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Since TRUPHX is on summer break we didn't want to leave everyone wondering when the next story was coming?! TRUPHX will return in Sept and we already have a list of stories we're excited to bring you.

Till then we hope you enjoy the following pictures from our "Forgotten PHX" ghost image series. Some of the pics were on display at three shows we were asked to participate in this year, the "Our Town" show at Bragg's Pie Factory in Jan, TRUPHX show at The Lab Pop Up Gallery in April and "DRY Summer Art Event" earlier this month at the R.Pela Contemporary Art Gallery.  

We've also included a few other pictures that have never been seen till now! 

If you decide to repost any of the pics we ask that you please include the TRUPHX link.

Thank's to everyone for all the love and support and we wish you all a safe summer.

See you in Sept!

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Whats your story?

Hi my name is Tina and I like to eat. 

Where you originally from and why PHX?

I grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. I moved to the Salt River reservation after High School and loved living there for about 13 years. Since the reservation is close to the city I was able to get involved within that community as well as the PHX community through the things I am passionate about.

A few years ago I had come to a point where I had to start my life over again. Phoenix is symbolic to me, so in order to be reborn I moved into the city. I have found opportunities to grow and transform here along with the support and love needed to do so. Plus there are so many great places to EAT!

I feel equally passionate about food and the art of Muay Thai. I've been eating good all my life and I started training Muay Thai in 2002 or 2003. A few elite athletes live and train in the area so luckily I was able to learn how to fight from some world class trainers.  That led me to an opportunity to represent PHX on the 2006 Oxygen TV reality show 'Fight Girls'. Since I got to take part in the reality show I became very interested in shooting videos and post production. 

My other passion is for arts & crafts. Back in 2005 I was injured from my Muay Thai training so to keep myself busy I started a small business collaborating with artists. I incorporate their designs onto earrings and I was able to supply a few local boutiques and many First Friday fashionistas with some affordable and fun to wear jewelry.  I have a few designs available online now check out <a href="http://gjewelry.bigcartel.com/"> http://gjewelry.bigcartel.com </a>

Back in April I was able to make it out the show to support the TRUPHX movement. I always wanted to take a picture with the PHX letters so I was stoked to be there, I shot this video of the show 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iyDWY_fVgxI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I was excited to Instagram my shot with the infamous PHX letters.

My job at the time inspired my edit of the photo. 

I was spending alot of time doing research on space, aliens and UFO's.

If you're interested in that type of thing, here are a few of the videos I did: 

http://youtu.be/TW4nhse_Se0 -  Uruguay  

http://youtu.be/ubGeqS9g6po -  Brazil  

http://youtu.be/4Llk3T9qFjk -  Chile

More information and lots of other random stuff can be found on my blog: <a href="http://gjewelry.blogspot.com/"> http://gjewelry.blogspot.com </a> 

What’s the future hold for PHX?

PHX is a great place all types creative people to grow. One of the best parts of being here is that there are always people with new ideas that art out there trying different things. As we find different ways to collaborate our collective conscious awareness of reality will continue to evolve and transform. It's great to see more and more people start to pay attention and participate.  

Subject: Tina Goodson

Location: TRUPHX Debut Show at The Lab Pop-Up Gallery 1022 W                         Grand Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85007

Photographer: Tina Goodson

Tina's Jewelry Website: http://gjewelry.bigcartel.com/

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What's our story?

My name is Lalo Cota.

Where are you originally from and why PHX?

I am an alien from Mexico and landed in Phoenix in 1984, this same year I discovered art in Downtown PHX. This is why it is important to me to paint PHX. 

What's the future hold for PHX?

PHX is where I became the artist I am today and I believe PHX will be the next mural hubb of the world!

Subject: Lalo Cota

Location: Desert West Skate Park 6501 W. Virginia Phoenix, AZ

Photographer: Hector Primero

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What’s your story?

I'm the owner and general manager of The Clarendon Hotel and Spa. I've always been involved in community efforts, since attending Brophy Prep years ago.  I started The Clarendon with $3K and home equity loans and credit cards, and at the time that I purchased the hotel in 2004 it was considered one of the greatest sources of crime and blight in the entire valley.  Over the past 10 years I've brought The Clarendon from zero stars to 4 stars, helped to turn around an entire neighborhood, and hopefully have created something that Phoenicians are proud of.  We're the smallest hotel in Central Phoenix, the only true 'boutique' hotel in Phoenix, and we hope that locals and guests leave with a great impression of not just The Clarendon, but of the city of Phoenix and all of the natural beauty and adventure Arizona has to offer.

