Lost Leaf…found artists: While a club may be closing, underground event opens
Artopia spotlights underground artists with “immersive” downtown show
HARK!
I hear…a power switch…
Good news/bad news on the local art/music scene: While some will rejoice in events like a pop-up art show, others around the Valley will be gnashing their teeth this week.
It’s the end of the line for the Lost Leaf–under its current ownership, and perhaps forever.
The tiny-but-mighty downtown art gallery, bar and music venue has put on more than 5,300 free shows in 16 years; it opened in March of 2016.
And the Lost Leaf may be closing at the end of March 2022.
This breaks the hearts of local musicians and fans, who contributed $25,000 in a fundraising effort to keep the Lost Leaf going last year.
But owners Eric and Lauren Dahl (a married couple who met at the Lost Leaf) put out a ship-is-sinking mayday last month:
“It is with great love for you and sadness that we are announcing the closing of The Lost Leaf.
“...If we do not secure new ownership our last day open will be 3/26/2022.”
The final shows:
Sans Pagaie, a local jazz band, plays at 9 p.m. Thursday, March 24.
Emby Alexander, The Q Tip Bandits, The Upper Strata and Death Pop crank up indie rock Leaf stage Friday, March 25.
The last show is a quirky jam, featuring Treasure Mammal, which ranges from 80s rock to post-modern Zappa-esque noddlings, and DJentrification.
On Facebook, DJentrification notes its name signifies “the opposite of gentrification”; funny, that, in a sad way, at least–as the Lost Leaf is closing due to rents skyrocketing downtown.
“I’ve always seen The Lost Leaf as an art project in itself,” Eric Dahl noted, in his sad post last month.
It sounded like only a Hail Mary pass when he added, “Lauren and I are looking for thoughtful new owners who can continue the next chapter….”
But–the hope continues!
In a tantalizing text to HARK Valley on Tuesday, Eric Dahl said:
“We hope to be finalizing the sale this week, although nothing has been signed.”
Stay tuned!
ARTOPIA
The Lost Leaf is on Roosevelt and Fifth, the heart of the downtown-art scene. Three miles south, a warehouse on Apache Street near Third Avenue will become …Artopia!
The event begins at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 24.
Billed as “The Immersive Art Experience” and modeled after similar shows in Chicago, this is kind of Disneyland-underground-art (Undergroundland?), with tours starting every half hour and lasting about an hour. Tickets start at $29, with last tours at 10 p.m. nightly through Sunday.
What do you get at Artopia?
A chance, the organizers promise, to “step into the universe of large-scale light installations and sculpture work created by some of the most talented street artists from Arizona and around the country.”
The blowout art includes murals, interactive projection mapping and “sound-reactive LEDs, allowing guests to fully surround themselves in the world of these artists …The self-guided tour ends with The Artopia Lounge, where guests can enjoy craft cocktails, further browse artist galleries, and enjoy Artopia After Dark programmed entertainment.”
It all happens at a warehouse at 313 W Apache Street.
A few of the artists on the show:
Adrian Ramirez @ad.rami, a painter, muralist and shoe designer.
Kyllan Maney @kyllanmaney, a muralista, fine artist and educator. Life is art.
Snood City @snood_city, an art collective that does installations, murals and neon work.
Cahokia PHX @cahokiaphx, an “Indigenous-led” art collective.
Lucinda "La Morena" Hinojos, whose motto is “Murals As Medicine.”
She talks about how her passion as a child was soccer, not art, here:
Sean T. French @seantfrench, an artist and metal sculptor.
Douglas Miles @dmiles1_apache, a photographer and muralist.
Ashley Macias @ashleymacias_, an artist who does some mind-bending work.