monOrchid

Tenants, renters and coworkers BEWARE! The Monorchid is run by a crook.
1.) They stole my security deposit, a measly $ 200, and refuse to answer emails and calls regarding the issue. I paid in full for the entirety of my lease and left the space exactly as I found it. The owner, Wayne Rainey, thinks he can just screw people over if they are a small business or they live out of state.
2.) I repeatedly saw the owner of Monorchid, Wayne Rainey, *****ALLY HARASS his coworking tenants, in full view of visitors, customers and other coworkers. It was disgusting and extremely unprofessional. He lost a handful of tenants over a single incident.
3.) I witnessed the owner of Monorchid, Wayne Rainey, scream at his assistant, insult and belittle her. His tantrum was in the main gallery and was loudly audible from every corner of the Monorchid. He was so red with rage that I was scared he was going to get physically violent.
4.) The Monorchid runs an unofficial commercial kitchen in the rear gallery. There are no sprinklers back there in case of fire, there is no ventilation or range hood. Is that safe? A weekly occurrence is visible smoke and grease odors wafting into other areas of the building.
If you are thinking of renting at the Monorchid, hosting a venue or even dropping by for the gallery, then you should know that you are supporting a serial misogynist, who gives zero f#*ks about stealing from you, much less treat you with a modicum of respect.

Roosevelt Row is evolving to be a hot spot for local artists, with events like First Fridays and Paint Phoenix, and it’s spaces like MonOrchid that helps give artists a place to exhibit their work.
We were perusing downtown and came here to support Paint Phoenix. I enjoyed the pieces, especially the one of the spray paint cans and chessboard.
The gallery is connected to The Bosque (a plant venue) as well as Be (a café), so it was fun to explore all three places at once.
I’m looking forward to returning and seeing more local art in the future.

MonOrchid is a great venue for a smaller wedding. We loved the beautiful all white backdrop for the wedding ceremony. Having it in an art gallery, you don’t need a ton of decorations as there is already beautiful art hanging on the walls. We paid to have lights hung from above. Krissy was over the top helpful in all stages of wedding planning. We were able to bring in our own liquor (with a hired bartender), which was sooo much cheaper then paying per person to drink all night. We were even able to bring in some snacks for late night munchies (popcorn, peanuts, m&m’s). We went with their catering and it was inexpensive compared with most venues. The only reason I did not give this venue 5 stars was because at one point I went to put a card in the vintage bird cage with the rest of the cards and all the gifts and cards were in the room where people had waited before the wedding ceremony. The room was completely empty except for a man who had wandered in from the alley and was looking at art work in the room. The door to the alley was wide open and he walked right in. Gifts/​cards could have been easily stolen. Other than this one security glitch, I highly recommend this venue.

Fabulous venue one of the best in downtown Phoenix. Art exhibits are consistently interesting and sophisticated. Also a hip meeting and event space.

I’ve had an office in MonOrchid for over two years now and have found it to be the absolute best place we could possibly call HQ. It’s an open floor plan, but there’s privacy, thanks to stylish partitions and separated areas. Some of the tenants co-​work, but collaboration doesn’t feel forced, like it does in some other similar office spaces. You can rent single desks or full office spaces. Tenants over the years have included: a leather goods maker, a financial planner, a lawyer, developers, web designers, ad agencies, writers, architects, urban planners, and realtors. It’s cool working late, when there’s a dance class down in the gallery, or the energy of First Friday coursing through this iconic building.
We throw food festivals in town, so we really only need space to open some laptops, store some décor, and have an address. Bonuses include: a badass conference room with full A/​V compatibility, fast & reliable WiFi, and now a café called Be. that’s going to expand into the building next door. They’ve got coffee, sandwiches, breakfast, and even a soft serve ice cream machine.
If you’re looking for office space downtown, I definitely think you should check out MonOrchid!

My husband and I were married in Massachusetts, but wanted to celebrate with our friends in Phoenix as well. While searching for a venue, I found MonOrchid on Unilocal and assumed they were way beyond my price range (I had visited once during First Fridays and LOVED the space.) I emailed for pricing information and quickly heard back from Stefanie with details. I was surprised that MonOrchid was a few hundred to a few thousand dollars cheaper than other downtown Phoenix venues. Stefanie told me that we could use our own caterers and alcohol, as long as we hired a professional bartender. If you’ve hosted an event, you know this is a savings of another couple thousand dollars.
Stefanie was great at helping us decide on a layout for our event. She made suggestions and allowed us to visit on several occasions. She was especially helpful in contacting our vendors to confirm details. On the night of the event, Stefanie even lent a hand in putting a nice cheese tray together while I was busy. She found a perfect balance in being friendly with our guests and not being distracting.
Parking isn’t perfect at MonOrchid, but there is plenty on 2^nd & Roosevelt.
This is a great, unique space that could be used for any kind of event.

We came here to take a break from our photo session. Ordered several beverages and each one was awesome. Great customer service. Nice little quaint café. Would definitely come again when we are in the area. I personally had the Thai Tea and it was awesome. Not super sweet like other places. It was PERFECT!

The monOrchid is an awesome place to see Art, to have a wedding, meetings, or whatever you could think of for a gathering of people. The conference room has just been upgraded. The main gallery space Shade Gallery is big enough for a wedding of about 200. There are 2 studios that are great for rentals at a reasonable price.