  Where you originally from and why PHX?

I was born in Mountain View, California in 1971, but quickly moved to Los Angeles and lived there until 1982 when my mother and I packed up and moved to Scottsdale for a year, then Phoenix.  Besides a short 2-year stint at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Phoenix has been my home for over 3 decades.  No matter what I do, I always have the best interests of our community in mind.  I want to see us be the best city in which to live, work, and play.... and visit!  We're a city of opportunity - if I would have attempted to do a project like The Clarendon in a city like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, etc. I would have been laughed out of town.  Phoenicians really supported my 'pay as you go' improvements to The Clarendon over the years, and for that I'm truly thankful.

  What’s the future hold for PHX?

For starters, I think we'll see First Fridays and Art Detour disappear in the next year, to be replaced with Fridays on Roosevelt, which will spread to the entire weekend.  Currently, it's a big feast on First Fridays with a huge famine the rest of the month for these businesses who've invested so much in downtown, and that has to change soon or we'll just continue to see more businesses coming and going... we need to establish a weekly event instead of a monthly event in order to help these businesses out.

I'm trying to work on an annual music, arts, media, film, comics festival that lasts 11 days and ends with Memorial Day Monday every year. This is a high 'need period' for everyone, it's a great time for people to book affordable flights and book affordable hotel rooms and affordable convention space.  It's a time when people are usually leaving and we can keep local in Phoenix while attracting people from all over the world. Think of a combination of Comic-Con, Coachella, Bonnaroo, McDowell Mountain Music Festival, ArtBasel, Art Detour, etc., etc.  It could happen, it has the support of the Mayor's office, and this is the time of year it really needs to happen.  The days are nice and warm, but the nights are glorious.  It would be an instant success and could bring 500,000 people to the Valley within just a few years.  It would be a huge economic boost, and just before the summer months... this really needs to happen.

Phoenix's future will always be bright.  I think that we need to focus on a few things, such as getting people to understand that the actions of the state government don't truly reflect the attitude of Phoenicians.  While state politics are controlled by people from all over the state, a lot of Phoenicians came to Phoenix from much larger, much more progressive cities and states, and as Phoenix grows this will cause a shift in our politics.  

I would like to see Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport become the Atlanta airport of the West, and with the merger of US Airways and American Airlines, I think this is finally possible and we could start seeing visitors from all over the world which would really help our economy.  

I think we need to focus on building a segment of 225mph high speed rail from Phoenix through Yuma to Riverside, California where California's new high speed rail system would then connect passengers to San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Diego.  This is truly essential as peak weekend flights are so expensive that it's preventing people from visiting Phoenix - we can only get as many people into Phoenix as there are seats on flights, we have to keep that in mind.  If you could take a high speed train in less door-to-door time than flying, and for $99 each way even at the last minute, we'd see millions of additional visitors to Phoenix each year, which would help to support local businesses and the local economy.  During the day we can transport passengers... at night we can transport goods from the West Phoenix distribution centers and Goodyear Airport to Los Angeles and beyond, and also at night we can transport agricultural products from the Imperial Valley to Phoenix and Los Angeles.

I also think the future of transportation holds some unique twists that nobody is expecting to come soon, but it'll happen sooner than we think: fully autonomous vehicles will not just virtually eliminate accidents and DUIs, but will enable multiple people to share the costs of one vehicle.  This will reduce traffic, eliminate the need for many (if not all) bus routes, and reduce parking requirements at new developments.  Not only that, but it will reduce everyone's monthly expenses which means more disposable income for people to spend on local businesses, on vacations, and to save for retirement.  We've already hit 'peak car', but I don't think many people understand the impact this one piece of rapidly-advancing technology will have on so many aspects of our daily lives.

I'd like to see a major focus on the sharing economy... I think that micro-entrepreneurism is the future, and services like Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, VRBO, Homeaway, and Flipkey are essential.  They help people become self-reliant, helps to reduce unemployment and foreclosures - and even though I'm in the hotel business, I'd rather see home sharing than over-building in the hotel industry, which only hurts everyone.

I think we'll also soon see development along our extensive canal banks and more rehabilitation of the Salt River.  One day - probably within 15 years - we'll see the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station decommissioned now that solar power is finally coming around, and this will have a huge impact on water availability in the Valley, since the plant's cooling towers use enough water each year to completely drain every lake/reservoir surrounding the Valley... I don't think many people realize that.

