Despite the summer slowdown in the Valley, Scottsdale Arts is buzzing with a lineup of new exhibitions and events throughout July and August.
As it continues to celebrate its 25th year, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) will open four new exhibitions throughout the month of August, including an exhibition featuring the works of contemporary Indigenous artists, a show that examines the neuroaesthetic experience, a grouping of political artworks from the SMoCA Collection, and an Art + Architecture series installation exploring desert and identity.

Also at Scottsdale Arts, people with mild to moderate memory loss and their caregivers may register for creative Memory Lounge workshops, Scottsdale Public Art will celebrate three new temporary artworks, and cocktail fans can explore summer tastes with the return of the popular Sippin’ Series — all before a special blues collaboration between Tab Benoit and Anders Osborne.

Scottsdale Arts ONE Members receive special benefits, including unlimited free admission to SMoCA and discounts on select events.

The following is a curated list of events and exhibitions from Scottsdale Arts, a nonprofit organization comprising Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, SMoCA, Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, Canal Convergence, and Civic Center LIVE.

PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS
Memory Lounge
July 9, July 23, Aug. 13, Aug. 27, 1:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (July 9, Aug. 13)
Bové Neuroscience Institute at HonorHealth (July 23, Aug. 27)
Tickets: $10 single / $20 couple
Memory Lounge is an arts-based program for people with mild to moderate memory loss and their care partners. Each workshop introduces a new professional artist who works in visual art, music, dance, or drama. The workshops engage participants in creative and innovative ways.
Sippin’ Series: Summer Tequila Cocktails
July 13, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $50
Discover tantalizing tequila cocktail recipes with professionals from Republic National Distributing in an intimate, fun and educational setting. Indulge in refreshing drinks while expanding your knowledge of mixology. This event is 21 and older.
Temporary Public Art Celebration
Aug. 1, 5 p.m.
Scottdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Free
Artists Nicole Davy, Zach Valent and Shela Yu will discuss the inspiration, design and technical aspects of their new temporary artworks, all of which were installed this spring in south Scottsdale.
Sippin’ Series: Penelope Bourbons
Aug. 13, 7 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $50
Sample the latest offerings from Penelope Bourbon with professionals from Republic National Distributing in an intimate, fun and educational setting. Indulge in refreshing drinks while expanding your knowledge of mixology. This event is 21 and older.
Tab Benoit & Anders Osborne with special guest J.D. Simo
Aug. 31, 8 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $42
Experience an evening of soulful roots music by two prolific songwriters as they combine their styles to create a heartfelt performance.

EXHIBITIONS
Dorothy Fratt: “Color Mirage”
Closing July 21
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Color Mirage” is the first major U.S. museum exhibition on the prolific, yet underrecognized, American painter Dorothy Fratt.
Carolina Aranibar-Fernández: “Oleaje”
Closing Aug. 4
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Oleaje,” Spanish for “Groundswell,” features new large-scale installation works by Bolivian-born artist Carolina Aranibar-Fernández that map and memorialize the rippling effects of a coercive global trade industry.
“_____ space” Exhibitions
Closing Aug. 25
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: Free
“____ space” (blank space) is a new, experimental, flexible space at SMoCA, currently featuring two installations by artists Kenaim Al-Shatti and Roelof Knol.
“Exploding Native Inevitable”
Aug. 10 through Jan. 5, 2025
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Exploding Native Inevitable” features the work of contemporary Indigenous artists, accompanied by a program of dance, film, music, performance, readings, storytelling and video.
“poetics of dissonance”
Aug. 10 through March 23, 2025
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
Situated on the cusp of another pivotal election, “poetics of dissonance” presents 18 artists from the SMoCA collection whose work navigates the tumultuous landscape of socio-political discourse.
“Brains and Beauty: At the Intersections of Art and Neuroscience”
Aug. 17 through Jan. 19, 2025
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
Visually explore neuroaesthetics, the new and rapidly expanding field of research that combines neuroscience and psychology to study the neural processes of aesthetic experience.
Cybele Lyle: “Floating Seeds Make Deep Forms”
Aug. 24 through Jan. 19, 2025
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7 to $12
“Floating Seeds Make Deep Forms” is a site-specific installation that responds to deserts in the North American Southwest as non-places — liminal expanses for ambiguity within a regenerative ecosystem.
“Stick Together”
July 12 through Sept. 23
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Admission: free
This juried group exhibition of collage artworks shows the ingenious minds of artists who are sticking unusual elements together to bring a cohesive voice to the viewer.

For more information, visit scottsdalearts.org.