May Magnet Month		Print This Page Email This Page

SMoCA is the magnetic museum—literally!

Each May, we invite the public to take their 'magnet canvas' from the fridge and head to SMoCA for a much larger upgrade to place their magnets all over the Museum’s metal exterior.

Add your creative touch to this magnetic community “mural” with magnets of all shapes, colors and sizes. Or, just stop by and watch the accumulation grow & morph during the month.

To kick-off the month, and grow the collection of magnets, SMoCA hosted a magnet-making launch party on May 1st with special guests from the Denver-based Magnet Mafia, along with the Valley's own AlphaMonster Art Collective artists, Spraygraphic, as well as members from Conspire, the Crafty Burritos and art students from the New School for the Arts. Clever magnets of all shapes and sizes, including an enormous kaleidoscopic paint brush (a magnet that took several people and a tall ladder to install), a magnetic 'spray can mural,' and even two large googley eyes (because the Museum is watching you!) came out of the woodwork that evening.

In the spirit of graffiti art, the Magnet Mafia hopes to spread its art-magnet interventions across the globe, with the collective help of other artists and street enthusiasts. If you missed the launch party on May 1st, join the magnetic fun at your convenience anytime during the month. Magnets may be dropped off at the museum front desk anytime during Museum hours and we have plenty blank magnets at the desk for you to design. Come by for a free final group photo to immortalize the accumulation of all the magnets on May 30 at 6:30 pm, just before our signature Yang Friday event (jazz, appetizers and special art guests).

NOTE: When creating your magnets please remember we have over 1500 ft of surface space, so don’t limit yourself on size or quantity. Business card style "ad" magnets are not permitted and those larger than 5" x 7" can not have any text incorporated in the design due to City of Scottsdale sign ordinances. Otherwise, the sky is the limit!

Express your individuality and come be a part of the growing collection on our magnetic museum!

All photos on this page by Geoffrey McAllister/The Arizona Republic

Image descriptions from top to bottom: Patrons design their own magnets at the May 1st magnet-making launch party; Seventeen−year−old Jayme Lemperly of Scottsdale places his magnets on SMoCA's metal exterior; Three−year−old Alizarin Maney of Phoenix places magnets with her mother; Harrison Nealey, right, and Matt Freeney of Magnet Mafia in Denver Colorado, piece together their gigantic magnet paintbrush on the exterior of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; Harrison Nealey, of Magnet Mafia in Denver Colorado, sticks his exhibit of 96 magnetic spray cans in SMoCA; Example of a variety of magnets on the Museum's walls.

To see a full Arizona Republic slideshow, visit the azcentral website:
http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/6025/1/16/

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