New City, New Fridays

First Friday. Known by artists of all sorts. Whether your a painter, musician, poet or small business owner First Friday is a well known tradition for a gathering of the arts in the central valve of the city so Blue and I set out on a mission to find the main vein of Phoenix which led us to Roosevelt St. We parked and I grabbed a tote full of bags blue had made last year in hopes of selling them while we walked through the streets. Good thing because Roosevelt was like none other. Print shops and boutiques had artists outside selling their clothing! This was incredible. This is street wear! 

The Marketer in me was wishing they had better lighting so I could snap fliks of their gear but the artist in me wished I had a 13th Witness lens app for my phone! However we did walk into this space that was promoting fashion and interior design  for Ai of Phoenix. Funny thing is, the last time I was here, I was on  an interview for admission there! Everything here is student produced and outside was clothing lines were the creator is the person selling you their own designs. I can only imagine what amazing collabs and creative ventures Blue is going to have here! 

We continued on as music filled the streets and lured curios minds into galleries and shops. It felt like a big sample fest, being able to taste all types of artwork and food. I have been told that Phoenix is a big melting pot, you will see everyone from all walks of life here and I am beginning to see why! Everything from the artwork to the music is so unique yet familiar, Does that make sense? It felt similar to the artwalks back home in San Antonio however, I didnt see as many sugar skulls, Loteria card art, or bottle cap jewelry. This did 2 things for me. 1. It felt relieving! 2. I appreciated those items even more. Those small things that once drove me crazy are just apart of the culture. My culture. We turned into a back yard of a business and finally saw some live art! I miss Artslam! I miss painting with my friends. This was a nice treat. 

The book store we walked into next was the coolest store I have been too! filled with hand made goods and educational finds they were preparing for a comedy show outback. The owners are extremely cool and linked up with us for future events. Around the corner we find this guy playing guitar so I shot a photo. I challenged Blue to a photo contest, 5 photos of the same moment... edit and compare later. As soon as he gets his camera ready to shoot, the street performer says "Donations for photos". That was Sour. A moment like that changed my view on the same photo:


 Before:
"Smooth"
Just spreading the beauty of music.

After:

"Red Light Special"

 Just doing it for a living not living to do it.

Photo Contest with Blue:

"Recyle-Bots"

 "Drum Lawn"

"Free Spin"

"Street Son"

*this was the last shot of the night. We stopped and listened to the knowledge this guy was spitting over an acoustic guitar. He had all of his homies behind him just hanging out and enjoying his music. We leaned in to give him some stickers and he declined thinking it was cash. When he realized it was stickers, he was just impressed almost as much as we were. He was just out to share his art, culture, and message. This guy gets the most props for the night!