Blog Posts

Events in Chandler, AZ

Chandler, AZ is a great place to live. There’s always something going on for residents to enjoy. We’re excited about the events coming up this month in Chandler. In this post, the Liv Avenida Blog highlights five events coming to Chandler this month. Wonder Gardens: The Artwork of Pat Scheurich Various dates in September and October From the website: “ This exhibit will feature the flora and fauna inspired artwork of Pat Scheurich, a mixed-media artist with over three decades of experience. Receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Scheurich works in multiple mediums and takes inspiration from the everyday as well as the art of other cultures. Pat utilizes glazes, textures, embossed paper, handmade stamps, gilded foils, and found materials to create images that capture the connection between the human experience and the natural world. She currently creates much of her work in her studio in Phoenix, which she calls one of her favorite places.” Chandler Symphony Orchestra: Pops Concert Friday, September 9, 2016 From the website: “Founded as the San Marcos Symphony in 1991, The Chandler Symphony Orchestra is comprised of a talented group of volunteer musicians committed to providing the community with quality orchestral music.” Makin Furniture + Various dates in September and October From the website: “‘Makin Furniture +’ is a new and distinctive exhibition of hand-crafted furniture and artworks created by Arizona woodworkers, artists and craftsmen. Steven Makin, a veteran maker of fine furniture, served as curator. The exhibit provides an excellent display of wood-crafted artworks from fine, rare, and exotic woods and will celebrate unique and fine woodworking pieces from the American Southwest. Also included are photographs by artists from in and around the state to accompany the display of skillfully crafted furniture artworks. Featured artists include: Dan Allaire, William Barrand, Lily Branift, Dominic Ferrara, David Fleming, Doug Forsha, Gary Goren, Mark Levin, Steven Makin, Damon McIntyre, Kim Toma, Kerry Vesper, and Terry Woolston.” Sara Evans Saturday, September 24, 2016 From the website: “Award-[winning] singer Sara Evans has achieved much since her double platinum album, "Born to Fly" in 2000. She has since racked up the chart-topping singles ‘Backseat of a Greyhound Bus,’ ‘Suds in the Bucket,’ ‘Perfect,’ ‘A Little Bit Stronger’ and more.” Get the Led Out Sunday, September 25, 2016 From the website: “Get The Led Out, also known as ‘GTLO’, and ‘The American Led Zeppelin,’ is a group of professional rock musicians dedicated to re-creating the recorded music of Led Zeppelin as authentically as possible.” Are there any other events that we should know about? Leave us a comment and let us know! Thanks for reading!

Culture Pass Desert Caballeros Western Museum

Last week the Liv Avenida Blog featured the Chandler Public Library’s Culture Passes. Culture Passes get a library cardholder and a guest into one of the several different nearby cultural sites. Last week we covered one of the sites you can see with the pass, the Phoenix Art Museum. This week we’re heading a little ways out of town to highlight another Culture Pass site: the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is dedicated to preserving Western art and history, and it is located about one hour and forty-five minutes away from the Liv Avenida in Chandler, AZ. Here are four exhibits being put on at the Museum this month: Wish You Were Here: Bill Green’s Wickenburg Postcards June 27, 2015-October 2, 2016 From the website: “Come ‘ out Wickenburg Way ’ to experience vintage postcards and town artifacts from establishments like the old Texas Hotel. Revisit the Wickenburg of the 1940s and ‘50s when this town was a bustling hub of commerce and must-see destination where the intersection of 60 and 93 was the busiest in the state before I-10 opened.” Follow the Thread: Quilts from the Museum’s Permanent Collection January 9-December 31, 2016 From the website: “A year-long exploration of the art and history of quilt making. Pieces from the Museum’s permanent collection ranging from the 1850s through the 1990s will be shown on a rotating basis. Recent research by the Arizona Quilt Documentation Project sheds light on the makers and techniques represented in the wide variety of quilts that made their way to Wickenburg.” Route 66: Recent Creations, Retro Collections May 28-October 2, 2016 From the website: “Focusing on Route 66 in Arizona, the exhibition strives to put the everlasting allure of Route 66 into perspective, showing how the existing Route, as well as the route of memory, continue to inspire artists today.” Marjorie Thomas: Arizona Art Pioneer May 28-November 27, 2016 From the website: “The life and career of Marjorie Thomas (1885-1978) link the chronicle of Arizona’s art and history. Arriving from Massachusetts before statehood, she witnessed at first hand many changes in Scottsdale and the state that became her home. It took grit and determination for an artist to leave the East and move West, and Thomas was a real pioneer. Guest-curated by Dr. Betsy Fahlman of Arizona State University, the exhibition will include works of art from public and private collections, most of them never before exhibited.” Have you ever been to the Desert Caballeros Western Museum? What was your experience like? What should we see the next time we’re there? Let us know in the comments!

