teaching Artists Opening Reception
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, 5 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: Free
Meet the artists from XICO, Inc., featured in the exhibition “Teaching Artists,” which showcases the creative dialogue between these professional teaching artists and the young artists they mentored from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale.
Mystery in the Museum @SMoCA: The Case of the Whispering Walls Encore Presentation
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, 6:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Tickets: $30
Cryptic clues have been left behind, and we need your help to decipher them. It’s time to put on your detective caps to crack these puzzles and follow the clues throughout the museum to investigate this curious caper.
Ballet Hispánico New York
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $42
Experience the joy of live theater in this curriculum-connected performance of Ballet Hispánico New York’s “CARMEN.maquia.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Cristela Alonzo: The Midlife Mixtape Tour
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $35.50
On “The Midlife Mixtape Tour,” powerhouse comedian, writer and actress Cristela Alonzo proves that comedy, like life, only gets better with experience.
We-Ko-Pa Celebrity Wine & Spirits Festival
Saturday, March 21, 2026, 1 p.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center
Tickets start at $65
Celebrity Wine & Spirits presents an adventure of the palate, featuring a rare collection of famously named wines, spirits and beers — gathered in one beautiful location.
EXHIBITIONS
James Perkins | Burying Painting
Sept. 20, 2025, through Feb. 15, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
“Burying Painting” presents process-based land art by James Perkins in his first museum exhibition, highlighting the artist’s approach to nature as a collaborator.
Jeanne K. Simmons: Rooted
Oct. 11, 2025, through Feb. 22, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
“Rooted” blends sculpture and photography by Jeanne K. Simmons in a site-specific meditation on humanity’s delicate, interwoven relationship with nature.
Casey Curran: Tidal Sky
Oct. 11, 2025, through Feb. 22, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
Drawing parallels between natural phenomena and present-day concerns, “Casey Curran: Tidal Sky” asks what remains when structures collapse — and what new beginnings emerge in their wake.
• Squidsoup • Infinite •
June 28, 2025, through Aug. 30, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
Enter “Infinite” and be surrounded by hundreds of illuminated spheres that form a symphony of notes.
A Pivotal Point in Time: Art in Scottsdale in the 1970s
Oct. 4, 2025, through Jan 17, 2026
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Free
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, “A Pivotal Point in Time: Art in Scottsdale in the 1970s” pays homage to artists who were part of the local arts scene around the time the center was built.
Teaching Artists
Jan. 30 through April 19, 2026
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Free
“Teaching Artists” reflects on the connections formed through shared creative processes, emphasizing how art can foster a strong sense of community and belonging.
Modern Messages: Ahchipaptunhe and Jacob A. Meders
Jan. 9 through March 31, 2026
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Free
Ahchipaptunhe and Jacob A. Meders tell the stories of their people with contemporary artwork that invites conversation and rejects tropes.
SMoCA _____ space Installations
Oct. 11, 2025, through March 8, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Free
In “Pathfinding,” Evan Roth seeks out the sun around his home in Berlin to confront the emotional toll of overcast winters.
Scottsdale Public Art Permanent Collection
Ongoing
Various locations throughout Scottsdale
Free
More than 160 artworks, many of them large-scale sculptures, can be found throughout the city at parks, in public facilities and along the streets.
