Tucson Museum of Art

First rate in depth and variety. Substantial Arizona artists representation, all excellent. Strong western art in the adjacent building. Good museum shop.

The outfit here was fairly innane & pretentious (sp?). Did not care for the nasty political commentary at the beginning of the exhibit either. Lots of expressionism (so what) & I never heard of illusionism (huh?). There was quite a bit of «art» but I doubt we will be back. There a lot better museums than this & I don’t think it’s worth the ticket price.

As summer approaches we all look for the BEST way to cool down, you can’t do better than TMA. With exhibits changing frequently you’re always assured of «never seeing it before». This Museum is especially kid friendly with lots of stuff for kids to do.

This little museum has some real gems. The current exhibits (shadow play, figures, WPA) are well curated. While I was there a group of children were sketching in the gallery with western horses.

This review is for this facility as a venue for a wedding and reception.
Everything was perfect. Could be risky for a February event, but we were lucky. Great late afternoon sun, great temperature and everything was nice.
They string lights over the patio and the 225 guests danced the night away.
If you’re thinking of this place for your wedding, we recommend it.

When I visit the Tucson Museum of Art, I always feel like I’m entering a silver mine. Once inside the main section of the museum, daylight has been banished and canned lights hang from a black ceiling like flashlights. Dimly-​lighted art on display surrounds a Brutalist-​style ramp that descends into the ground below. Nuggets of art await the visitor in subterranean galleries.
It’s an odd gallery experience and the interior could certainly use a design overhaul. Poor lighting, shadows, and really bad plexiglass cases make viewing the works on display challenging.
Why do I gladly return? This isn’t a stellar collection, to be sure; however, like a miner with a pickaxe, diligence pays off and you can be pleasantly rewarded with some wonderful gems.
For example, I saw a small painting of a tavern scene that Pablo Picasso created when he was just 16 years old. I’ve seen some expansive Picasso exhibitions and none had such an early painting. Louise Nevelson was an artist known for her large wall-​mounted monochromatic assemblages of found objects. On display here were two of her small, simple pieces: a cat and dog.
There’s more to see here, too. The museum also maintains an historic block of buildings that display other small collections of art and offer art education opportunities. That’s an incredible resource for the local community.

This is a lovely art museum. It has enough to keep you entertained for a couple of hours, art exhibits are interesting and unique & there’s a quaint restaurant behind it to grab a drink or meal. They regularly have special events, exhibits, raffles & kids activities. I love introducing my son to art through their childrens program. And they DO have a childrens art discovery center where they can play, build & make art. Great experience.

We went on a Sunday as we were desperate for something to do in Tucson. We are members of the Phoenix Museum of Art and enjoy going there a couple times a year. My husband had been to the Tucson Museum of Art 20+ years ago and kept saying how it was terrible but he thought it had to have improved since he was there last but sadly it had not.
While standing in line to pay, we see a sign that all Bank of America customers get in free the first weekend of every month and after entering, we were glad that we didn’t pay to get in.
What a disappointment!

I recently saw an article about an exhibit at the Museum of Art which really peaked our interest. Tucson is not amongst the most savvy city of art enthusiasts. Not to knock the community at large. This is not Dallas, N.Y.C. San Fran., Chicago, Phila., L.A. but today I was totally taken aback by the wonderful exhibit featuring some of the best artists, sculptors, you could ever hope for. Apparently, this was a long awaited exhibit taking through history and culture. To see, Chagall, Renoir, Lipschiltz works was such a treat. This is just to name a few of the greatest artists of our time. On the first Sunday of every month the Museum offers a half price discount so needless to say the Museum was packed. This was certainly well worth the visit. I will look forward to seeing more art work in the future. We are all hungry for it.