We will have to place a lot of focus on California - with a population of 42 million people today, it's not impossible that California will have a population of 100 million in 35 years... that will also push a lot of people out of California and into Arizona.  We need to be prepared for this and we need to understand that a Phoenix with 20 million people in 35-50 years is a very real possibility.  Again, we really need to be prepared for this, because when the growth starts happening, it'll move quickly and we need to control the growth so that we don't have another repeat of what we've seen every decade since the 1940s.

Overall, we have a very bright future with an amazing amount of opportunity, but we need to focus!

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Subject: Ben Bethel Owner+General Manager

The Clarendon Hotel and Spa - where life just keeps getting better and better... www.goclarendon.com

America's Most Innovative Hotelier - Hotel Business

One of "25 GMs to Watch" - Hotel Management, 2013

One of "10 to Watch" - International HotelWorld Conference, 2012

One of the Most Visionary Hotel Owners in the United States - greenlodgi

Location: The Clarendon Hotel

               401 W. Clarendon Ave Phoenix, AZ 85013 

Photographer: Brenda Davis

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What’s your story?

We are Terrence Murtagh & Victor Vasquez and we met in design school, I do web design and Vic does graphic design and we started Heavy Pedal as a blog six years ago and we had a blog with products and we moved to being products with a blog then we got rid of the blog all together and now we are just a cycling company.

We ship our products world wide, products which consist of cycling apparel, accessories and one bike frame now. We are looking into having more Heavy Pedal bike frames in the future.

  Where are you originally from and why PHX?

Victor:  I’m originally from El Paso and moved to the valley to attend design school.

Terrance: I’m native of PHX and attended Trevor Browne High School

  What’s the future hold for PHX?

Victor: I assume there’s going to be a lot more cycling happening here at least I hope so we’re gonna stick around and contribute to the community. I definitely think cycling is growing here and I’ve been seeing a lot more bicycle related stuff happening.

Terrance: You can tell Grand Ave has a lot for cyclists and Tempe is huge into bikes because of the University and now with ASU coming to Downtown PHX everyone is really into wanting to make the city into a bike friendly place and we are hoping for that and to be a part of helping push that movement in AZ.

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Every Thursday Night Heavy Pedal holds a community ride open to all riders, any type of bike. It’s a social ride for fun and a good mix of people. Thursdays starts at their location with a designated route that proceeds to The Yard on 7th St North of Maryland for food, drinks and games.

Location: 1117 E. Van Buren St #220, Phoenix, AZ 85006

Hours 9a-5p M-F

Website: www.theheavypedal.com

Like us on FaceBook and Instagram

Subjects: Terrence Murtagh, Victor Vasquez & Manny Zinn

Photographer:  Hector Primero

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What’s your story?

My name is Pablo Perez and I own Nogales Hot Dogs and I sell Sonoran Style Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs and we have been in business at our current location for 12 years.

Where are you originally from and why PHX?

I was born Chihuahua Mexico and I’ve lived in Phoenix for 27 years. I decided to move to Phoenix because I liked the city, I liked the people that live here and it felt like home. I also like it because of the proximity to Mexico and how easily I'm able to go back to visit my family.

What’s the future hold for PHX?

There’s a big future here in Phoenix despite the games and the show politicians like Jan Brewer and Joe Arpaio like to play for the public. They don’t represent the state and it’s residents properly as someone with their responsibilities should. They don’t include everyone here such as those that struggle but still work hard. They just look at us like we are from another planet, if they would only stop brushing us off and include us in all the good the state has to offer, everyone and the city would benefit.

There will be political change in the future and when that happens this city and state will get back on track and continue to progress once again.

The future I see for my business… well anytime someone first opens a business like my Hot Dog cart they dream of one day moving from a cart to an permanent restaurant and I want to have that but I’ll continue to have a cart because the public like the convenience of walking right up and ordering a Hot Dog.

    Nogales Hot Dogs “Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs”

Location: 20th Street & Indian School

Hours: Sun thru Thurs 7pm – 12:30 am Fri & Sat 7pm -1:30am

Subject: Pablo Perez

Photographer: Hector Primero

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What’s your story?

Cherry Bombin' wear was a name I day dreamt about in high school, sketching fashion & clothing for fun. Years later I was 24 when I saw a PBS special highlighting a duo who was weaving bicycle tubes into lingerie... being a cyclist, I thought WOW that is amazing & went into my garage where I had a massive pile of tubes from flats & made a sad attempt at mimicking what I saw...it lasted about 5 minutes & was a complete fail.  

