The entire Bentley Projects facility encompasses over 22,000 square feet of contemporary art gallery space. The flow of the Phoenix facility is really appealing and comfortable. The oldest sections of the Bentley Projects buildings date back to 1918. The facility was used as a commercial laundry, serving local hotels, hospitals, restaurants, and other Valley businesses. As the business grew and changed hands (the Bell Linen Co, the Phoenix Linen and Towel Co., etc.) additional buildings were added on. The exposed bowstring roof trusses, the clerestory windows, different types of brick (which date to specific decades), and other original building components are still here, mingling with the various reinforcements made over the years. The laundry was functioning until the late 1990s, when the property was put up for sale.
The property was purchased by Michael Levine in 1999, who initiated the major renovation work with the goal of salvaging materials and keeping as much original character of the building as possible. Bentley Calverley, who eventually purchased the entire facility, converted what is now Galleries 1 & 2 into a commercial art gallery and had Allen+Philip, the architectural firm that designed Sanctuary on Camelback, The Boulders, and the Hotel Valley Ho, do the final renovation work. Bentley Projects officially opened in 2004.
One of the main goals of Bentley Projects is to be an active participant in the revitalization of downtown Phoenix. We realized that special event hosting is another way to reach out to the cultural and business community. In particular, we’ve established some great connections with major non-profit organizations, and the City of Phoenix loves to have events at Bentley Projects as an example of what of downtown growth and revitalization can mean. But every event, holiday parties for law firms or private wedding receptions, introduces a new group of people to a part of Phoenix and Phoenix history that they might never have known about. When event guests come to Bentley Projects, they discover the gallery as well as the surrounding neighborhood- the AZ Science Center, Copper Square, Chase Field, the independent art galleries and shops on Roosevelt Street, the Arizona Center, and downtown Phoenix in general.
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