Culture Pass Phoenix Art Museum

For the next two weeks, the Liv Avenida Blog will be highlighting the Culture Pass offered by the Chandler Public Library. The Culture Pass gives a library cardholder and a guest the chance to visit one of the several cultural sites in the area. This week we’re highlighting one of the sites you can see with the Culture Pass: The Phoenix Art Museum. We’re highlighting four of the Museum’s nine collections this month. The American Collection From the website: “The American collection features art dating from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. In the selected items of view, the developments of American artistic traditions can be traced through the early interests in portraiture, the rise in prominence of landscape painting in the 19th-century, the popularity of genre scenes, as well as the academic traditions and large-scale society paintings. The collection reflects the influence in naturalism stemming from European artistic traditions.” The Fashion Collection From the website: “Feast your eyes comprised of more than 4,500 American and European garments, shoes and accessories. It houses important fashions from the 18th to late 20th centuries and emphasizes major American designers of the 20th century including Adrian, Norell, Galanos, and Claire McCardell; and European Designers such as Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent.” The Asian Collection From the website: “The Art of Asia galleries explore both common themes and unique qualities in the arts of diverse Asian cultures, including Tibet, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Sri Lanka and Java. On view are archaeological material (including the Museum collection’s oldest object), stunning sculptures carved from jade, a Chinese scholar’s studio with a “scholar’s rock”, and a Japanese tokonoma alcove and samurai armor.” The Latin American Collection From the website: “The Latin American Collection encompasses over 500 works of art from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It features Spanish Colonial artworks such as religious paintings, portraits, furniture, and decorative arts, and also boasts remarkable works by early- and mid-20th century Mexican painters and printmakers.” We hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little more about the Phoenix Art Museum! What are your favorite pieces of art at the Phoenix Art Museum? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Summer Movie Watch List

Arizona summers can get really, really hot. Stay inside while the sun is out with a movie marathon! This week the Liv Avenida Blog has five movies for you to watch this summer while the weather’s hot. Say Anything… (1989) Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack), a high school slacker, has fallen hard for his school’s valedictorian, Diane Court (Ione Skye). Diane is due to leave for a fellowship in London in the fall; Lloyd is hoping to break into kickboxing, “the sport of the future.” Diane’s father (John Mahoney) disapproves of her new relationship, while a federal investigation threatens to tear their lives apart. (500) Days of Summer (2009) Tom (Joseph-Gordon Levitt) is desperately sorting through his memories of Summer (Zooey Deschanel) in an attempt to find out where it all went wrong and how he can get her back. Winning her back turns out to be much harder than he thought it’d be. Almost Famous (2000) William Miller (Patrick Fugit) gets the chance to write a feature on the up-and-coming band, Stillwater. While on the road, he learns the band’s complicated secrets, gets mixed up in a few of their schemes and falls in love with the ethereal Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a Band-Aid. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays William’s road-weary mentor, Lester Bangs, who coaches him on life, love, and being cool. Roman Holiday (1953) Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) plays hooky for a day and ditches her royal responsibilities to spend a day sightseeing around Rome with an American journalist, Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck). Bradley is posing as a salesman and hoping to get the story of his life. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is an expert at ditching school. Determined to have one last day of glory before graduation, he heads out on the town with his girlfriend (Mia Sara) and best friend (Alan Ruck). While out, he tries to keep his sister (Jennifer Grey), his father (Lyman Ward), and the nosy Dean of Students (Jeffrey Jones) from finding out where he really is. What are your favorite movies to watch during the summer? Let us know in the comments!

