Gerri Beadle-Murray's first home was the White Gates residence. That's where she came home from the hospital as a baby, Shemer Art Center president Shonna James told Phoenix Home & Garden in September. Her father, Al Beadle, built the house for his own family on the south slope of Camelback Mountain. The house is gone now. Its three facade panels, its arched steel patio shade and its concrete planters are on the grounds of a 1919 house on Camelback Road, which is about as old as Arcadia itself.
This weekend the free Shemer Arizona Arts Festival fills that property for two days. It's also the first big public weekend since the center planned to start building the White Gates Pavilion.
Half a Mile Down the Mountain
KJZZ reported that the Shemer would break ground on the pavilion on Wednesday, October 28. Host Mark Brodie said the salvaged pieces would "basically just be moving down Camelback Mountain." They aren't moving far. Arcadia News puts the Shemer about half a mile from where the house stood.
James told Phoenix Home & Garden the pavilion will be 666 square feet and open-air, and it will anchor a new Al Beadle Sculpture Garden. She described it to Arcadia News as "like a gazebo, with screens replicating the home," and said it will host events and weddings. The pavilion is built from three kinds of salvaged elements, seven objects in all:
- The ellipsoid panels. Three brise-soleil panels made up the front facade. Between them they hold 216 ellipses.
- The arched shade. This metal structure shaded the back patio.
- The planters. Three original cement bowls that anchored the landscape design.
Mark Tate of Tate Studios designed the pavilion with Ned Sawyer and Rich Fairbourn. The garden entrance will feature two Beadle sculptures, "Holy Man" and "Woman," donated by Gerri Beadle-Murray and Bonnie Andersen. James told Phoenix Home & Garden the two pieces "are designed to sit together." A jury will pick work by other Arizona artists to fill out the rest of the garden.
The opening date has already moved once. In January, Arcadia News reported a spring 2026 target. In September, Phoenix Home & Garden reported an expected opening by the end of 2026.
How the Pieces Ended Up on Camelback Road
The panels sitting at the Shemer today are the result of a long fight over the house. Here's the order of events:
- Early 2024. The house sells. The new owner plans to tear it down and build a new home, Phoenix Home & Garden reported.
- March 12, 2024. A demolition application is filed, followed by a 30-day hold set to expire April 17. Before then the owner's representative asks to withdraw the application, Arizona's Family reported.
- November 22, 2024. A new demolition permit and salvage plan are filed, according to Modern Phoenix, the group that champions midcentury architecture in Arizona.
- December 2025. The facade panels, steel awnings and three planters are taken out and moved to the Shemer, ABC15 reported.
The house had no official historic landmark designation, so it had few legal protections against demolition. James told Arcadia News that salvage was a condition of approval: "For the historic commission to approve the demolition, there had to be salvage." Beadle-Murray looked at the options and chose the Shemer. James said "it was important to her that they be in a public art space for future generations," and "everyone involved wanted them to remain near the iconic Camelback Mountain."
Modern Phoenix had wanted the house preserved where it stood, and argued that separating it from Camelback Mountain would damage its integrity. Phoenix architect Taz Khatri summed up the outcome on KJZZ:
"It's a stunning building, very unique, but also a tragic story with hopefully a happy ending... in terms of preservation, has had a real roller-coaster story for a long time, which ended in a difficult compromise."
The House Taking Them In Was Saved Once Too
Fitting White Gates into the Shemer's story is easy, because the Shemer itself is a preserved house. According to the center's history, its site was part of 640 acres owned by investors who named the area Arcadia, founded the Arcadia Water Company and started drilling wells. In 1919 they built a small home for the worker in charge of the project. It was one of the first homes in Arcadia, and part of the east end of today's building is that original structure.
In 1925 a Kansas City banker bought the acreage, added rooms and named the house "Casa de Wanda." Two of the original pillars that marked the property still stand on Exeter Drive. Citrus went in on the land in 1926 and 1927. In 1927 the Suhr family of Oil City, Pennsylvania, bought it as a winter home. They enlarged the garage, which is now the studio, added bedrooms and covered all the additions in stucco. That's the house standing today.
The house was for sale again in 1984. Martha Shemer toured it that July, contacted Mayor Terry Goddard's office, bought the property and donated it to the City of Phoenix at no cost. The Shemer Art Center opened that October. In 2010 the city said it could no longer run day-to-day operations, and the nonprofit took them over. The house was saved by someone who stepped in when it was on the market. Now it's taking in pieces of a house that nobody could save, because the property is the kind of public site Beadle-Murray was looking for.
Festival Weekend on the Same Grounds
The Shemer Arizona Arts Festival started in 1988 as Sunday @ Shemer. It shows only Arizona artists, and it's one of four fundraisers that pay for the center's programs. Here's this year's festival:
Detail | What to know |
|---|---|
Dates | Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8 |
Hours | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day |
Admission | Free |
Artists | Over 40 Arizona artists selling one-of-a-kind work |
On site | Art demonstrations, Arizona authors and illustrators, a Blacksmiths Village, live music, a silent auction and food vendors |
For kids | A $5 Interactive Art Zone with activities for all ages |
Address | 5005 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix |
This is also the fourth annual Sidewalk Chalk Festival. Arizona chalk artists will draw sidewalk murals around the front parking lot on the theme "The Desert Clock." For questions, call the center at (602) 262-4727 or email [email protected].
James explained the pavilion's purpose to Phoenix Home & Garden in terms that fit this weekend: "Many people don't know about us because they haven't stopped by yet, and I always say it takes a reason to stop the first time." The festival has given people a reason to visit since 1988. The pavilion is meant to give them one every day.
What Follows the Pavilion
The White Gates project is one of several. Under its separate Expansion & Legacy Campaign, the center plans a purpose-built education building next to the current house. Phase Two aims to raise $1.5 million for it, and the campaign page says just over $750,000 in private funding has come in so far. Phase Three would add $1 million, bringing the campaign total to $2.5 million, to upgrade the existing building, extend the lawn and create more spots for outdoor sculpture. The center says the new building will add classrooms for a second session of summer camps, which reach more than 100 children ages 6 to 13 each June.
The pavilion has its own fundraising. You can make a gift at five levels named for building materials, from Asphalt at $100 to $2,499 up to Sky at $10,000 and above. Through the Adopt an Ellipse program, offered with Modern Phoenix, you can take one of the 216 ellipses on the three panels. James compared it to a star registry, "where you can own a circle of space."
The Shemer's next big date after the festival is Friday, November 20. Its annual Shemer Honors will recognize Arizona artist Tom Eckert, starting with an exhibition and cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. and followed by dinner and a program at 7 p.m. Past honorees include Ed Mell, Mayme Kratz and Mark Klett.
If you own one of Arcadia's architecturally significant homes and want to talk about what preserving its story looks like in today's market, Clayton Wolfe is glad to share what he knows about design-driven properties near Camelback Mountain. Request a Private Consultation.