Five years later, after I graduated ASU, I moved to SF where I saw another inspiration.  It was a basic bi-fold bicycle tube wallet hand sewn at a vegan boutique.  It all spiraled out from there; I mean...I was a vegan, a cyclist & a extremely conscious consumer environmentalist...it just made sense.  Particularly, I envisioned making messenger bags & then thought I would have a whole line of goods made from recycled rubber. I mean it's seriously the best leather alternative material out there... & it's recycling & free!

I moved back to Phoenix & being burnt out from working in the behavioral health field, my artist girlfriend at the time inspired me to go for it, she even bought me my first heavy duty sewing machine after a short period of sewing small designs by hand.  I set up a table & sold my products at art openings & events...it was a hit! Then after about a year of doing it as a hobby/craft, I started the business. 

I've built the company grass roots & all by word or mouth.  I was fortunate enough to make a great connection with Whole Foods market & have been selling my line with them for about 5 years.  Along with wallets, everyday accessories & bags, I have an adult line of products too, I call my [L]overs line.  This line of designs has been a great hit with Good Vibrations out of the San Francisco bay area.  It's amazing how the universe makes everything go full circle!  Currently, I am working on my focus to market & advertise, so I can grow my company to become not only more profitable, but more well know as doing good for the conscious consumer.

Where you originally from and why PHX?

I am originally from NY & moved to Arizona for college right out of high school.  I wanted to move far away, but didn't want to go to California b/c everyone went there, plus I always had a desire to live in the desert.  After moving out of AZ twice, I moved back & decided I would live in Phoenix instead of Tempe.  Moving to Phoenix was the best decision ever... I loved Arizona, but Tempe was a struggle to say the least...I wanted to grow up & get out of the college town & moving to Phoenix felt like moving to a whole other state. The artist community was just beginning to swell & I made a great connection with other artists & entrepreneurs. 

What’s the future hold for PHX? 

I love the people & the community we have all built. With great dedication & pride Phoenix will continue to lead the country as the greatest 21st century city.

<3 <3 all my love to Phoenix.

We have something very special no other city will ever embrace.

  www.cherrybombinwear.com

Location:1020 NW Grand Ave Phoenix, AZ 85007

Subject: Angela Riccobono

Photographer: Hector Primero

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Whats your story?

My name is John Paul Adan.  For the past ten years I have been working for the Valley’s largest non-profit Mentoring Organization Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona.  We directly impact the community by matching kids with adult volunteer's who mentor a child for at least a year.  I began as a volunteer for this organization and eventually became a full time employee.  I really wanted to be a part of an organization whose main goal is to enrich the lives of children.

Currently we have nearly 300 boys (mostly West Valley) waiting for a Big Brother.  I have hope that each and every one of them will have a chance to be paired up with someone who cares.  Someone who will listen to these kids and help guide them towards a brighter future. In my ten years I have seen and heard so many stories of kids lives being changed for the better.  These kids are the future of Arizona and I want them to have the best opportunities in life.  

  Where you originally from and why PHX?

I was born and raised in Central Phoenix. I grew up in PHX in the 80's and 90's and have seen our city change so much over the years; it has been truly incredible.  I actually remember the I-10 being built directly through my neighborhood. Now it's a 6 lane freeway that runs through the heart of the Valley.  I have been to many other large cities in this great country and there is no other place I would rather live.

  What’s the future hold for PHX?

I believe that the future of PHX is brighter than ever.  As one of the youngest states in the country (to be admitted to the Union) we are finally finding our own true identity and how beautiful that identity is...

  For more info on how to become a Big Brother or Big Sister check us out on the web www.bbbsaz.org

  Photographer: Hector Primero

Models: John Paul Adan and his little brother Steven

Location: Glendale, AZ

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What's your story?

Barni, Chandra & Diana are Culture Is Life, a women of color arts collective making art to uplift our community. We work collectively on Faces Of Garfield a community photography project in the Garfield Historic Neighborhood in central Phoenix. We walk around in our neighborhood and take portraits of the people we meet outside. We ask them questions about creativity, community and why they love our neighborhood. Anyone can upload their photographs to Instagram with the hashtag #FacesOfGarfield, so that their work can be included on our website FacesOfGarfield.org and will be in the exhibit. Faces of Garfield celebrates our beautiful community through art.

Where you originally from and why PHX?

Diana Pérez-Ramírez: I'm from Tijuana, Mexico. I came to Phoenix with my family when I was 10. I have been living in different neighborhoods across Phoenix including in and out of the Garfield District. Chandra, Barni and I are roommates and we have been living together in the Garfield for about a year.

Chandra Narcia: I am Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, Laguna and Hopi. I grew up in Sacaton, Arizona in the Gila River Indian Community which is one of the tribes surrounding the Phoenix area. I've lived in New York, San Francisco and have been back in Phoenix for almost 2 years. This is my home and I love being close to my family and my community.

