Phoenix is getting a design story that started on a running track. On October 19, Phoenix Art Museum announced Nike: Form Follows Motion, the Southwest premiere of the exhibition tracing five decades of design innovation and cultural influence. Organized by the Vitra Design Museum and presented by PNC Bank, the show will be on view in the museum’s Steele Gallery from April 14 through September 26, 2027, making PhxArt only the second institution in the United States to present it.
Drawn primarily from the Department of Nike Archives, a collection of more than 200,000 objects never before accessible to the public in this depth, the exhibition goes behind the scenes of a remarkable design laboratory. Experimental prototypes, original design studies, rarities and one-offs will appear alongside celebrated designs such as the Waffle Trainer, the Air Force 1, the Air Jordan, the Air Max, Flyknit and the Vaporfly.
The journey unfolds in four sections. Track revisits the 1960s origins, when coach Bill Bowerman’s kitchen experiments led to the first Waffle Sole. Air centers on the visible Air Sole introduced in 1987, with engineer Frank Rudy’s original testing machine. Sensation opens a sport research laboratory, from Flyknit to recycled materials, while Relation closes with 50 groundbreaking footwear designs, music videos and the global sneaker culture they inspired.
As one of the few art museums in the country that regularly exhibits and collects fashion, PhxArt is a natural home for the show. Director and CEO Jeremy Mikolajczak calls it much more than a display of sneakers: it is a story about an idea that started on the track and grew to shape street and mainstream culture. Mark the calendar now for a spring visit to 1625 North Central Avenue.
Photo: Nikita Troufanov / Nike, Inc., courtesy of Phoenix Art Museum
