Who knew a Cosanti was located in Paradise Valley! I've always traveled north to Arcosanti located…read morein Mayer to take visitors and purchase gifts. This has a much different vibe than the Mayer location. We were able to watch the Artisans at works, creating the various winches, bells and other metal art. The various rooms look like they were built right into the ground. I also felt the art was more interesting at Cosanti. Make sure you stop in for a tour, read about the history and find some truly unique gifts or decor for your home.

Wowzers. Love this place a lot. You can get a sense of the artist in this location. There were…read moreseparate areas that houses the making of the chimes. The place looked like it was carved out of the dirt itself as part of the art. Chimes were ringing in a synchronized cacophony of music as there was so a little wind blowing through. The chimes were hung everywhere in both ceramic and bronze mediums. I couldn't help but to pick up a couple of chimes to take home. Perfect unique gifts to represent AZ. What a great place.

After discovering the Heard Museum in the book "1000 Places to go Before You Die", we put it on the…read morelist of ''must sees' for a recent trip to Phoenix. TAKE THE LIGHT RAIL We took the light rail to the museum from our downtown hotel. There's a stop just down the road. GET A DISCOUNT The adult entry fee was $26 and we used our AAA membership for an exciting $1 off. I feel by the time you're paying $50+ for a couple, the cost is getting off-putting. LOCKERS AVAILABLE We used their complimentary storage lockers for our carry-on luggage as we were on our way to the airport afterwards. You also have to stow water bottles in the lockers. There are a couple of water fountains around the museum in case you get parched. ALLOW HALF A DAY The museum is a quality museum with a lot to see and read, but you really have to be into southwest stuff to really appreciate it in my opinion. After a few hours we were getting slightly overwhelmed, glassy-eyed and tired/bored with aching backs. (To be fair, it was our fourth museum in 3 days, so we were a little burned out!) STAY FOR LUNCH We really enjoyed an excellent lunch at the cafe in the courtyard and highly recommend it. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP(S) There's a high-end store where you can purchase expensive rugs, jewelry, sculptures, etc. and there's also the 'Mugs and T-shirts' souvenir store and a small coffee shop. RIDE SHARE DROP OFF AND PICK UP The ride share pick-up and drop off is around the back at one end of the parking lot. Helpful?

My husband and I really enjoyed this museum! We spent about 4 hours here (with a break at the cafe)…read moreand did not see everything. We are planning to return soon to finish the areas we didn't have time to see. There is a ton of information on Native American culture and history. There are also a lot of videos scattered throughout to learn even more. My favorite gallery was the Majestic Figures section. The figurines are extremely intricate utilizing various materials. Food options here are better than most museums. I really enjoyed the sit down restaurant with a full menu in the courtyard area. It's different than most museums who have a small cafe with limited options or none at all. If you live in Phoenix or are visiting this is a must see!

Fusion Fine Art is a beautiful art gallery featuring large scale abstracts. An art reception was…read morerecently held for a 97 year old artist. Her works were nicely done using a nice palette of colors. We had a nice chat with the owner about her experiences. Free street parking.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the various pieces of art in their gallery. Very unique…read morepieces and they definitely have a fabulous eye for art as well as talented. When we cool down here in Ftn Hills I will definitely be returning. Drop in and take a look; there may be some beautiful art that would look spectacular in your home.

Did you know that the state of Arizona does not have a capitol building? But they do have a museum!…read moreThey only provide reserved guided tours via their website for parties of 10 or more but they do offer a free walk-in guided tour Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 2 PM. Make sure to arrive a few minutes early because finding the door to enter can be tricky. The guided tour was brief but enjoyable. We walked through about half a dozen exhibits/rooms and the guide was knowledgeable, informative, and humorous. I've been to other capitol buildings in other cities and found the content here to be more diverse than what I've experienced elsewhere. There's an exhibit on women's suffrage, Martin Luther King, World War II, etc. 1-1.5 hours would probably be sufficient if you don't plan to read every poster on every wall, otherwise if you're into that, definitely allow for closer to 3+ hours.

On Christmas Eve, I visited Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza. The Arizona Capitol Museum is located…read moreright across the street. Since I was there in the late afternoon/early evening, the museum had already closed. Luckily, a month and a half later, I returned to check it out with my mom. There's ample free parking in the surface lot across the street. Make sure you arrive early, because the museum closes at 2 p.m. If you like to explore museums to the fullest and read almost everything, it'll take you around 2 hours to fully explore as there are four floors to check out. And before I get deeper into it, here's another plus: admission is free. Upon checking in, you're given a brochure describing what's featured on every floor. The Arizona Capitol Museum consists of a bunch of various exhibits. I won't mention them all but some of the subjects include USS Arizona, buffalo soldiers, MLK, merci train, minerals in Arizona, the governor's room, a Jewish exhibit, Sandra Day O'Connor, and more. The diversity of the exhibits at the Capitol showcase different historical aspects of the state of Arizona and prominent figures in the history of the state. While it's not the most technologically advanced museum, it's definitely worth your time. The Capitol is air-conditioned and they also have a small cafe and a gift shop. I've been lucky enough to check out several state capitols, including the one in Austin and the one in Santa Fe. While Phoenix's isn't the most impressive of the bunch, it's well worth a visit. When you're the resident of a city, you tend to not explore all of the attractions that your hometown has to offer. I think it's important to not miss out on opportunities like these.