Barni Qaasim: I moved to Phoenix from Mogadishu, Somalia when I was 4. I lived in Seattle and San Francisco for about 10 years. I've been back in Phoenix for almost a year.

  What’s the future hold for PHX?

We all grew up in Phoenix or the surrounding areas. There have always been tons of talented people and artists here. Living in New York or San Francisco we would often think that the DJs or the muralists in Phoenix are some of the best. It seems like Phoenix is really starting to appreciate and encourage our own local artists. Its amazing to see how much central Phoenix has changed. We hope that this continues and that people coming from other places with resources and ideas continue to include the local people in the changes.

http://facesofgarfield.org/

For more info about Faces Of Garfield follow them on Facebook www.facebook.com/facesofgarfield and Instagram 

Location: The Garfield Neighborhood 13th Street and Roosevelt

Photographer: Hector Primero

[truphx]

What's your story?

The Isac Amaya Foundation started as a radio show called El Break! A group of friends got together to do a youth radio show in 2006 because there was no Spanish talk radio for young people (There still isn't) so we did that for about 4 years. While we were on air, we started to see different issues that were affecting our community, so as a group we got involved in different things. The main one was education, specifically higher education for DREAMers. We threw our first fundraiser in 2006 and raised 1,000. We held a hunger strike to call attention to the DREAM Act after prop. 300 passed in Arizona; we traveled to Washington DC to lobby for the legislation and we started hosting community forums to inform the community about different things related to higher education: financial aid, the college enrollment process, scholarships for undocumented students, student rights, etc. We were all kids back then! The youngest was like 17 years old.

One of the people in the radio show was Isac. He used to do the clubs and parties segment for El Break! That guy was a partier and he was super sweet and super smart. Laura and I (also in the show) met him at Phoenix College where he took all the math courses he could before they ran out of math classes for him to take and it was time for him to transfer to ASU. But he couldn't. It was too expensive and he was undocumented. In August of 2006, the company Isac worked for sent him to Tennessee to train a group of people but when he was driving there, he was in a car accident and passed away. That was one of the hardest things we've ever had to face. He was one of our best friends.

He was 25.

When we stopped doing the radio show, we decided that we didn't want to stop doing the community work we had started so our focus became raising funds to give scholarships to undocumented students. To do that, we had to be a more formal organization because we didn't know how many donors would give money to "El Break!" hahaha. So when we were looking for a name, we thought "What better way to honor Isac, a hard working guy who was doing everything he could to get ahead and wanted to go back to school as soon as he could, than to name our organization after him." So the Isac Amaya Foundation was born in 2009 and 5 years later, here we are! We're all grown up now but we are just as passionate about the work we do than when we were high school and college students. 

  What's the future hold for PHX?

One of the things that was the most fun for us while doing the radio show was getting to know everything that was going on in the city and helping to promote it. In 2007 we actually started doing Stylos Awards (Stylos as it is known now because the first one was done in 2005) and that was a way for us to showcase and recognize local talent because we felt like there was a gap in platforms that artists, musicians and others could use! We started developing relationships with all sorts of people and we loved the fact that we could be part of the growth of this city.

A lot has happened since then and for some time there was a plateau in growth and vibrance. It was around 2010 when all the SB1070 shenanigans were going on. There was a vibe in the city that was unwelcoming to the Latino Community and actually many people left.

In the last couple of years though, that has started to change again and it feels awesome! Phoenix has an identity and we Phoenicians take a lot of pride in being from here. We choose to stay because we're building things...movements and we don't want to miss out. I think Phoenix is going to be a magnet city pretty soon. As long we continue to work in it and for it with the passion that we have been.

  For more info about The Isac Amaya Foundation and to donate too please check out  www.isacamayafoundation.org

  Photographer: Hector Primero

Location: Phoenix Center of the Arts

[truphx]

Whats your story?

Marshall Shore, I am known as the Hip Historian. I always had a passion for uncovering the weird, the wonderful, and the obscure treasures. Upon landing in South Phoenix (Central City South,) I immediately began hearing stories about the community and it’s history. Meanwhile, across town I heard others say that there was no history here. I knew that wasn’t true and began on a journey to find some history. I continued taking delight in listening to people’s stories, whether it was about venturing out to shop, eat, dance, watch a movie, go to work, or being a part of headline news. I started curating and retelling stories. People began saying, I knew more about their hometown than they did. I knew that there was a larger purpose for this knowledge. I left a stable income to pursue this passion about connecting people to place. Using storytelling magic, found film footage, old photographs, ephemera, and artifacts. I bring our state’s heritage to life in entertaining bus tours, educational presentations, and other unexpected ways like postcards and more...

