A Renaissance music ensemble, Bartholomew Faire, performed on the brand new Alliance Pavilion stage at Mesa Arts Center in conjunction with a Renaissance-themed 2^nd Friday Night Out in Mesa event

Updates
Quite a few artists have already submitted applications for our shade sculpture RFQ. We are very excited to review their materials after our January 24^th deadline. Our review panel will convene in February to determine up to three finalists who will have an opportunity to submit a comprehensive proposal for the 21^st Century Café Society Shade Sculpture. The reviewers have their work cut out for them, because we have some fantastic artist submissions from both local and national artists.

Simultaneously, we are gearing up for our third annual “spark! Mesa’s Festival of Creativity this March.” Both touring and local artists are scheduled to descend upon Mesa Arts Center (MAC) for a week of innovative experiences, immersive hands-on opportunities, and artistic celebrations. New this year is “spark! After Dark,” which extends the fun into Friday and Saturday evenings, March 21-22. This event will provide opportunities to test, at the site of our project, some of the types of experiences that will ultimately be available at the 21^st Century Café Society. Also scheduled for March 22^nd is the Southwest Maker Fest, a broadly collaborative event with many partners, including MAC, taking place near our campus along Main Street to celebrate imagination and innovation.

Recent Wins
January’s 2^nd Friday Night Out event was Renaissance-themed, and we had performers on our North Plaza, the future location of the 21^st Century Café Society. The event coincided with the kick-off of Southwest Shakespeare Company’s WinterFest. As one of our Resident Companies, Southwest Shakespeare presents this annual run of two Shakespeare plays in repertory, this year offering The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth. We had a steady stream of visitors that night, and the new stage worked well, accompanied by nearby street performers and refreshments for sale, and linking us to the activated environment in downtown for 2^nd Friday. We had fun watching the space come alive for the duration of the evening, with patrons enjoying the cool weather and outdoor performances.

The Arizona Commission on the Arts chose “Mesa Up at Night” as a finalist for the inaugural Art Tank competition. Along with our partners, Mesa’s Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO), Downtown Mesa Association, and downtown Mesa merchants, we will pitch our idea for activating downtown Mesa with artistic events and activities in retail and restaurant venues. For this project, the merchants and restaurateurs will commit to extended evening hours on about ten strategically selected event nights, to model for patrons and retailers the opportunities that can exist with collaborative activity and extended hours in the heart of our city.

Insights/Provocation
As we reflect on the planned activities that have taken shape in just the last few months, it has become abundantly clear that there is a genuine coalition of supporters and partners that are working to enliven downtown Mesa. Our community patrons and guests at MAC have implored us for more activation, food and beverage opportunities, and especially evening entertainment before and after performances. We knew we couldn’t tackle this alone; local restaurants and businesses would need to be involved in the solution. We are all starting to see the fruits of our labor, and we are excited to help make Mesa the place to be! While we don’t have all the activities and events available right now, we see them forming over the next several months, and we couldn’t be happier to be part of a movement to offer more opportunities for community engagement and creative, social gathering in downtown Mesa.