The artist scene in Old Town Scottsdale is perhaps the city’s heart and soul. That said, being an artist is rarely a comfortable lifestyle, especially in an area that is as affluent and expensive as Scottsdale, and a recent development demonstrates how fragile this scene can be.
The heart of Old Town Scottsdale’s arts community beats a little slower today as Art One Gallery announced last Monday that its long-running space on Marshall Way will close at the end of August after 32 years in business. The gallery’s impending closure represents a significant loss for the district that has long prided itself on nurturing emerging artistic talent.
Since 1993, gallery owner Kraig Foote and team have been directly working with High School and College students as well as hundreds of local artists, creating what many consider the Valley’s most accessible entry point for aspiring artists. Foote’s vision was revolutionary: to create a gallery where up-and-coming artists would have a place of free expression and gain experience to move up the ladder in the gallery world.
The gallery’s closure stems from mounting financial pressures and Foote’s ongoing health challenges. In their farewell letter, the gallery team shared the painful reality: “As a business that has always operated month-to-month, the financial challenges have simply become too great to overcome.”
Art One’s impact extends far beyond its Marshall Way storefront. The gallery democratized art collecting by making original and creative art affordable for anyone who is interested in starting their own collection. More importantly, it provided hundreds of artists their first professional platform.
“Because of you, we’ve had the privilege of giving hundreds of aspiring artists a starting place for their careers,” the gallery’s farewell message reads, capturing the essence of what Old Town is losing.
As Foote moves to Utah for family support, the Art One Foundation may continue supporting student artists, but the physical space that launched countless careers will soon be just a memory, and we’re all a bit worse off as a result.