First Friday at PhxArt: The Art of Asia

First Friday at PhxArt returns to the Phoenix Art Museum on Friday, November 6, from 5 PM to 8 PM. It's the museum's monthly open house, part of the wider First Friday art walk that keeps downtown galleries, studios, and pop-ups open late on the first Friday of each month. The museum opens its doors with free general admission and a program of performances, hands-on art-making, in-gallery sketching, docent-led tours, and local food trucks.

This month's edition centers on the Art of Asia, drawing on the museum's collections of Chinese and Japanese art and the special exhibition Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan, featuring the South Korean master known as the painter of Seoraksan. There are three new installations built around those collections to see alongside it. You'll also find Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography on view, which spans the history of the medium and asks how photography reshapes our understanding of time, perception, and reality. The series is made possible by APS, with additional support from the Arizona Community Foundation.

The activities run throughout the evening. Gabriela Angulo leads flower-inspired art, DJ Javin provides the music, and Rosa Phoenix guides petal mandalas. The Japanese Friendship Garden is there with origami flowers. At 7 PM, the Arizona Kpop Dance Crew hosts a K-pop dance workshop. For those who want a deeper look at the art, there's a docent-led tour of the Kim Chong Hak exhibition at 5:30 PM, though that one requires a special exhibition ticket. Local food trucks, including It's Seoul Good and Crafti Tea, will be on site.

General admission is free from 5 PM to 8 PM, so you can wander the galleries and join in on the making without paying a thing. If you're planning to catch the 5:30 PM tour, just remember you'll need a separate ticket for that special exhibition.