Read All Summer

In this post, the Liv Avenida Blog has five books for you to check out the next time you’re at the library. Summer is the perfect time for reading, especially in Arizona. You have more free time, it’s sweltering outside, and your apartment at the Liv Avenida is cool and air-conditioned. Might as well stay inside and read! Here are five classics we recommend picking up this summer. Middlemarch by George Eliot The vibrant residents of Middlemarch muddle through life, love, money, inheritance, and loss in George Eliot’s classic. Fred Vincy must come up with the money to marry his childhood sweetheart; Dorothea Brooke must find a way to escape her dead husband’s restrictive will. Tertius Lydgate is all too willing to lose everything for love, and Nicholas Bulstrode has a dark past he’s desperately trying to hide. The lives of these characters intertwine and diverge in Middlemarch . Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw Eliza Doolittle wants to become a girl in a flower shop; she’s tired of selling flowers on the street. Henry Higgins believes that he can turn an ordinary flower girl into a duchess. He takes on the task of turning Eliza into a true lady. Henry and Eliza clash over phonetics, class, and credit. Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie Peter Pan refuses to grow up. He offers to take Wendy and her brothers to Neverland. In Neverland, Wendy and her brothers meet Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, Tiger Lily, and Peter Pan’s crew of Lost Boys. Wendy acts as mother to the Lost Boys, and they all go on harrowing adventures together. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare After finding herself shipwrecked in Illyria, Viola is employed by Duke Orsino to woo his sweetheart, Olivia. Viola is disguised as ‘Cesario’—unfortunately for the Duke, Olivia ends up falling for ‘Cesario.’ Meanwhile, Viola has fallen for Duke Orsino, and Olivia’s household has begun torturing her steward, Malvolio. This comedy will have you laughing all day long. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Catherine Morland is a voracious reader. Her favorite books are Gothic novels, but they tend to fuel her overly romantic, unrealistic notions. This complicates her relationship with love interest Henry Tilney, his sister Eleanor, and their father, General Tilney. She lets her romantic imagination run wild while visiting the Tilney’s home, Northanger Abbey. What books are you planning to read this summer? Let us know in the comments!

Good Eats in Chandler, AZ

Theres nothing we love more than a good eat! Luckily for us, Chandler, AZ is a great place to grab a bite. Here are five local restaurants that we think our residents at Liv Avenida will love: Floridinos Pizza & Pasta 590 N. Alma School Rd. Chandler, AZ 85224 If youre craving a good calzone, Floridinos Pizza & Pasta is the place to go. They offer a wide range of appetizers, pizzas, calzones, homemade pastas, sides, sandwiches, and desserts. Were dying to try their Pepperoni Muffins, and their Eggplant Parmigiana sounds heavenly. SanTan Brewing Company 8 S San Marcos Pl Chandler, AZ 85225 SanTan Brewing Company is famous for their ales and seasonal brews, but were pretty big fans of their lunch and dinner menus as well. Their Cilantro Lime Hummus, Soft Pub Pretzels, and Brewers Fries are three of our must-try dishes. La Stalla Cucina Rustica 68 W Buffalo St. Chandler, AZ 85225 La Stalla Cucina Rustica specializes in traditional Italian fare. The next time you visit, try one of their specialty pizzas or their Spaghetti alla Carbonara. You wont regret having their Chocolate Souffle or a Cannoli for dessert. Tumi Fine Peruvian Restaurant 961 W. Ray Rd. Suite 3-4 Chandler, AZ 85225 With its traditional menu, wide selection, and mouth-watering desserts, youll love Tumi Fine Peruvian Restaurant. Were dying to try their Papa Rellena, and their Lomo Saltado is sure to be a hit. Shimogamo Japanese Restaurant 2051 W Warner Rd. #14 Chandler, AZ 85224 Shimogamo Japanese Restaurant serves top-quality sushi at affordable prices. You can mix-and-match by buying the sushi in two or four pieces, or you can buy an entire roll. The Snow Crab, Citrus Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll all sound great! Have you been to these restaurants? What was your experience? Leave a comment with a dish we should try!