lence of vases, pots, and baskets in their homes. Today, the pots continue to reflect the diversity of nearby and surrounding neighborhoods, and the many cultures that have shaped the natural and urban land- scape, even as they remind the community of the power art holds to shape ideas. EEEEE ‘Pilot Projects’ Arizona State University Art Museum 51 East 10th Street, Tempe 480-965-2787 asuartmuseum.asu.edu The war of words was in full swing this year as partisans filled public and online spaces with opinions about immigration, voting, public health, and more. That war was poignantly addressed in “Text as Im- age,” an outdoor exhibition of text-based art created as part of ASU Art Museum’s “Pilot Projects” series. The temporary pub- lic artworks included Jacob Meders’ War- bird Press vending machine with prints addressing colonialism and Indigenous lands, Kristin Bauer’s Dia/Chronic banner confronting propaganda and white su- premacy, Hugh Hayden’s Pillory sculpture referencing police barricades and medieval stocks, and Iván Argote’s Tiernos, We, So- mos and Strong installation of concrete chairs addressing human interactions dur- ing polarized times. It was the perfect col- lection of temporary public artwork for the times, conveying not only the perils of the present moment but the possibilities for a less fractious future. EEEEE ‘The Four Seasons’ Pete Deise and Alexandra Bowers Park Central 3121 North Third Avenue Artists Alexandra Bowers and Pete Deise transformed an empty space at Park Cen- tral for their pop-up exhibit “The Four Seasons,” providing viewers with an inti- mate way to view their work outside of tra- ditional gallery settings. Large billows of fabric suggested geographic features, rein- forcing the ways these artists’ works reflect natural elements such as wind and water. Both artists played with elements of scale and movement, bringing life to an other- wise barren space. Their pop-up exhibit reinforced the power of art to transform both interior and exterior spaces, and sig- naled the potential of other urban environ- ments to serve as places to encounter and experience art. EEEEE Danelle Project Danelle Plaza 3400 South Mill Avenue, Tempe thedanelleproject.org 56 In 2016, Tempe resident Robert Moore was a member of the city’s municipal arts commission and on the lookout for new ways the commission could engage with the local cultural scene. He didn’t have to look very far. Moore recommended trans- forming an aging and largely vacant retail building owned by the city at the Danelle Plaza shopping center near his home into a platform for local artists. Two years (and many negotiating sessions with city offi- cials) later, the Danelle Project was born. Coordinated by Moore and Tempe Art A Gogh-Gogh co-founder Evan Liggins, it’s a visual feast of works by more than 20 nota- ble local artists. Three sides of the 16,500-square-foot building and other spaces around the plaza are adorned with art: Vacant storefronts are filled with dis- plays and installation pieces, while large- scale murals adorn exterior walls. Some works are evocative, such as Clyde’s pan- demic-inspired mural Dreams on Pause de- picted in deep blues and grays. Others celebrate the eclectic history of Danelle Plaza (Nick Rascona’s skateboard mural is inspired by a late ’70s skate park on the property). Then there are the oddities, like Sarah Hurwitz and Daniel Funkhouser’s Futureland, Arizona, which reimagines our state as a post-apocalyptic and neon- drenched toxic wasteland. (Certain instal- lations become illuminated after dark.) It’s also, conveniently, a drivable art experi- ence — fitting for this car-friendly metrop- olis. BEST OF PHOENIX 2021 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2021.C0M | SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 B E S T P OP-UP EXHIBIT me g al o p olit an lif e B E S T DRIV D E-THR PLA IS U A Y R T B E S T T EMP OR A RY P UBLIC A R T