I had my wedding at this venue. I was so excited to have my wedding at this amazing art space. We worked with Riette, who was great, she checked in on us once a month to make sure all was going well and to help us with any planning issues. She made time to meet with us and our vendors, she was overall very good. So why only 4 stars? Well, for one, they have 6 choices for caterers (which is fine) and their reasoning is to ensure that all of the caterers know the venue and how to use the space effectively… well, our caterer did not seem familiar with the space at all and was doing all sorts of odd things (cooking outside by cell phone light…*cough*) so I think maybe they should rethink who they suggest. Also, I know you can’t control the artwork that will be shown at the wedding, which was fine with us because they usually have such amazing modern or funky art… but for our wedding, they had (and no offense intended) some really poor photography that looked like it was shot by a high schooler that depicted all graves. Yes… all graves… and not even pretty graves, like plain crosses in the desert… it was not artistic or funky as their displayed work generally is, it was not good for photos, and it just generally disappointed and depressed us (there was cool artwork in the cocktail space, though, including a painting of a giant middle finger behind the bar, which we thought was kind of funny). Despite these small details, I would definitely recommend this venue if you are thinking about it for your event.

I had my wedding at monOrchid August 4^th of this year. The wedding & the venue was beautiful, but the people working here are NOT honest. They scammed me for every penny they could, lied to me, & have not held up to their contract. They kept asking for more money for random fees that were not initially discussed. I was told that unless the venue was burned to the ground, I would receive back my $ 500 security deposit, & within 48hrs. Not only did they not contact me, but they proceeded to say that they used the full $ 500 for cleaning, when they forgot to even clean the venue in the first place on my wedding day. The venue was so filthy upon arrive my wedding dress was black at the bottom in no time. I am extremely disappointed that they would be so dishonest. Enjoy the art work & support the local artists of Phoenix, but DO not give them any of your money, they will just keep asking for more.

MonOrchid founder/​owner Wayne Rainey has been at the core of the downtown art scene for well over a decade and has emerged as the leader in my opinion after a restructuring of the scene and loss of direction, focus and most of the long term leadership. This building with it’s roof structure is a hidden masterpiece along Roosevelt much akin to the Braggs Pie building is on the adjoining Grand Avenue arts district. If not for Mr. Rainey’s dedication to art and downtown I seriously question if there would be much left. He has stood the test of time in the face of unpopularity and even hatred from some who have come and gone (my Urban Abode Gallery included) and he continues to keep art alive in Downtown Phoenix and should be commended for his dedication.

I recently had the opportunity to cater a small event at MonOrchid and I have to say, if you are looking for a unique, artsy and really special venue for your event, this place is it! I could easily see how the space could lend itself beautifully to weddings, bridal showers, as well as corporate or team building events and I would love to see live music there – I am sure it would be a stellar small concert venue as well.
As an added bonus, Wayne, the owner of the MonOrchid, is such a personable guy, making it a real pleasure to do business in his amazing space.

I’ve been to several art shows at monOrchid, and had the opportunity to organize a Get Your PHX event there earlier in the summer. Take a look at the video, you’ll see it’s got a lot of versatile possibilities. I’m especially excited to see the new workspaces, as my Hip Veggies endeavor involves artists and its Roosevelt location makes it easy for me to organize a day of meetings convenient for who I do business with.
In the process of spending time at monOrchid, I’ve become friends with Wayne, and love his enthusiasm and love for collaboration. He’s come on board as a featured HV artist, and has been very helpful along the way with ideas that will benefit anyone we end up teaming up with. Be sure to take advantage of the building and the team player and figure out a way to work with monOrchid. You will not be disappointed.

MonOrchid is style, class and the quintessential symbol for Phoenix culture. No matter what context the space is used for, it’s always top notch.

This venue is just begging you to have a party in it! From the outside, it looks like a rundown warehouse, but inside, well inside it’s a whole different story! Cool artwork lines the walls, there’s great architecture with open beams, high ceilings and plenty of space and a coffee shop shares space. It’s pleading for a party with funky music, trendy entertainment, tasty food and hip people.

I have worked with monOrchid for the past 2 years, and I do not know of a more involved and determined owner to make sure a beautiful building like this remains in downtown and open to the public. Not to mention we have had some of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen there.

I own a PR firm and have my workspace in the loft at monOrchid and LOVE it! I have been visiting the art gallery and attending events in this fabulous space for years, and it’s one of my favorite buildings hands down in downtown Phoenix. I also utilize it for events of my own and for clients, and everyone who walks in the doors falls in love with the building’s architectural details and history.

Amazing event space! I first visited the monOrchid a couple of years ago during first fridays. It was my favorite building. Flashforward to looking for wedding venues, when I heard we were going to check it out I was almost already sold on it.
Our event turned out better than I thought is was going to visually. It was the exact atmosphere we were looking for, we didn’t want a cheesy banquet hall with floral carpets or a golf course like most people do and we didn’t have a lot of money to spend on other places. This place was right in our budget and was easily one of the highlights of my wedding. Riette runs the place and she couldn’t have been more enjoyable to work with, she was easy going and didn’t really put a lot of restirctions on us for what we could or couldn’t do.
Overall, with some family members in the wedding industry, it’s hard to find things that are new to them and have that wow factor. This place just had it all.

This is always a must visit on First Fridays. There are always interesting pieces here.
It’s an open & tall gallery, but they put up partitions to hold more.
The art is even «live» sometimes.

Don’t let the outside fool you … this is a HUGE and equally beautiful art gallery.
Don’t miss this place on your First Fridays walk (it’s right next to Carly’s).