If you want to see the best in local art right now, you will always have ample parking!…read more Last week, to indulge and share my Tea Infusion iced tea addiction with my friend Blair, we hit up the Market place and I stopped in my tracks-is that....art? Real art in the window? ASU? Night reception on June 26th? We immediately agreed we had to come back. As we dressed up and got some white peach iced tea, it was all true-ASU has been able to secure a space in Tempe Market Place for everyone to enjoy. the space itself is huge with high ceilings and stretches farther back than I thought possible. The gallery director and MFA candidate Michael up front was very sweet and direct, telling us how this dream became a reality and the venue has been overly accomidating. There must be some good people at this malls since music has been a key feature with Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!, Girl Talk and Rogue Wave have played here for free-and now amazing art?!? Anyway, the exhibit up now is based mostly on sculpture, with David Youngs mostly hollow 15 pound balls stealing the show, most with video cameras you can view at a desk with several alarm clocks ringing in at 12:51am. Damien Johnson had potted cacti cleverly sculpted to spell out Urban Sprawl. Victoria Altepeter had a beautiful assortment of trinkets while Lynette Anderson had a silver tray laser cut with to show silloutte of children with embrodery. I loved Jesse Armtrongs army of avocado mold porcelan creatures with rubber encased grass "arms", resembling jelly fish. Other sculptural pieced involed commentary on dogs and violence, cows and commodication of food, plastic and death, Brittney Spears, and giant bronze pieces. It was simply outstanding. They will be rotating a show every month, and are open Tuesday through Saturday 6pm-9pm. Brave the mall-there is a great reward for you!

Great place to see up-in-coming artists while they are still students at ASU. No entry fee, but…read moredrop something in the donation jar.

This is a more modern art / contemporary art store. Worth a stop if you're in the Uptown area. I…read morelove that they support local artists! They have a large selection of unframed prints which is a great way to showcase more available art. Though the selection was small, the t-shirts were really nice. A lot of the art on the walls wasn't marked so I wasn't sure if it was for sale or not and I hate asking!

Great place for locally made gifts. Inventory changes often, so every visit you'll discover new…read morestuff. Staff is always helpful.

I love the atmosphere they have here! I'd recommend for anyone who loves the weird and strange…read morethings!

Done spending $$$ here. Most items they sell can be found on Amazon for much less. Nothing is…read moreunique nor "curious" unless taxidermy and dying plants are your thing. Classes have been very disappointing. Instructors appear to have graduated from YouTube University. Solid talent, along with presentation experience and preparation skills would be beneficial. Owner lives in Australia and doesn't seem to be very involved. There are better choices out there. This joint is just a fad pad for the newbie wannabe occultists living in mom's basement.

While visiting Scottsdale we stumbled upon this musical instrument museum and it was an amazing…read moreexperience. They show case various musical instruments from all over the world. Feels like from every country. We did a good 2 hours here unguided and we barely scratched the surface. There was so many to see and hear. This place cost $20 admission for adults and you get to use a headset that will play music when you get close to the tv screen. It was nice to hear various instruments around the world. The staff here are really nice and friendly. There's a cafe on site so you can get beverages and meals to enjoy. Mathis museum has 2 levels and on the bottoms level there's a room where you can play various instruments. I finally got to play the gong and the harp!!! What a dream it has been for me and I finally got to play it. There's also an electronic self playing self built organ that they named Appollonia and there were 2 songs that were played at 12 noon. What a treat. There's even a museum store that you can take trinkets home. Overall a great and educational time here at the MIM. Highly recommend for people that visit Arizona to see this one out!

When I walked through this museum I thought about the words of the Artemis II astronauts as they…read moreviewed the earth from the furthest vantage point ever. I recalled the stories they shared of noticing how small we are in comparison to the universe. I had expected to see exhibits of flutes and horns, pianos and stringed instruments - all manner of drums. But I hadn't expected the global context, nor the gift of automatically hearing those instruments played, sung with, danced by their people. It made me feel small, insignificant, but not in bad way. All of this beautiful music is going on around the world uplifting souls, bringing joy, initiating. I thought of the photos the astronauts took of the earth and I love imagining it in the context of the atmospheric music I experienced, world without end. Given this context, how sad it was to head to the gift shop for a sweet souvenir of my experience - and to be followed by a poorly raised, uncivilized employee. How else to explain having a space above her that celebrates and unifies the whole world and yer to operate with so little love, care and basic respect for humanity. Maybe she wanted me to feel insignificant, as her parents or neighborhood had taught her. Our mismatched melanin appeared to have her give herself mental license to not only pretend to straighten socks, but move her body close enough to mine to emit an empty, useless alarm. All while smiling smugly and offering no customer service. I had been thinking of getting these guitar measuring spoons but I put them down. Because her goal was loss prevention she lost a sale. I went home and found them on Poshmark for half the price.