This place is a work in progress and a bit small for Tucson’s population. I am thinking they spend a fair amount of their budget maintaining the historic buildings nearby like the Romero, Casa Cordova, etc. But they do have fun events like Art on Tap (beer) and Crush (wine). November and March have the Artisans markets.
The current exhibit is a plus called Masterworks from the Kasser Mochary Art Foundation (10÷14−2÷15) and has mostly Impressionistic art with Andy Warhol, etc. The Naciemento is open for xmas. I have no idea if there is a Children’s section. It would be nice to have a Play/​Science area for kids. I wish there was more «Edgy» art since Tucson is less stuffy than Phoenix. Sometimes I can find a bit here.
If you plan to visit take note that Monday is the only day it is closed. Their main phone line is confusing because the message states that you have called after Business hours even though it is open to the viewing public. What they mean is that if you need to conduct business with the Admin, you will have to come in Tues-​Friday. Of course this would apply to less than 10% of visitors. I have let them know the message is confusing but they seem rather clueless about marketing. They do not have their Hours posted on their Facebook page either.

Really great exhibit here now (⁰⁵⁄₂₀₁₃). Miradas. Definitely go and check it out. We had a nice evening event here to see the show and they did a nice job setting up the event. And the food from the café that was catered in was super tasty!

After a very disappointing visit to MoCA, I came here with low expectation. But it’s a nice museum. Not great, but good-​sized. I viewed the Bob Kuhn exhibit which was beautiful. I’m not a big wildlife art fan, but the man was a genius. We got a tour which was a good overview to the museum and I recommend taking a tour if you’ve never been there before.
Is this as nice as LACMA or the Metropolitan Museum of Art? No. But this is not the big city, it’s a good museum with nice staff and I recommend a visit.

First Sunday of the Month is free admission, if that is not a good reason to visit Tucson Museum of Art, then go for the experience of art lovers gathering on this wonderful venue. There are no free ice cream during Summer but positive and stimulating atmosphere awaits inside.
The art is ok, not as spectacular as other big city museum, but it has a charm that only small city museum possesses. Please don’t expect sublime description of artworks from this review; the permanent collection aptly recognizes the desert and culture of the SouthWest and the revolving exhibit is a beautiful fusion of local/​community artists and international luminaries, saw lithographs from Calder, Chagall and others from an exhibition called «Flight».
There are two great art spaces: the one next to Main St (Fish House) is an interconnecting rooms pueblo-​style, check out the narrow white doors and stalk-​stitched ceiling, and the main one descends semi-​spirally to three levels of well-​lighted art placements. Even though the collection is small, i later realized that this museum setting is very intimate because of the rather confined interiors.

So small! Your best bet is going when the guest exhibit is your style. I really enjoyed the museum when Ansel Adams exhibit was showcased. The permanent collections are Southwestern style and modern art. After a while, the Southwest art in the separate building gets monotonous after seeing it all… over…the…place. I was hoping for more variety in the museum. But, hey, at least Tucson has an art museum! I’d go on a weekday when it’s not at all crowded. It is pretty relaxing in a quiet atmosphere.

Not sure how I’ve lived in Tucson for 30 years and never been to TMA. It’s kind of puzzling.
Came with my daughter today who had an assignment to do in her Pima class, Art Appreciation. We first checked with the docents at the information desk and they were very helpful and obviously love the museum very much. We paid the entrance fee ($ 5 for her with her Pima ID and $ 10 for me) and took to wandering about the various rooms and floors of the museum.
I’m not sure how many of the exhibits are permanent but there was a wide variety of art and we enjoyed the quiet and cool museum on this hot Tucson Sunday afternoon.
I’d love to come to an event at TMA and will have to watch their calendar.

Man I like this place! It’s hard to go wrong with an art museum. Something different every time. I can’t say everything I saw in this exhibit in May was stuff I’m into, but that’s art, and it is subjective and wonderful. And on free admission day there can be no complaints at all. By the time someone reads this my review will be out of date so I won’t critique the exhibit, except to say the museum is a nice quiet and relaxing place to spend a couple of hours. Take it all in, learn something, read about the artists and absorb culture. That’s what it is all about. And don’t forget to patronize the place with some tips! It’s nice to see wonderful art that otherwise I might never be exposed to.
I must say the portraits of the dead animals on this tour were quite cool. And they had a nice exhibit of Mexican feminist painters. Good, good stuff!

