Richard Bestwick

ArtBook of the new west is a distinctive editorial magazine as well as a useful guide dedicated to profiling many local artists and fine art galleries throughout the state.

"There's room for everybody and everything. This is everybody's downtown..."

In the backyard of Zarco Guerrero’s local residence/private art studio in Mesa, I stood staring at the faces of his imagination; giant scattered mask sculptures perhaps mysterious protectors of his home and family or just simply decorative symbols of his passion for art and life.

Many of us tend to forget about the free-spirited tendencies we’re all born with and once knew how to use. It’s easy to get caught up in the everyday chaos and responsibility which appears to hold us back at times. Perhaps a trip to the Arizona Museum for Youth can cure that dissolving natural youth within us.

“What we choose to do creatively defines who we are.” These words, spoken from the perspective of Venus, a transgendered visual artist, filmmaker and musician from Minneapolis, soaked through my skin as I anxiously jotted each quote down onto my notes from the booth at Bikini Lounge in downtown Phoenix.

Scottsdale Community College unveils what magic can be achieved with a renowned program, an army of creative students, and a hefty budget, all bundled into the bed sheets with “The Blacksmith and the Carpenter”.

I said good-bye to a city with so much historic body and endless inspiration, a place known for its magical spirit and artistic flesh. I left behind the place where so many people willingly struggle knowing that a dream will pay off.

Phoenician migrant writer and New York writer, Richard Bestwick, explores the national identity of the Phoenix Art scene through the recent export of three Visual Arts publications.