Phoenix's best art gallery is outdoors

I’m a fickle museum-goer. My attention span shrinks by the year, and the idea of a full day at the Met, with more than 1.5 million objects in two million square feet, wears me out before I’ve checked my coat. I’d rather spend an hour with a smaller collection, or at a museum dedicated to a singular artist. Even better is art that takes me outside: no security line, no coat check, and the gallery is open whenever the sun is up.

That’s what sent me hunting for Phoenix’s extensive murals. The city’s street art scene centers on Roosevelt Row, the downtown arts district where it’s hard to turn a corner without running into one. It spills into the alleys, too, like 1½ Street, where a dozen local muralists covered the full length of a wall behind The Churchill, and Oak Street in the Coronado neighborhood, where the backyard walls of an otherwise quiet residential block have become an open-air gallery.

I had my camera out the entire time. Here’s a peek at what I captured.