Fifty Years of the Scottsdale ArtWalk
Every Thursday evening, from seven to nine, the galleries in Old Town Scottsdale open their doors and the whole district turns into something worth walking.
It has happened every week since 1975. That makes it the longest continuously running art walk in the country, and it passed its fiftieth year last year, which is a remarkable thing for any weekly event to manage.
I have painted at that event in the gallery more times than I can count, and I still think it is one of the best things about living here. I loved talking to all the art lovers.
Where it actually is
The Arts District runs along Main Street between Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard, and then up Marshall Way north of Indian School to Fifth Avenue.
The Scottsdale Gallery Association counts twenty eight member galleries plus two museums, and the district as a whole is home to more than fifty. Either way it is far more than you can see in one evening, which is part of the charm.
Park once and walk. Most people grab dinner and drinks and walk enjoying all the art. Everything is close together and the evening is the point.
How to actually enjoy it
Go slowly, and go into fewer places. The instinct is to see everything, and it is the wrong instinct. Two galleries you actually looked at will stay with you longer than twelve you walked through.
Talk to people. Gallery owners here are generally lovely and genuinely want to tell you about the work, and on a Thursday evening there are often artists standing right next to their own paintings. That is an unusual amount of access and almost nobody takes advantage of it.
You are allowed to just look. Nobody expects you to buy anything, and I promise no one is keeping score.
A few things worth knowing
Several times a year there are Gold Palette ArtWalks, which are themed evenings with extra programming. They are busier and they are worth timing a visit around. I especially loved painting for these events, as collectors would come to meet the Artists and it drew an even bigger crowd than the normal artwalk event.
Western Spirit, Scottsdale's Museum of the West, sits in the district and was named the number one Western museum in the country by True West in 2023. The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is right there as well.
October through April is the season. A Thursday evening in November in Old Town is close to perfect. A Thursday evening in July is a test of character, and the galleries are still open, and I admire anyone who goes.
Why it matters more than it used to
The art market here has grown quickly. Scottsdale Art Week went from 106 galleries to 120 in a single year, and this April the Scottsdale Art Auction cleared $16.5 million in a single weekend with 97 percent of lots selling.
But the ArtWalk is the thing that has been here the whole time, quietly, every single week for fifty years, long before anyone was calling this a destination.
If you are new to the Valley, this is the easiest possible way to start understanding what is actually made here. It costs nothing and it takes an evening.
And if you would rather see new work from my studio as it is finished, the Collector's Circle sees everything first. But go to the ArtWalk anyway. It is better in person.
Warmly,
Dani
