Year in Review: Top Downtown Phoenix Inc. Moments of 2022
by Elizabeth Montgomery
Browse by category
The year 2022 proved Downtown Phoenix is the place to be.
Here at Downtown Phoenix Inc., our year has been packed with community events, new businesses and more. Our organization launched StoryWalk at Arizona Center, celebrated a milestone of our annual tasting tour, Urban Wine Walk, and built a 190-foot canvas to host the longest mural in the city.
Our mission has always been to facilitate collaboration, cultivate connections, and contribute to both the growth and vitality of our community. To generate progress on issues, work toward sustainable growth and build a stronger, more inclusive city core that generates positive perceptions, memorable experiences and a sense of pride in downtown.
A huge thank you to all the people and businesses we’ve gotten to work with this year. See you all in 2023!
2022 DTPHX Bark in the Park at Civic Space Park. (Photo: Elizabeth Montgomery)
Puppy cuddles on Valentine’s Day? Sign us up! Activating local spaces is what we love to do. We partnered with Almost There animal shelter to bring puppies to Civic Space Park and love was in the air. Willie’s Taco Joint served up lunch, everyone took selfies at the Almost There kissing booth and danced to live music from A Girl Named Scot.
ChamPang Lanes in Downtown Phoenix. (Photo: Elizabeth Montgomery)
Partners on the Family Friendly Hotel Award project included (left to right) Sara Scoville-Weaver, Downtown Phoenix Inc. President and CEO Devney Preuss, City of Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel General Manager Tracy Stoltz, and Visit Phoenix President and CEO Ron Price. (Photo: Zee Peralta)
In partnership with Mayor Kate Gallego and Visit Phoenix, Downtown Phoenix Inc. awarded Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel with the inaugural Family Friendly Hotel Award. We developed the award to help make downtown a friendly urban center for working mothers, parents and children to visit and do business in. Renaissance created a lactation room within the vicinity for expectant and nursing mothers. Affectionately called the Milk Den the room is open to the public and local artist La Morena painted a large mural inside.
Downtown Phoenix Inc.’s Urban Wine Walk in 2022. (Photo: Zee Peralta)
Our signature self-guided wine tasting tour, DTPHX Urban Wine Walk, returned for its 10th year offering the opportunity to explore downtown, socialize, and experience the buzzing bar and restaurant scene. You sipped and savored your way through Arizona’s urban core at 19 local restaurants and we hope you enjoyed every glass and snack.
Downtown Phoenix Inc.’s Community Engagement Director Stephanee Germaine (left) and Events Manager Jessika Baker (right). (Photo: Taylor Costello)
We love connecting you to all things local. In its 9th year, more than 25 local bars and restaurants served up their best ales and snacks. The fun kicked off at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, where we gave out free commemorative silicon pint glasses and sold our Pride bird shirts benefiting Southwest Center. We can’t wait to do this again.
Downtown Phoenix StoryWalk grand opening at Arizona Center. (Photo: Elizabeth Montgomery)
Families in Downtown Phoenix can let their imaginations run wild at Arizona Center with the new outdoor literacy installation, StoryWalk, which debuted in the spring. In partnership with Parallel Capital Partners, which owns and manages Arizona Center, StoryWalk is located in the property’s beautiful grotto area. The first book on display was Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match by local author Monica Brown. The walk will take children and adults on a self-guided reading adventure amongst native plants, palm trees and flowering shrubs. Along the pathway, each page of a children’s storybook will be installed at a kid-friendly height on 18 sequenced signs. A new book will be installed in 2023.
190-foot “Welcome to Phoenix” mural by Kayla Newnam. (Photo: Nader Abushhab)
The City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture partnered with Downtown Phoenix Inc. and Artlink Inc. to select a local artist to create a 190-foot mural on Adams Street, near the entrance of the Phoenix Convention Center. Local artist Kayla Newnam was selected and the mural welcomes all to DTPHX as we prepare for Super Bowl LVII in February, the 2024 NCAA Men’s Final Four, and the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four. Come Downtown and take a look … you can’t miss it!
2022 DTPHX Winter Wanderland. (Photo: Nader Abushhab)