Phoenix has been in the 113-118F range the last few weeks so even with the humidity a rainy day of 93 was wonderful! My son and I began the day with a donut then did a few sketches at Desert Ridge while we waited for the Pop Culture Museum to open at 11. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical of the place even after skulking around the gift shop area upon walking in for a minute. We were allowed to poke around the first floor for free before "commiting" to the steep $5 cover to see the rest of the museum. Before we had the chance to however Ellison, the resident artist on staff, blew us away with a tour of his back-room studio and in-progress artwork. This alone was worth the price of admission! The Museum boasts the largest collection of action figures in the world and it is not hard to imagine. Room after room of endless (still sealed) figures, costumes & toys from Star Wars, Star Trek and everything else imaginable. My son quickly set up camp in the Hot Wheels section and got to work. I struggled wih a few Ogres and Hell Boys that I should have abandoned but had so much fun. It was difficult to stop and sketch when all we wanted to do was soak it all in. As always it was good to see everyone and meet new artists. As the day was ending it began to storm (it is monsoon season here) so we abondoned out idea of sketching more around the outdoor mall and grabbed takout chinese instead but all in all it was an excellent day!
One of the Desert Ridge Courtyard areas where we waited before the opening:
Craig
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