What are First Fridays?

First Fridays is an event held by ArtLink, Inc (a Phoenix volunteer arts organization) that happens every first Friday of every month. The event has been said to be one the nation’s largest art walks with over 70 art venues open for free! It takes place every month from 6-10 pm. You can find a detail map at this Downtown Phoenix Journal link HERE that allows you to see where the different participating art galleries, venues, and other art inspirational spaces are in downtown Phoenix.  Parking is available at the Phoenix Art Museum as well as free shuttle rides. Come and experience First Fridays with your young ones. You may love it so much that it become a new family event to look forward to every month.

Check out ArtLink http://artlinkinc.wordpress.com/site for more details. You can also view photos of previous First Friday's at this about.com link HERE.

If you do not get a chance to enjoy First Fridays than make room this March for the ArtLink's ART Detour 24 on March 17th and 18th. The Art Detour is similar to First Fridays with the exception of it being an annual two-day event.

Martin Luther King Jr. Art Show

This past Thursday students of the Phoenix Elementary School District were given the chance to display Martin Luther King inspired work at the Capitol Tower. The show is located in the lobby and will be up until February 1^st. The show was a great success!

Four different projects were on display from Faith-North. First through second grade classes had on display their MLK Colorful Hand Puzzle Pieces which consisted of students pairing up with another student to trace each other’s hands before finally cutting apart the large paper to create two puzzle pieces. Fourth through fifth graders created three-dimensional MLK Montgomery Boycott inspired buses or portraits of famous civil rights leaders. Kindergarten created yellow buses with multiple color people after hearing the story of Rosa Parks. Only a few of the students’ projects could be in the show from each school, but stop by the front office at Faith-North to see the wonder MLK Color Hand Puzzle Pieces on the bulletin board.

Dunbar school’s second and third grade students made Freedom Crayons with multi-color hands holding hand drawn paper crayons of different colors. The fourth graders dreamed up some “I have a dream” MLK stamps to honor the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Dunbar Elementary will have their MLK projects displayed out in the hallway near the art classroom.

All of the students worked hard so make sure to come by and see their completed masterpieces.

Photos will be posted so check back in soon.