Pathfinders

When you’re zooming too fast from one place to another, what do the constant pockets of construction say to you? Hope of a metropolis that balances our humble and quirky past with the aspirations of a prosperous future, or dread of a money-hungry wildfire obliterating open spaces and historic buildings?

In January 2007, a small cadre of photographers, under the direction of Matt Klett — famous Valley shutterbug and Regents’ Professor of Art at ASU — began documenting two distinct paths that cut through town. The result, the “Phoenix Transect Project” exhibit, is a quandary of perspectives that asks whether progress is good or a wretched, multiheaded beast. The work of Tracy Longley-Cook, Adam Thorman, and Chad White — each of whom has a knack for capturing the changing face of the city — documents the transect that follows the Gila River from Tempe Town Lake to what’s left of the Arlington Dam south of Buckeye.

Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Mondays, Wednesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Starts: Jan. 15. Continues through Feb. 9, 2008