Press Release

April 23, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Sydney Ritter | [email protected] | 480-874-4663

Scottsdale Arts closes out 2023–24 Season with May, June events

Glow Up @SMoCA: Sound Bath at Sunset and an appearance by David Sedaris are among Scottsdale Arts’ upcoming events. Photos: Ravance Lanier and Anne Fishbein.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottsdale Arts will finish out its 2023–24 season in May and June with an energetic lineup of shows and events.

May welcomes popular stand-up comedian Heather McDonald on May 3 for a hilarious night of celebrity impressions and comedic pop culture sketches. On May 11, artist and master printer John Armstrong leads a Dorothy Fratt printmaking demonstration, taking a closer look at Fratt’s works. And June features American roots concerts from Old Crow Medicine Show and Cowboy Junkies, performing a mix of folk, country, blues and rock on June 13 and June 18, respectively.

The following is a list of events and exhibitions from Scottsdale Arts, a nonprofit organization comprising Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, Canal Convergence and Civic Center LIVE. Visit ScottsdaleArts.org for information. 

“Breakaway” Dedication
Friday, May 3, 2024, 10 a.m.
Meet at Scottsdale Civic Center Library Parking Garage
Free; RSVP required
Join artist Barbara Grygutis and dignitaries for the dedication of Grygutis’ “Breakaway,” located in the Drinkwater Boulevard underpass below Scottsdale Civic Center.

Memory Lounge: Printmaking 101
Friday, May 3, 2024, 1 p.m.
Center Space at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $20 per couple
In this workshop, participants will create a small series of relief prints using a printing press. Memory Lounge is an arts program for people with mild to moderate memory loss and their care partners.

Heather McDonald—The Juicy Scoop Experience
Friday, May 3, 2024, 8 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $29
Heather McDonald’s hilarious celebrity impressions and comedic pop culture sketches bring joy to fans worldwide through her stand-up comedy, podcast and television specials.

Golden Hour Concert Series: XIXA
Thursday, May 9, 2024, 6:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center
Tickets start at $25
Immerse yourself in the distinctive sounds of the Southwest with the Golden Hour Concert Series, featuring pysch-rock cumbia of Tucson’s XIXA with support from the Latin folk fusion band Media Pinto.

Visions ’24 Opening Reception: 25th Anniversary
Friday, May 10, 2024, 5 p.m.
Center Space at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: Free
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Visions is a year-long visual arts program provided to Valley teens.

David Sedaris
Friday, May 10, 2024, 8 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $29
A master of satire and one of today’s most observant writers, David Sedaris is beloved for his personal essays, short stories, plays and books, including “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”

Dorothy Fratt Serigraph Demonstration with Artist John Armstrong
Saturday, May 11, 2024, 1 p.m.
Offsite
Tickets: $10
Artist and master printer John Armstrong, who collaborated with Dorothy Fratt on several serigraphs, demonstrates the unique technical process used to create those works.

Joshua Bell with Larisa Martínez
Saturday, May 11, 2024, 8 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $65
Grammy®-winning violinist Joshua Bell and vocalist Larisa Martínez present “Voice and the Violin,” exploring repertoire from classical art song and opera to musical theater and selections by Puerto Rican and Spanish composers.

Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 4 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $15
The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra performs “Around the World in 80 Minutes,” including works by Bizet, Copland, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff and Respighi.

AJ’s The Art of Wine and Flavors of Summer
Saturday, May 18, 2024, 12 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $40
Presented by AJ’s Fine Foods, The Art of Wine and Flavors of Summer is the perfect opportunity to taste a curated list of wines alongside epicurean pairings.

Library Creatives | In the Round: Soft Felt Sculptures with Koryn Woodward Wasson
Thursday, May 30, 2024, 4:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Tickets: Free
Join the artist behind “Flirting with the Desert” to turn photographic source material into three-dimensional, soft felt sculptures.

Mystery in the Museum: Encore PresentationF
Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: $45 per couple; $30 singleScottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Put your detective caps on to crack these cryptic messages and puzzles, following clues throughout the Museum to investigate this curious caper.