  Where you originally from and why PHX?

Grew up in small Indiana farm town, of 25 people, realized at an early age that I didn’t want to grow old, there. I got myself through college ending up with a Masters in Library Science and promptly moved to NYC. I worked there as a Librarian for about a decade. Ready for another adventure, the lure of the west and possibility of a delightful midcentury home got me to Ariz. Actually, it was my parents sending a list of thrift stores in the valley. Followed by moving into a 1956 ranch. Friends refer to our home as the unmuseum, it is pretty much original and teeming with 50‘s - 60‘s kitsch and stories.

  What’s the future hold for PHX?

Phoenix is the city of tomorrow! Looking for the next big thing. It exploded during a post war boom that created a car centric, neon dotted landscape, that is steeped in Americana. It arose from a prior civilization, which remnants of continue to discover.

The city of tomorrow will continue to progress, but we can’t forget yesterday. It is up to us, to keep the relevancy of the who, what, and where this place evolves from. Balancing the city of tomorrow with yesterday, as we continue to forge our unique identity. Let’s have a beverage and share stories.

  Website: www.marshallshore.com

Photographer: Hector Primero

Subject: Marshall Shore

Location: The Ice House

[truphx]

Whats your story?

My story as it relates to this photo is I am a full time artist who has been having fun making art and murals here in PHX and sometimes beyond when traveling.  This mural was a trip because of the size but also because of the support and help I received to get it done well and on time. Inspiration is staying open through travel and friends and experiences.

I grew up building bike tracks and forts out in the desert, and then skateboarding around the city, then art around the city. From that point of skateboarding and art (around age 14-18), is where ideas started to take form for me as far as how do I maintain and secure time and space in my “adult life” for creativity;  how do I thrive creatively and survive economically. At that time, I would do school, do work, then do my creative interests, I knew that when I looked around me in North Phoenix, there wasn’t necessarily a creative ecosystem that I saw myself thriving in long term. I realized around age 15, I was doing what I had to do so I could do what I wanted to do. This idea has stuck with me since. I knew I wasn’t a conventional type of person, and recognized I could use those conventional type of opportunities to support my unique interests.  My friends were my primary source, also seeing the work of local guys around Dwntwn Phx and Tempe (early local influences: supportive friends (Testers Crew), Tbk crew (storm, robgoblin, jedi), House, Alec, Turtle skateboards, Saturday skateboards, Z Trip, Mos Def, Swell Clothing, Style Rock, this list could go on and on and on.)

In 96 is when Soldierleisure started…. It was a very simple idea, share my art through putting it onto tee shirts and giving them to friends etc. So I worked at a print shop at 28th St. and Greenway Parkway to be around a screen press, printing tees whenever I could. So mid 90s was all about Art, and learning and having fun, hip hop, punk rock, selling tees from backpack, random jobs here and there….Graduated High School, worked and went to college, kept making art and selling Soldierleisure tee shirts, travelling when I could afford it, mostly to California at this time.

In 2005, I decided to go see what life is like in Los Angeles so I moved there and started as a sales rep for a different tee shirt company (Drifter) that was based fairly close to the beach in la. I had to go learn from People who were doing it above and beyond what I had done in Phoenix.  I joined a team of 6 people, working in the rented out lobby of a huge warehouse in Compton, and we had like 50 accounts. The time I got lucky was when the boss man Peter Hong said your horrible at selling after my first month, and was offered the role of developing the brand outside of the US; For the next 7 years I ended up travelling between Europe and the States, working during the days and drawing on the airplane flights…During this “Airplane Studio” period is when I started drawing the top views, and the “Happy Man” kind of works….. I had the time of my life but always would come back to PHX knowing that one day I wanted to be back here despite the opportunities elsewhere. After 7 years of that, I decided that I had experienced that as fully as I wanted to, and took a step back and answered some questions for myself.

In 2011 I moved back, saying no to the most money I had ever made; My co workers and friends in LA from this experience thought I was crazy that I was going to go to PHX to try to make art and a living at the same time.  I lived with friends and my brother, worked super random jobs, kept it alive…..so Here I am.

  Where are you originally from and why phoenix?

