Along with amazing works of art, the Roosevelt Row District features live music 🎶 during special events like the First Fridays Art Walks that draw big, appreciative crowds.
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Over the past 15 years or so downtown Phoenix has undergone a tremendous transformation which has been mostly positive. The revival of blighted neighborhoods and significant improvements in public transportation has positively impacted the arts community here creating new housing which has attracted more creatives to this area. In fact, the creative scene in Phoenix (especially near the downtown core) is flourishing more than ever before.
I love how many of the newer buildings in the Roosevelt Row area feature bright, cheerful 😃 murals on their exteriors vastly improving what used to be a downtrodden neighborhood.
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The construction of the light rail system, new apartments, hotels, condos, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, and other mixed use developments have brought several thousand residents to downtown in addition to the many students who also now call the area home. The positive impact on the area from the establishment of both Arizona State University and University Of Arizona satellite campuses beginning in 2005-06 cannot be overstated. This renaissance also had a big impact on the First Fridays Artwork, luring more visitors to downtown. The immediate area I’m referring to regarding this transformation is known as Roosevelt Row.
This is my favorite 🤩 mural of all the selections along “The Row” as we like to call it in Phoenix, and this unknown artist interpretation captures the mystique of the Sonoran Desert 🏜️ when indigenous civilizations existed here for many centuries.
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The Roosevelt Row area is centered on Roosevelt Street running east to west on both sides of Central Ave for about five blocks and encompasses several side streets such as Garfield, McKinley, Monroe, and several others. The redevelopment of this area over the past two decades also included the renovation of many older homes which were decayed or abandoned. These multiple efforts at revitalizing the area largely eliminated the pushers, addicts, and prostitution which had taken over these neighborhoods for so many years prior.
Roosevelt Row also includes the Olney Gallery, Found:RE, Fair Trade Cafe, and The Pemberton that I’ve written about on numerous occasions along with other venues within walking distance of each other. This is a good thing considering that much of Phoenix outside this area is not pedestrian friendly! However, for this post about “The Row”’I’m focusing more on the street art rather than the galleries. I love documenting as much of it for posterity as possible and enjoy showing some of that here.
