Announcing the 3rd Annual Grand Avenue Festival Adaptive Re-use & Neighborhood Sustainability Celebration – October 22, 2011

>> Download the complete 2011 Grand Ave Festival brochure here!

The Grand Avenue Merchants’ Association will be hosting the free 3rd annual Grand Avenue Festival on October 22nd, from 3 – 11 pm. The festival will be a celebration of the vibrant culture, art, history and adaptive re-use of the Lower Grand Avenue arts and small business district and adjoining neighborhoods.

Small businesses and art spaces along this unique and historic travel corridor will host tours of vintage commercial buildings and interesting adaptive re-use projects; create art exhibits; sponsor performances and music; and provide other special activities that highlight the history of this distinctive area of downtown. The goal of the Festival is to underscore the importance of neighborhood sustainability, encourage creative recycling, and foster reuse of valuable neighborhood resources.

The ReDapt Commercial Building Tours will take place from 3 – 7 pm guided by local history experts (ticket are $10 in advance) which will include a stop at the newly renovated Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery (guitar making). Visitors will also be able to tour the newly renovated 1960’s Oasis Motel on their own at 15th Avenue and Grand.

Musicians will be set up along the street and at various venues throughout the afternoon and evening. One of the much anticipated highlights of the Festival each year is the Recycled Rubbish Fashion Show headed up by local artist Babsomatic. In addition, the Local Boutiques Fashion Show will highlight clothing and jewelry from popular Grand Avenue fashion venues such as Indie ArtHouse, Annie Boomer’s Vintage, Gallery Marsiglia Jewelry, ShopDevious.com, Nostra Style House, and others.

The Hanging Gardens & Woven Fences & Trashy Sculpture Show has also become a Festival mainstay and will feature quirky assemblages and hanging artwork made out of trash and recycled materials along Grand Avenue. Many art studios, galleries and small businesses will be hosting special exhibits and performances throughout the afternoon and evening and arts and crafts vendors and demonstrations will be set up in key locations.

Because the Festival has been moved to late October to avoid September heat, a new addition this year will be the Calaca Cultural Center’s Day of the Dead exhibit at Bragg’s Pie Factory, including the “Dia de los Muertos Exchange Project”, a regional art initiative started by Calaca Cultural Center of Tempe, Arizona and Division 9 Gallery of Riverside, California. In addition, the Grand Avenue Billboard Project will be displaying work that addresses recycling, created by artist Paho Mann in conjunction with the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture’s Public Art Program.

Visitors will also be able to pick up a brochure with a comprehensive listing of festival activities at any participating space on the day of the Festival. And visitors can pick up the pamphlet “Mural Street Love” for a self-guided tour of the many interesting local neighborhood murals. Pedicabs will be available along the street to take visitors to their destinations, but visitors can easily walk or ride bicycles to all Festival activities.