When Visit Phoenix offered me the opportunity to interview Marshall Shore as part of a feature that would profile the city’s Melrose District, I couldn’t agree fast enough. Although I was familiar with Shore as Arizona’s “Hip Historian”—a role in which he hosts everything from walking ghost tours downtown to virtual happy hours with some of the state’s most interesting people—I’d never met him in person.
It was fantastic to connect with Marshall and discuss some of our common favorites featured in this article. And since it was published, our paths have crossed several times—in fact, last weekend, a friend and I hopped aboard a historic trolley for a three-hour Art Detour journey curated and hosted by Marshall that visited several studios, galleries and other art-centered attractions.
The article itself, as you’ll see, is about a mile-long swath of Seventh Avenue that’s home to a James Beard Award-winning restaurant, some of the city’s best vintage stores, a slew of gay bars, and more than 60 murals adorning the cinder-block walls of the Grand Canalscape.
(And The Royale mentioned as being in the works? It finally opened to the public a few months ago—a year behind schedule, but well worth the wait.)
By Sam Mittelsteadt 