The Scottsdale Chorus
Saturday, June 1, 2024, 3 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $30
Take a familiar melody, blend in fascinating rhythms and multiply it by 80-plus energetic singers and performers, and you get the incomparable Scottsdale Chorus!

Detour Company Theatre | Mean Girls (High School Version)
Friday, June 7, 2024, 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 8, 2024, 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 9, 2024, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: Free
This accessible version of Tina Fey’s enduring story about belonging, friendship and community features songs made popular by the Broadway cast and recent film. Detour Company Theatre’s family-friendly and inspiring musical productions showcase the theatrical talent, courage and artistry of adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.

Detour Theatre Company | Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr.
Saturday, June 8, 2024, 3 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: Free
Sing along to “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl” and “Part of Your World” in this accessible production of the classic Disney story. Detour Company Theatre’s family-friendly and inspiring musical productions showcase the theatrical talent, courage and artistry of adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.

Old Crow Medicine Show
Thursday, June 13, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $74.50
Winning over rapturous audiences with raucous live performances, Old Crow Medicine Show brings an undeniable urgency to folk music with classic tunes like “Wagon Wheel.”

An Evening with Cowboy Junkies
Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $38
With their signature combination of folk, rock and blues, Cowboy Junkies will perform a career-spanning show, including cuts from their new album, “Such Ferocious Beauty.”

Glow Up @SMoCA: Sound Bath at Sunset
Thursday, June 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Tickets: $20
Refresh your aura with this unique summer solstice celebration as you revel in a sound bath in the Skyspace.

EXHIBITIONS

Visions ’24
May 10 through Sept. 22, 2024
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Admission: Free
Visions is a year-long invitational visual arts program that has been provided to Valley teens for 25 years. In collaboration with six high schools, students attended monthly workshops conducted by professional artists, toured universities, and connected with exhibitions offered by SMoCA.

Flirting with the Desert
April 8 through July 1, 2024
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Admission: free
Koryn Woodward Wasson paints desert subjects in bright, clear watercolors — from verdant cacti and their fluorescent pink, yellow and orange flowers to detailed birds, bats, and other pollinators.

Tiffany Trenda: Beyond Performance
March 27 through June 23, 2024
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Beyond Performance” is an ongoing series of images by Tiffany Trenda that ventures into the realm of performance art and artificial intelligence.

Dorothy Fratt: Color Mirage
Feb. 3 through July 21, 2024
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Color Mirage” is the first major U.S. museum exhibition on the prolific, yet underrecognized, American painter Dorothy Fratt.

Carolina Aranibar-Fernández: Oleaje
Feb. 10 through Aug. 4, 2024
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Oleaje,” Spanish for “Groundswell,” features new large-scale installation works by Bolivian-born artist Carolina Aranibar-Fernández that map and memorialize the rippling effects of a coercive global trade industry.

Roelof Knol: the space in between
Sept. 23, 2023, through July 28, 2024
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
In this new immersive installation, emerging Dutch artist Roelof Knol creates a playful, interactive, audiovisual experience that invites viewers to explore their relationship between digital and physical spaces.

_____ space Exhibitions
Sept. 22, 2023, through July 28, 2024
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: free
____ space (blank space) is a new, experimental, flexible space at SMoCA, currently featuring two installations by artists Kenaim Al-Shatti and Roelof Knol.

Scottsdale Public Art Permanent Collection
Ongoing
Various locations throughout Scottsdale
Admission: free
More than 150 artworks, many of them large-scale sculptures, can be found throughout the city at parks, in public facilities, and along the streets. See the map at ScottsdalePublicArt.org for locations.  

For more information about the events, and to order tickets, visit ScottsdaleArts.org.

Scottsdale Arts would like to thank the following sponsors and partners: City of Scottsdale, Billie Jo Herberger, Nationwide, Panasonic Connect, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, SRP, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, AJ’s Fine Foods, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arizona Community Foundation, Arizona Republic, Great American Title Agency, Krumwiede Lewis Family Foundation, Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation, Betty Hum & Alan Yudell, Christine and Richard Kovach, National Endowment for the Arts, Tiffany & Bosco, and Virginia M. Ullman Foundation.

* News release prepared by Srija Raghavapuram, Scottsdale Arts communications intern.