Previous October 12, 2022 Next Citizen/Enemy: Japanese American Incarceration Camps October 12, 2022 December 23, 2023 Citizen/Enemy" confronts an uncomfortable period in American history, when the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to the relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans to incarceration camps. The exhibition features historic documents, installations, and large-scale images from noted photographers Dorothea Lange and Russell Lee, offering a guide for reflection on this tragic political action and its repercussions for Japanese Americans.

Previous October 13, 2017 Next Under A Vast Sky: American Women Artists October 13, 2017 December 3, 2017 American Women Artists (AWA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the inspiration, celebration, and encouragement of women in the visual fine arts. The Tucson Desert Art mUseum is proud to host the AWA national juried art show and sale. The exhibition features close to 150 painting and sculpture works by outstanding women artists from the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Previous November 3, 2015 Next Women Artists of the West 45th Annual National Exhibition: WAOWing the Grand Canyon State November 3, 2015 November 28, 2015 Women Artists of the West is a unique and respected group of professional women artists from all over the United States and Canada. Its Annual National Exhibition is a competitive, juried show - only a fraction of the artwork submitted will be accepted for inclusion. Wyoming-based plein-air palette knife artist Carol Swinney is this year's juror. The Tucson Desert Art Museum is honored to have been chosen as the site of the 2015 WAOW show. It included paintings and sculpture in a variety of media, with landscape, still life, animal, and figurative subjects. For more information about Women Artists of the West please visit waow.org

Previous December 5, 2015 Next Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942 - 1964 December 5, 2015 February 14, 2016 “Bittersweet Harvest”, a bilingual (English/Spanish) exhibition from the Smithsonian, explores the little-known story of the Bracero program; the largest guest worker program in U.S history. Between 1942 and 1964, millions of Mexican men came to the United States on short-term labor contracts. Both bitter and sweet, the Bracero experience tells a story of exploitation but also of opportunity. This exhibition is organized into three main sections that explore the Braceros’ motivations and expectations for the journey north, the work they did and the effects the Bracero program had on family and communities in Mexico and the United States. “Bittersweet Harvest” features the work of famed photojournalist Leonard Nadel as well as oral histories collected by the Bracero Oral History Project. This exhibition is organized by the National Museum of American History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Funding is made possible through the Smithsonian’s Latino Center, which celebrates Latino culture, spirit and achievement in America by facilitating the development of exhibitions, research, collections and education programs. Please visit, www.sites.si.edu, for more information about the Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Exhibitions. The exhibit also included art generously loaned from CALACA artist members. The CALACA Cultural Center's mission is to preserve and promote Latino and Indigenous cultural arts. CALACA artists included Gabriela Muñoz, Martin Moreno, Jose Benavides, Norma Garcia-Torres, Joe Ray, Tavo Barrios, Roberto Martinez, and Marco Albarrán.

Previous November 1, 2015 Next Crossing Between Worlds: Life, Land and Culture of Canyon de Chelly November 1, 2015 March 22, 2016 Charles D. Winters is a photographer and cinematographer specializing in anthropology, nature and the environment. His exhibit of engaging photographs tells the story of Navajo life in the magnificent landscape of the Four Corners region. His work explores the rich heritage of the Diné and the confluence of tradition and modernity. Charles D. Winters is the retired head of the photography department at State University of New York, Oneonta. His work has been widely exhibited both in the US and internationally.

Previous November 1, 2015 Next GEOLogic: Michael Holcomb November 1, 2015 March 22, 2016 Michael Holcomb describes himself as a “formalist”, to the extent that his art is primarily concerned with form as an abstract expression of the unspeakable forces at work in the universe. His images interpret the canyons, mesas, caves, cliffs, the effects of weathering and erosion: the vast spaces and horizons, skies filled with light and color and extraordinary cloud formations that symbolize the magnificent and rich visual work to the Desert Southwest. His work is created using three-dimensional vertex modeling software and original algorithms, edited for characteristics of color, transparency and texture. In 2010, Michael retired as Dean for Technology in the Arts and Director of the Treistman Center for New Media in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and is included in both public and private collections.

Donate Donate Now Thank you for considering a gift to the Tucson Desert Art Museum. Your donation directly supports our mission to preserve and celebrate the art, culture, and history of the American Southwest. Contributions help fund art acquisitions, special exhibitions, educational programs, conservation, and research. If you wish to make a one-time or recurring donation, please proceed by clicking the donate button below. Your support is invaluable to us and helps ensure the continued success of our museum. To donate via check, please make it payable to the Tucson Desert Art Museum and mail it to 7000 E Tanque Verde Rd, Tucson, AZ 85715. Please specify any restrictions or designations for your gift on the check or in an accompanying note. First name Last name Email Donate in the name of: Enter the amount you wish to donate: $ Donate Thank you for your donation! Gifts of Art or Artifacts The Tucson Desert Art Museum welcomes art and artifact donations that align with our mission and enhance our collection. Please contact us for more information: (520) 202-3888 or mail@tucsondart.org .