I spent early years on west side at 63rd avenue and Glendale, after my parent split when I was 2, my Dad took my brother and I here from Wisconsin.  I grew up in North Phoenix. Then lived in Tempe. Then 15th ave and Thomas before leaving to Los Angeles. After seeing more of the world then I ever thought imaginable, I now realize why I was always attracted to Downtown Phoenix at age 14-18, waking up early to take my skateboard downtown and just riding around. …. At that time is when I knew there were bigger things out there, especially after seeing Del at Icehouse, The Roots at the Roxy. Phoenix is where it all started for me. I have some great friendships here and I love the desert, both to leave, and to come back to.

Whats the future hold for phoenix?

Some Hopes:

From an artists point of view: Hopefully an improving and maturing artistic ecosystem, with the infrastructure to support more full time working artists.

From a muralists point of view: More artists standing up for their work and requiring payment for their time and talent.  More artists willing to take step forward, or back, seeing the big picture and not the “right now”.  Sometimes saying “No” creates freedom.

More fidelity and signal, less noise and lots of sunshine!

  Soldierleisure.com

@sleisure

thandsome@gmail.com

Photographer: Hector Raul Primero 

Subject: Andy Brown 

Location: The Westminster built in 1913 2nd Ave & Roosevelt

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Whats your story?

We are Emilie Uriarte and Leonor Aispuro, cousins and owners of Arte Puro, a vintage inspired clothing line that uses vintage and artisan made textiles to create our garments.  Where you originally from and why PHX?

Emilie was born in Los Angeles and Leonor was born in Mexico. Both were raised in Phx. We moved to New York to explore a different world, specifically fashion. After a few years we came back because Phx is home. Returning has let us focus on the projects we want to do next and to collaborate with other creatives. What's the future hold for PHX?

Phoenix has a lot of opportunity. The creative community is beautiful; it's flourishing. An aspirational future for Phoenix would be to develop a local fashion industry with textile development, garment production and to continue to work with our local community. https://www.facebook.com/ArtePuro Photographer: Hector Raul Primero  Models: Emilie Uriarte & Leonor Aispuro  Location: Hole In The Rock at Papago Park

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A break from the normal TRUPHX posts...

I've always had a curiosity about the buildings that once existed Downtown, one of those being the old FOX Theatre. After doing some research on The FOX I found several pictures online and decided to see where it once stood (south east corner of 1st Street and Washington) and to my dismay I came upon an empty lot.

I stood there and imagined what that corner once looked like, families w/kids coming in and out of the the theatre, teenagers on their first dates, local Phoencians watching "Psycho" and catching glimpses of Downtown Phoenix in the film. 

I snapped a picture of the lot and in photoshop superimposed an old picture of The FOX on top of the picture I took of the lot w/modern day Phoenix surrounding it and came up w/the picture above. Since then I've done several dozen other pictures and at the urging of family and friends I had a show during First Friday in May at Nostra Style House entitled  "Forgotten Phoenix".

The following pictures are what was on display and again I did these for fun and my own curiosity and not for profit.

If you repost any of the pics I ask that you please include the TRUPHX link.

Thank You and Enjoy!

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What's your story?

Gosh! How far back do you want me to start? My name is Candy Jimenez and I am a Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher, and I am the Artistic Director of Dulce Dance Company. I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Education at Arizona State University. I believed that I didn't need a degree to prove that I can dance and choreograph, but that if I wanted an easier time finding a job that involved and kept me closer to dance, a degree would certainly make things easier. It has. I also teach dance at Cesar Chavez High School. Teaching at Cesar Chavez has helped me be more successful with dance including giving me tools to utilize with Dulce Dance. I found even more love of dance through teaching. Dancing and Choreographing give me great outlets towards expression and fulfill me as an artist, but teaching dance to other people, especially youth is fulfilling and gives me the opportunity to show the power of dance. I am able to give back by helping dance to thrive. I come from a big family with seven children and most of us have been touched by art. The whole family is still in the Phoenix area.

I earned my BFA at Arizona State University and was awarded the “Outstanding Undergraduate Dance Major” from the National Dance Association.  I continued my training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City.  Upon returning to the Valley, I joined Desert Dance Theatre as a Core Dancer, Choreographer, and Associate Artistic Director.  Through my work and studies with Desert Dance Theatre, Arizona State University, Alvin Ailey, New York, and Dulce I’ve worked with choreographers/artists such as Cliff Keuter, Elina Mooney, Lee Berger, Neta Pulvamacher, Jennifer Tsukayma, Mary Fitzgerald, Nina Watt, Denise Jefferson, HT Chen, Billbob Bown, Marion Jones, and teachers of Donald McKayle Intensive.  I recently worked with Pamela Pietro in performing a solo work about dark places.  I share my love of dance with my students at Cesar Chavez High School where I’ve taught for the past 11 years.  Wanting more of a choreographic voice and wanting to make change within the dance community in Arizona, I founded Dulce Dance Company and have been the Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Dancer for the company for the past 7 years.  I’ve also worked with Phoenix Artist Lee Berger and composer James Cerrachio in a new artistic production, Pensive Beauty.  Pensive Beauty is a sensual provocative piece about an artist’s life, losses, and adventures. I recently tried my talents in acting and was involved in The Vagina Monologues just this season.  