I have been a member for a couple of years, and there is a reason I did not join before and a reason I joined. The reason I did not join before because most of the shows i did not really want to go to, there were no events I wanted to attend. Like many old school organizations they get caught up on what worked 30 years ago and stick to it, and don’t reach out to the middle people from 20 to 40 working looking for something new and interesting to break up hum drum already out there (in other words not the same old thing). I joined because there have been events there that peaked my interest, shows that are interesting and vibrant (Not always but they are a work in progress). I attended the last opening «Desert Grasslands» running till July, this is a show filled with texture and life very well curated and hung. The walls have been painted to compliment the work and the balance is done well. There are some pieces that are lacking and a little scary in a Bait’s Motel way, like these scary little painting hung in a group of about fifty.
Here’s the deal not a bad place to join and you can go as often as you want.

Wow, some of these reviews are harsh. I think people forget that they’re in Tucson, not a major city in the country. For us to even have an art museum, especially one as nice as the Tucson Museum of Art, is a huge plus and should be appreciated. Just because you don’t like their current exhibits doesn’t mean it’s not art and it’s worth tearing the building down in disgust. As a person who appreciates art, I appreciate the effort that this museum puts into giving the community art. They don’t get a ton of funding so they do what they can. If you want better, donate to them and put your money where your mouth is.
All that being said, the Tucson Museum of Art is one of my favorite places in Tucson. At least a few times a year, they have exhibits that interest me and my husband. They often have extremely popular and great artists on display, as well as great local artists. Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, just to name a few. The collections are not always very large, but they’re decent, and for some people, they’re a once in a lifetime chances to see original works of art by the great artists of the past. Their website does a great job of listing past, present, and future exhibits with their starting and ending dates, which helps us plan trips there.
The museum itself is very clean and cared for. The staff has always answered our questions and have never been rude about it. They’re not the most talkative people on the planet, but I don’t mind, because I don’t really want to chit chat anyway. The gift shop is just ok. They have lots of little southwestern knick-​knack type things. I would like to see more gifts related to the artists currently on display. When they had the Ansel Adams collection a few years ago, the gift shop had a ton of smaller reproduction photos for sale. I haven’t seen anything like that since for any of the other artists we’ve seen the works of there. So, that’s a bit of a let-​down for us. But not a huge deal.
My least favorite part of the museum is the separate building that is used for mainly Western art. (during the holidays it has El Nacimiento). I’m not a huge fan of it, and I like variety, so I’d like to see something else in that building soon.
They have a private parking lot which has never been too full for us to find parking in, and it’s free and close to the museum itself. Their fees are fair. Membership is actually a good option if you go frequently. As a member, you also get invited to other exclusive events, and you get special perks for things like their Millionaire Raffle.
Overall, for a city like Tucson, the Tucson Museum of Art is a decent museum. They can only get better with support from the community, so visit them or donate if you want to see more in the future. Regardless, if you appreciate art even a little, it’s worth a trip there once a year.

Tucson Museum of ART — Spring Artisans’ Market is a great place to meet nice people and drown in creativity. And it’s nice that the museum takes advantage of the increased traffic by opening it’s doors for free.
The only annoyance is when you find something you want to buy you have to go to a central cashier and pay for it then make your way back to the artists booth to collect the item. It’s not so bad when I’m by myself but when I’m with my brother, Mr personality, we have to stop every 2 feet to say hi to someone he knows. Anyways, lots of hugs and flesh pressing.

Everyone should visit world class museums like the Prado, the Uffizi, the Vatican and the Met. They are amazing… and exhausting. That’s why I often love small, well curated spaces better than acres and acres of galleries.
I truly enjoyed lingering over the photographs and handwritten letters in the Frida Kahlo exhibit. There was an interesting story line. The traditional costumes (not Frida’s own, but similar) and adjacent gallery of Latin American art and crafts were perfect companions: intricate straw murals, multicolored papier-​mâché figures and my favorite milagros.
We didn’t continue on into the Asian gallery, but it looked equally nice. And guess what? Admission is free on the first Sunday of the month. That’s hard to beat!
I’ll keep an eye out for new exhibits. Even «dumb cowboys» can be interesting if the exhibit is well curated. After all, this is Tucson, not Manhattan or Rome.