OPINION: Be A Patriot For Arizona Arts

By: Amy Gause & Tim Braun

What’s about to happen March 20th-23rd at WestWorld of Scottsdale is very important for our entire state.

That’s because anyone who has been to a major art fair like Art Basel Miami, The Armory Show in New York and Frieze in Los Angeles knows that not only are they critical strands of a thriving metropolitan area, but they are also economic drivers for those areas too.

And that’s exactly what the three of us and many others have come together to do.  For too many years the Phoenix area has been the largest American metroplex without a major art fair.

After two years of planning, that will change on March 20^th as the Valley welcomes over 100 galleries from around the world to Scottsdale.  Known as Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week, it will be the largest concentration of galleries ever assembled in Arizona, representing nine countries and showing hundreds of artists for the first time in the state.

Originally the idea from the imagination of an Old Town Scottsdale art gallery owner, the concept has since blossomed into a full throttle effort to not only intrigue and recruit galleries here, but to engage our great Arizona cultural institutions to assist as well.

We are grateful they are.

Inside WestWorld of Scottsdale’s North Hall, attendees will not only see the incredible beauty of so many galleries spectacularly assembled, they will also enjoy an American art fair like no other.

With breathtaking views of the McDowell Mountains, the experience will round out with a robust cultural programming schedule including talks by the directors and curators from Phoenix Art Museum, SMoCA, ASU Art Museum, Heard Museum, the Center for Creative Photography, joined by gallerists, artists, various art professionals and many others.

Two great women in the arts will be honored on Opening Night. One is Melissa Cody, a 4^th generation Diné weaver and the first Indigenous woman to have a solo exhibition at MoMA PS1 (Museum of Modern Art), and the other is long-time Arizona arts patron, Janis Lyon, who is receiving the Scottsdale Art Week Lifetime Achievement Award for her support of our state’s art community.

Fashion shows, energetic lounges, live painting by Phoenix muralist, Breeze, and a central restaurant will make Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week the most interesting and stylish place to be.

But the benefits won’t just be in the room.  They will be felt throughout the city as so many out-of-town galleries and enthusiastic collectors populate our hotels, restaurants, bars and stores.

Anyone who has ever been to Art Basel Miami knows how that city feels just a little different that time of the year.  Now it’s our turn to start the same tradition here.

So join us, Arizona.  We have wonderful sponsors and partners, but we can’t ultimately be successful without out.  Buy a ticket.  Come be a part of history in year one.

Know that besides an unprecedented gathering of outstanding art in one place you will be helping to launch a new great Arizona event.

Barrett-Jackson, The Phoenix Open, Fiesta Bowl and Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show all had to start somewhere.

Now it’s our turn.  Help us paint this new canvas that not only enhances our quality of life, as all art does, but begins and then grows into something uniquely ours, impactful in every way.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Gause is the Associate Director and Co-Owner of Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week. Braun is Vice President of Neiman Marcus Scottsdale and a fair sponsor. Learn more at www.ScottsdaleArtWeek.com. Gause and Braun can be reached at info@scottsdaleartweek.com.