Phoenix Art Museum

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Phoenix Art Museum

The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest visual-art museum in the Southwest. It is in Phoenix, Arizona, at 1625 North Central Avenue. The building covers about 285,000 square feet and holds more than 18,000 works, including American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. The museum shows international exhibitions and offers a year-round program of festivals, live performances, independent films, and educational activities.

Key features include The Hub, an interactive gallery for children; photography exhibitions through a partnership with the Center for Creative Photography; a Sculpture Garden; dining and a shop. The museum is designated a Phoenix Point of Pride.

History and growth: The museum opened on November 18, 1959. It expanded in 1965, adding more gallery space, and later additions in 1996 and 2006 added new galleries, a 300-seat theater, a research library, classroom facilities, the PhxArtKids Gallery, a café, and a larger sculpture garden. A new north entrance with a cantilevered canopy was added to create a large outdoor pavilion.

Art and programs: The collection features works by European masters, American artists, and contemporary creators, including Monet, Picasso, and Georgia O’Keeffe, as well as contemporary artists like Yayoi Kusama. Photography is shown through the museum’s partnership with the Center for Creative Photography. The museum runs various education programs and internships, and houses the Lemon Art Research Library, a non-circulating collection with more than 40,000 items, free to the public. It is the largest specialized fine arts library in the region.

Funding: About 80% of the museum’s revenue comes from community support, admissions, memberships, store and facility rentals; government roughly 3%; corporate contributions about 10%; and endowment around 7%.