Scottsdale’s sometimes-stodgy art scene is about to get a jolt of pop culture.

The Rock Star Gallery of Music, Collectibles & Celebrity Fine Art — a 2,000-square-foot venue that’s the brainchild of Valley rock memorabilia collector Michael Dunn — opens its doors this weekend.

The first featured artist? Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Grace Slick, the former Jefferson Airplane and Starship singer who abandoned the music business in 1988 and has since concentrated on painting.

Slick’s portraits of rock stars like Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix, along with “Alice in Wonderland”-themed paintings and brush-style nudes, will be on exhibit Friday through Sunday.

Slick will attend a grand-opening reception 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Dunn is making plans to bring in exhibits of artwork by Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood and Kiss frontman Paul Stanley. He also is negotiating to bring a John Lennon collection next February or March.

Dunn, who has been collecting rock memorabilia for more than 20 years, clearly recalls the first piece he ever acquired.

“It was a Led Zeppelin bootleg on vinyl,” Dunn says. “I bought it at the old Roads to Moscow store on Mill Avenue. When I snagged that, a light went on. Sometimes there’s a collector in us and we don’t even realize it.

“It just started gaining momentum from there. Unlike something like sports collecting, which is very structured, with music collecting you get it when you can, while you can.”
Dunn eventually began looking for a space to display everything he’s accumulated.

“I started doing research on other memorabilia companies and, to be honest, I didn’t see anything that appealed to me,” Dunn says. “So I sat down and made a model and showed it to (former Valley singer) Jerry Riopelle and he said, ‘This is so cool.’ Then I showed it to (Valley concert promoter) Danny Zelisko and he said, ‘What’s not to love about this?’

“I am pretty knowledgable on the collector side, so I surrounded myself with bean counters and such, and without exception each one of them said, ‘I would like to be involved.’ ”

The gallery will feature framed and signed album covers, signed gold and platinum records, vintage rock T-shirts, celebrity artwork, photos by renowned rock photographers such as Henry Diltz, custom jewelry by Royal Order out of Beverly Hills (who has made pieces for Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith), men’s and women’s clothing and signed guitars by artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.

“There hasn’t been anything like this anywhere — nothing has come close to this,” Dunn says. “I used the same architects that designed B.B. King’s restaurant, who did the Hard Rock Cafes. These people got it, and the place looks fantastic.”

All of the case displays and frames for the photos, albums and album covers were custom-built for the gallery, and the space will feature video screens with concert footage of bands playing in front of their displays.

Dunn says there will be something in his gallery for everybody, from the major collectors down to fans just looking to browse through memorabilia.

“I want this to be economically attractive to everyone, so we'll have the T-shirts and caps starting around 20 bucks,” Dunn says. “Then, you have to realize that collectibles aren’t really purchases, they are investments, so you can get a signed, framed album from anywhere from $400 to $500 bucks to a signed Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’ at $500,000 dollars.’ ”

Dunn laughs: “But I’ll probably hang on to those things!”