It’s been said many times before: “There’s no culture in the Valley.” The Office of Public Events at Arizona State University disagrees. The office has been working to convert cultural naysayers by bringing huge Broadway shows and internationally renowned artists to Gammage Auditorium.

With the mere mention of Arizona triggering thoughts of high noon gunfights and John Wayne, it is clear that the looks and locales of those movies have made an impact on the world’s collective psyche. But the value of the state’s predictably clear weather, low production costs, and proximity to Los Angeles has attracted Hollywood. And they’re not here to shoot just Westerns anymore.

There has been some controversy surrounding the Body Worlds exhibit now at the Arizona Science Center because, in the words of Charlton Heston, “it’s peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeople!”

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”.

Three Roots brings unique food, deep conversation, diverse clientele, great coffee, live music, local art and interesting people all into one cozy location in Tempe. The amazing coffee and food is not what defines this gem of downtown, but rather its lasting commitment to being an open space for dialogue and community.

"Close Encounters With Music," a series in its sixth season which premiered at Scottsdale's Theater 4301 at the end of January, brings together chamber music, storytelling and dramatic reading into one night of emotional aural sensation.

There was a time when there wasn’t much of anything to do in downtown Mesa. But things quickly changed with the arrival of Mesa Arts Center in the autumn of 2005. A complex of four theatres, five contemporary arts galleries, two art studio buildings, and some really great architecture and landscaping all provide the magnetic pull to Main Street that the small city’s downtown district needed to bring new energy to the fold. Mesa Arts Center contributes not only to the vitality of downtown Mesa but to the burgeoning Phoenix art scene as well.

The American and Arizona craft brew industry has grown rapidly while maintaining a bold, dynamic approach to brewing. Over the past three decades, they have quietly made a powerful argument on behalf of better beer – beers available in a cornucopia of styles and flavors.

AZ/88 has been around since 1988, and continues to be a hotspot in Old Town Scottsdale. The stylish, surrealistic AZ/88 has staying power, and for a bar to last nine years in an area swarmed with bars is impressive. The people and atmosphere at AZ/88 are undoubtedly the main attraction.