Engaging events and exhibitions coming to Scottsdale Arts this September, October

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottsdale Arts opens the 2026–27 season in September and October with an exciting and diverse lineup of events and exhibitions.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts brings back popular performers and brand-new favorites to the stage, including musicians Amy Grant on Sept. 25, Paula Cole on Oct. 2 and The Punch Brothers on Oct. 10, along with the premiere of a uniquely Scottsdale rom-com “Under the Glittery Moon” on Oct. 15 and the start of a new set of classical concerts by Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra on Oct. 11.

SMoCA opens three new exhibitions in September — "alejandro t. acierto: Model Home," "Desert Perspectives" and “What Keeps the Earth Still” — and the museum invites art lovers to celebrate these new shows on Sept. 25 with the SMoCA Fall Opening. This fun-filled evening will feature light refreshments as guests mingle with the artists.

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, Civic Center LIVE and Scottsdale Arts @ Cattle Track. Visit ScottsdaleArts.org for information. 

PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS

Open Spaces: Fiber Arts Addressing the Landscape Closing Reception
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, 5 p.m
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Free
This free closing reception celebrates the recent exhibition "Open Spaces: Fiber Arts Addressing the Landscape."

ArtSpark #1 Opening Reception
Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, 5 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Free
Experience the work created by the artists in the first cohort of Scottsdale Arts’ new ArtSpark program.

SMoCA Fall Opening Celebration
Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Free
Celebrate the museum’s new exhibitions at this fun-filled evening, and mingle with artists and fellow art lovers while enjoying light refreshments.

Amy Grant - The Me That Remains Tour with Opener Franni Cash
Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $68.50
Known for iconic pop hits like “Baby Baby” and “Every Heartbeat,” Amy Grant’s first album in more than a decade is the deeply personal "The Me That Remains." Singer-songwriter Franni Cash will open.

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $52
Combining impeccable musicianship with rich storytelling, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives deliver a showstopping live experience that traverses country, surf, bluegrass and rock.

Paula Cole THIS FIRE: 30 with Opener Rett Madison
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $44
Celebrate 30 years of the album that launched “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want to Wait” with an intimate, emotionally charged performance. Singer-songwriter Rett Madison will open.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $56.50
From impeccable suits to a boisterous and swaggering sound, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy delivers a vibrantly contemporary fusion of swing revival and traditional jazz.

An Evening with Punch Brothers
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $76
Punch Brothers both embrace and transcend traditional bluegrass, expanding their sound with a mix of playfulness, technical precision and frenzied vitality that builds from strength to strength. 

Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra | Roots and Rhythm
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, 4 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $20
This opening concert celebrates music grounded in tradition and brought to life through rhythm and energy — from the folk-inspired joy of Dvořák’s Symphony no. 8 to the unmistakable American voice of Edgar Meyer. 

Killer Queen - A Tribute To Queen ft Patrick Myers as Freddie Mercury
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $49
From “Bohemian Rhapsody” to “Don’t Stop Me Now,” the living jukebox that is Killer Queen is the best way to experience these beloved hits live. 

Underneath the Glittery Moon Film Premiere and Reception
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $31
Attend the premiere of a uniquely Scottsdale rom-com, where romance sparks for three couples at a community theater show. Then meet the cast and crew at the after-party! 

Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now!
Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $74
The stars of Broadway’s “Hairspray” — Marissa Jaret Winokur, Kerry Butler and Laura Bell Bundy — deliver a hilarious and heartfelt musical journey about friendships, careers and children.

LOOKING AHEAD 

Canal Convergence
Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026, evenings
Scottsdale Waterfront
Free
Canal Convergence is a free, 10-night public art event that features large-scale artworks, workshops, performances, and more! This year, Canal Convergence will explore and celebrate the environmental and cultural landscapes that define the American West, the Southwest and Arizona 

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE
Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026, 4 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $35
Perfect for first-time theatergoers and fans who remain young at heart, “Fraggle Rock” is a hilarious and heartwarming live experience from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

EXHIBITIONS 

Desert Perspectives
Sept. 19, 2026, through Jan. 31, 2027
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
“Desert Perspectives” is a yearlong, collection-centered exhibition that brings together a multigenerational group of artists working in — or regionally connected to — the Southwest whose practices engage deeply with the desert, not only as a physical landscape but as a layered site of ecological, cultural, historical and political significance.

Desert ArtLAB | What the Earth Keeps
Sept. 19, 2026, through Jan. 31, 2027
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
A site-specific installation, performance, and cyanotype-mapping project, “What the Earth Keeps” by the collective Desert ArtLAB, explores relationships between land, ecology and cultural memory.

alejandro t. acierto: Model Home
Sept. 26, 2026, through Feb. 7, 2027
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
Using architectural elements as a framework for display, “Model Home” examines recent changes to the broader desert landscape because of increased development and population growth in the Phoenix metro area.

Visions '26
May 1 through Sept. 13, 2026
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Free
“Visions ’26” highlights the skills, inspirations and ideas exchanged between advanced high school art students and Arizona-based professional artists over the year.

ArtSpark #1
Sept. 25, 2026, through Jan. 17, 2027
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Free
“ArtSpark #1” features work created by the artists in the first cohort of Scottsdale Arts’ new ArtSpark program. 

Open Spaces: Fiber Arts Addressing the Landscape
July 9 through Sept. 30, 2026
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Free
Celebrating the 110th anniversary of the U.S. National Park Service, “Open Spaces: Fiber Arts Addressing the Landscape” features fiber-based artwork that addresses the significance of landscape like national parks to remind us of this valuable resource for mental wellness.

Delicately Drawn: Alexandra Bowers and Matthew Hunt
Oct. 6 through Dec. 31, 2026
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Free
Phoenix artists Alexandra Bowers and Matthew Hunt create delicate, detailed drawings that explore Sonoran Desert plants.

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 thanks the following sponsors and partners: City of Scottsdale, Betty Hum & Alan Yudell, Flinn Foundation, Karen and John Voris, Nationwide, Northern Trust, Scottsdale Fashion Square, SRP, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, Krumwiede Lewis Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Old National Bank, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation and AJ's Fine Foods.