Permanent Exhibitions Weavings of the Diné A premier collection of pre-1940’s Navajo textiles, including Chief’s blankets, Eye Dazzlers, Saddle blankets, Germantown weavings, Yei weavings and child's blankets. Dawn of American Landscapes Masterpieces by the preeminent Nineteenth century landscape painters. Works by Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and other master artists. This collection captures the transcendental spirit of these artists' search and expression of the sublime. Pueblo Artistry Immerse yourself in the beautiful arts of the Hopi people. Arizona Women Uncovered Arizona Women Uncovered offers a unique insight into the lives of early pioneer women through the evolution of their undergarments. Arizona Women Uncovered was curated in collaboration with Claudine Villardito of Black Cat Vintage. True Grit This exhibition tells the stories of the courageous women of Southern Arizona's past, who helped shape the Southwest into what it is today. Teachings of the Spider Woman Textiles tell stories, and this exhibit helps us to find them in each amazing, uniquely crafted work.

Previous December 15, 2021 Next SNAP 2! Snapshots of History through Vintage Advertising December 15, 2021 June 25, 2022 SNAP! Snapshots of History through Vintage Advertising, opens May 1 and continues through November 30, 2019. SNAP! is back on view! The Museum’s extensive collection of vintage ads from the great southwest and its surrounding areas encourages guests to walk down memory lane by viewing vintage advertisements as a historical mirror of the burgeoning American consumer class, circa 1900-1960. The Museum warns that some of these ads may be offensive by current standards, as old stereotypes of race and gender abound in this exhibit. Come see the “Hidden Persuaders,” advertisements that both informed and mirrored the American experience. From colas to corsets, from cars to cigars, from Rosie the Riveter to Andy Warhol, explore memorable snapshots of twentieth century Americana.

Previous May 3, 2017 Next The Wayfinder's Dilemma: Landscape Photographs by Camden Hardy May 3, 2017 October 1, 2017 A faculty member at Southwest University of Visual Arts, Hardy explores the ways in which human beings interact with, and understand, their surroundings. On his work, Mr. Hardy states; "My artistic practice is driven by questions about the dissonance that occurs when we encounter information that contradicts our expectations, as well as our own agency in the construction of individual realities."

Previous January 10, 2020 Next Art is the Seed: Contemporary Native American Female Art January 10, 2020 May 31, 2020 Featuring a selection of nearly 30 works across mediums and decades, Art is the Seed explores how historic Native American crafts are the cultural “seeds” inspiring many Native American women artists’ works today. The exhibition features contemporary artworks by Native American artists Cara Romero, Marla Allison, Sarah Sense, Natani Notah, Darby Raymond-Overstreet and Leah Mata Fragua, in addition to historic artifacts loaned by Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery. Honoring and building upon the artistic legacy of their foremothers, the artists’ works fuse historic and culturally-specific symbols with 21st century ideas and art forms, including performance art, photography, sculpture, painting and collage. The artists’ works are explorations into what it means to be a modern, Indigenous woman today. Through their art, the artists forge new ways of being Native American in the modern world and affirm that Indigenous culture is both ever-evolving and here to stay. The exhibition is curated by Alyssa Travis, Chief Curator, Tucson Desert Art Museum. For generations, Native American women’s art has largely been ignored by the established art community, including situations where women’s work has been signed by men, further pushing women artists into silence. This exhibition takes a powerful tradition of female artists and speaks out with modern expression. The women artists on display take traditional craft arts from their heritage and transform them with contemporary twists to give voice to the multi- generational women artist community. Curator Alyssa Travis stated, “We are honored to exhibit such a powerful selection of artworks from Indigenous artists, past and present. The contemporary works on display reflect the artists’ personal attitudes towards what it means to be a contemporary Indigenous woman today.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/chaddscott/2020/01/19/spotlight-continues-shining-on-female-native-american-artists/?ss=arts&sh=52a659ab588b

Previous May 1, 2015 Next Sacred Dancers: Ceremonial Navajo Weaving May 1, 2015 October 31, 2015 In the early 1900s, many Anglo tourists were fascinated by Native American religion. Encouraged by traders capitalizing on this trend, Navajo weavers developed a new genre: ceremonial weaving. Traditionally, depicting the Yeis, or the Navajo Holy People, in permanent form was considered downright dangerous. Oftentimes, weavers faced intense pressure from their communities to not depict holy beings in their textiles. Reconciling their reverence for their own religion with market demands, weavers wove creative rugs that were most often artistic interpretations of the sacred, rather than accurate replicas of religious imagery. Featuring Yei, Yeibichai, and sandpainting textiles, Sacred Dancers tells the history of weavers, including medicine man Hosteen Klah, who boldly portrayed ceremonial imagery in their weavings. From the Collection of Steve and Gail Getzwiller, Nizhoni Ranch Gallery