Mesa Arts Center

ALT (Art, Light, Technology) Fest

Fri, Mar 13, 2026
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
FREE


Experience ALT Fest — a free, one-night celebration of art, light and technology at Mesa Arts Center! On Friday, March 13 from 6:00–10:00 PM, this immersive festival will transform Mesa Arts Center into a vibrant outdoor wonderland. Explore interactive art installations, live music, augmented reality experiences, hands-on activities, art studio demonstrations, delicious food and more.

PLUS, students from ASU Media and Immersive eXperience Center (MIX Center) collaborate with Pulse Drones to present a custom-designed drone show at 8:00 PM on the South Lawn!

Art by Shachi Kale

Alliance Stage

DJ Byron Fenix -  6:00 PM-7:00 PM

MRCH - 7:15 PM-8:00 PM

DJ Byron Fenix - 8:15 PM-10:00 PM

South Lawn

Mesa Synth -  6:00 PM-10:00 PM

Kristin Wesley - Altar of Awen

Kristin Wesley is a multi-media public artist using installations, assemblages and murals to connect with communities, invigorate spaces and inspire others. She shares the power of creativity through workshops, projects and events at Roosevelt ArtWorks, a Creative Arts Studio, Gallery and Tattoo Shop in Phoenix, Arizona’s colorful Grand Avenue Historic Arts District. Here, Wesley weaves together modalities and materials to create art and experiences for galleries, collectors, events and the public.

Altar of Awen: Temple of Reflection, House of the Radiant Heart, an interactive sculptural environment that serves as both a literal and figurative reflective space, inspired by the Welsh concept of 'inspiration,’ inviting participants into a world of shared creativity. 

Lily Reeves - Incantations and the Aura of Dreaming

“The Aura of Dreaming” is a line from Pauline Oliveros’ short book “Quantum Listening,” which encourages a deep awareness of time and place as a way to tap into the mysteries of reality itself. By leaning on tools practiced in modern witchcraft, Reeves’ sculptures call into question the establishment of time and reality. Using light as incantation, she projects the idea that time is crafted, not linear, and we are able to author instead of simply experiencing it.

Liberty Wildlife

Liberty Wildlife’s mission is to nurture the nature of Arizona through wildlife rehabilitation, natural history education, and conservation services to the community. Our Education group visits classroom and civic event settings with non-releasable wildlife. Well-trained presenters teach about the natural history of each animal, and tell how each came to be at Liberty Wildlife.

Lauren Strohacker - Terra Occasio (Land of Opportunity)

In the year of America’s Semiquincentennial, Eco-Political artist Lauren Strohacker transforms Mesa Arts Center's campus into a multimedia homage to the coyote–an animal considered by Joseph Beuys to be the spirit of the country. Terra Occasio is a one-night encounter with the coyote, our last ambassador from the Howling Wilderness.

Quilted Rummage

We use up-cycled, recycled, and scavenged material sourced from our community to build collective art projects created by, for, and in our wider community. Our use of elements derived solely from our surroundings (natural or human made) means every project is inherently an exploration of our shared spaces and how we choose to fill them as individuals and a community.

ASU MIX Center + Pulse Drones

Students from ASU Media and Immersive eXperience Center (MIX Center) collaborate with Pulse Drones to present a custom-designed drone show.

Mesa Youth Creative Agency

The Mesa Youth Creative Agency transforms the exterior wall of the South Studios building with interactive LumoPlay and TagTool light art environments.

Melissa Martinez – Cloud Portals

Artist Melissa Martinez brings the return of her Cloud Portals installation to ALT Fest. Following the festival, the work will transition to its new permanent home at idea Museum.

idea Museum

Community partner idea Museum returns with an interactive projection-based activity designed to spark imagination and creative exploration for participants of all ages.

AZMNH (Arizona Museum of Natural History)

Arizona Museum of Natural History (AZMNH) joins the festival with the MEAD Machine and an on-site booth staffed by museum professionals. Guests can learn more about dinosaurs, regional geology and natural history through engaging, educational experiences.

Virtual Reality Installations

Kevin Clark’s virtual art gallery

Phoenix-based artist and immersive educator Kevin Clark has created a virtual art gallery featuring artwork by Mesa artists. Put on a VR headset and step into the dynamic digital world he’s built for this event—an immersive experience celebrating art by and for the Mesa community.

Carla LynDale Bishop

Her work explores ways that media can be used to bring communities together to promote social change. She blends traditional documentary with immersive media such as augmented reality, geotagging and 360 video to tell place-based narratives of historically black communities.

Introduction to Hoverlay

Hoverlay is made of two parts:

  1. A free, iOS and Android camera app for anyone to find and explore channels.
  2. A set of web apps, like spaces.hoverlay.com, used to to publish content on your channel.

Channels are like radio stations: any user using the hoverlay app can “tune” into a channel, and uncover visual augmented content published on that channel at that location or time.

App Instructions

  1. Access your mobile device’s app store, download the Hoverlay app, and follow instructions to install the Hoverlay camera browser app on your mobile device. Please note: the app requires an augmented reality-capable device running iOS 13 or later or Android 7.0 or later.
  2. Open your phone’s camera and point it at the QR code. Click the yellow button that appears to launch the experience. Move your phone around to see the experience.

  • Glass Blowing Demonstrations
  • Ceramics Raku Demonstrations
  • Blacksmith Demonstrations
  • Live Drawing with Liberty Wildlife
  • Live Screen Printing
  • Flameworking Demonstrations
  • Participate in a take-away art activity
  • Mujer Bonita Catering (empanadas)
  • Estacion 664 (tacos)
  • Snacks by Carol (snacks)
  • Fried Joint (chicken tenders)

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