Where are you originally from and why PHX?

I am originally from Texas. I moved from there when I was eight years old so basically Phoenix is my home. My family had to start over here in Phoenix, as the economy and farming got very rough in Texas during that time. My dad brought us here, where we have stayed. I decided to stay in Phoenix as an adult but in the beginning I very much wanted to go off to a bigger city and dance. My family and ties kept me here and I thought why does it have to be a big city for me to do what I love. I decided that as Phoenix becomes a major big city it should have something to offer and that it was up to me to make that happen. So now, instead of me going through the trenches of the masses in trying to do what I love in a bigger city, I am here helping to lead it in Phoenix.

What's the future hold for PHX?

Well this is Dulce's 7th season and we continue to grow. My plan is to keep the company here in Phoenix where it has planted its roots and to cultivate a Phoenix dance community. There is a community here, but it still has a lot of growth to do and it still has to reach a wider audience. Dulce is part of the vision and I will head it. I want Dulce to outlive me and to continue strong in this city. I want to open Phoenix's eyes to dance, my dance, and the dance of Dulce Dance Company. I want to impress upon people where they may be inspired, enriched, and motivated to express themselves.

Visit us at www.dulcedancecompany.com

Like us at www.facebook.com/Dulcedancecompany

Photographers: Hector Primero & Brenda Davis

Models: Candy Jimenez, Liliana Gomez & Dulce Dance Co

Location: Inside Phoenix Center of The Arts 1202 N. 3rd St Phoenix, AZ 85003

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What's your story?

Hmmm, my story: I was a poor white kid who grew up in very ethnically diverse neighborhoods. This was probably one of the best things that could ever happened to me. Growing up with less-than-usual exposure to our systemic racism can only have been good for me. It also awoke me to our responsibilities to each other at an early age. I was in grade school when I started hearing my friends stories of being followed around in stores by the staff and realized that that didn't happen to me, and why. Not that I'm perfect, but it definitely gave me a head start to try to be a non-racist, then an anti-racist. The next best thing that happened to me was theater. I was always involved in something performative from a young age, poetry contests and recitals. But in my sophomore year in high school we got this awesome new drama teacher, Robert Bullwinkle (Mr. B). He helped us create art, a community, and made us work very, very hard. He also taught us what it meant by art, in our case a performance, being more than the sum of its parts. Now, when I teach I get to be Mr. B. But these days, I get most of my inspiration and passion from my amazing wife and two awesome kids. 

Where are you originally from and why PHX?

I'm mostly from California, split between Fresno and Upland, a little town near Ontario, and year in Long Beach, although I was born in Spokane, WA. I moved to Phoenix to get away from CA when I was 19. It was too easy to live the good bachelor life there. When I first moved here I literally referred to Phoenix as a "rest stop in life." But Phoenix has been very good to me and I really fell in love with it. Now I say, "There's so much space here." There's space economically, physically, spiritually, etc. That space allows reinvention of yourself and your culture. 

What's the future hold for PHX?

I think the future is bright for Phoenix. Although, I'm very aware of the politics of our state I find it frustrating that a community can be so hostile to some of it's prime constituencies, meaning our brothers and sisters to the south. On the flip side we did just pass some new legislation providing more equal rights to the LGBTQ community. And, I think we have the right Mayor in office. I think the arts, even with some recent losses, seem to be wiser after the recession. And while it could just be that I'm in the mix, I truly believe that Phoenix will see strong growth and a cultural shift of the appreciation of the arts in the near future. But, that's who I am. I believe in global citizenship, equal rights for people, and the power of those people to create something that's greater than the sum of its parts. 

Joseph Benesh is the Director for the Phoenix Center Of The Arts, which provides opportunities to participate in the visual and performing arts through quality classes and programming. Classes are available for youth, adults and families. 

Find more info about Phoenix Center of the Arts click the following

http://phoenixcenterforthearts.org/

Photographer: Brenda Davis

Model: Joseph Benesh

Location: 1202 N. 3rd St Phoenix, AZ 85003