WEST—Arizona Artists of Color Exhibition

Scottsdale Public Art recently opened WEST—Arizona Artists of Color, a new exhibition featuring local artists at Scottsdale Civic Center Library.

WEST—Arizona Artists of Color aims to show the West as the featured artists know it: with a rich cultural history. Their work in Arizona shows the universal need to belong, to be accepted and to be seen, as well as shedding light on the struggle to make social connections and understand one another. The artists in this exhibition express their solidarity with the human condition and the need to be free of prejudice and injustice.

“The exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the varied range of creatives living and working here in the Valley of the Sun, who also happen to be artists of color,” says Kim Boganey, director of Scottsdale Public Art. “Some of the artists have well-established names that may be recognizable to many; others we are excited to introduce to audiences. With all of the artists, their work is a reflection of what it means to live in the West.”

Co-curated by Phoenix artist Joe Willie Smith and Wendy Raisanen, curator of collections and exhibitions for Scottsdale Public Art, the exhibition will run through March 2.

Smith says that historically, many exhibition opportunities—especially through established institutions—were not open to artists of color. “There still is a void of opportunities for artists of color,” says Smith. “The WEST show is really a wonderful opportunity.”

WEST emphasizes that artists of color also reflect the geography and culture in which they live. Smith also noted how there is often an expectation that his work will talk about Black history or contemporary Black people. While he has done work that speaks to his race, his artistic practice encompasses much more than that. His work is like many other artists. “I think about color; I think about composition,” says Smith.

Smith contributed one of his own pieces to the exhibition, “Little Boy Blue,” a painted steel, aluminum and wood sculpture that acts as a biographical statement for the artist, referencing his childhood in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Other artists included in the exhibition include Claire A. Warden, Clendolyn Corbin, Gloria Martinez-Granados, Eugene Grigsby, Annie Lopez, Stephen Marc, Hugo Medina, Sebastiao Pereira, Joe Ray, Safwat Saleem, Sonny Sholola, Ani Tung, RIP Woods, Frank Ybarra and Bernard Young.

The physical exhibition is located in the library’s Civic Center Public Gallery, operated by Scottsdale Public Art. A virtual version of the exhibition can be viewed online at scottsdalepublicart.org/exhibitions/.

Scottsdale Public Art will host a virtual reception with many of the artists from the exhibition Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.

WEST—Arizona Artists of Color

Through March 2

Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale

For more information, visit scottsdalepublicart.org.