Does this building make you want to create art or shove a pencil in your eye?

IMAGE

1

Currently the Art Institute of Phoenix sits in a dull office park along the I-17, hardly a location that would seem to inspire great art.

With the planned redevelopment of Hance Park and the growing Roosevelt Row Arts community and the nearby Phoenix Art Museum and Heard Museums, working to attract the Art Institute to a more Central location just makes sense.

There are numerous undeveloped or underdeveloped lots ringing Hance Park, especially its Eastern half. Some of them are City or publicly owned, some aren't. The City should work to find an appropriate space for the Art Institute and try to bring them downtown. Having the Art Institute along the Light Rail makes sense. Plus a great synergy could begin to happen, the Art Institute would act as something of a bridge between Roosevelt Row and Phx Art Museum. It would also put the Art Institute near the PHX Center for the Arts, another opportunity for connectivity and synergy.

The ground floor of the Art Institutes new downtown buildings could be ringed with art gallery spaces that would of course open up on 1st Fridays. The Culinary school could operate a ground floor restaurant as well.

Additionally, having the Art Institute adjacent/near Hance Park would increase the parks user base and activity levels. Hance Park would become the de facto 'quad' for the students of the school.