Press Release

Tucson Museum of Art announces 2022/23 season

Tucson, AZ – Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block (TMA) announces a new season of exhibitions including many that feature works by local, Southwestern, Latin American, and Latinx artists.

“Among the many exhibitions in the 2022/23 season, the feature shows celebrate art of the Americas from Canada to South America and represent diverse cultures, backgrounds, identities, and perspectives,” says Julie Sasse, Chief Curator. “Through the art on view, visitors can see the commitment the museum has made to become a more inclusive, relevant, and inviting institution. This is exemplified by wonderful examples of ancient to contemporary art, which informs the understanding of the past and serves as inspiration for artists today, as seen in several of the exhibitions this season.”

Programming by TMA curators, artists, and guest scholars throughout the season will support the feature exhibitions and permanent collection. Artist talks, lectures, and panel discussions will be delivered in the Stonewall Foundation Community Room in the Alice Chaiten Baker Center for Art Education. Details and registration instructions will be available on the website as they become available and will be announced in the weekly TMa-list newsletter.

Check out performances, activities, and a variety of interactive programs during two pay-what-you-wish admission opportunities each month. First Thursday evenings feature extended museum hours from
5-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month with performances, gallery activities, and a cash bar. Second SundAZe Family Days occur on the second Sunday of every month, with admission from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and family activities and art-making from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Groups of all ages are welcome at the Tucson Museum of Art for guided and self-guided tours. Tours are available Thursday – Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Plan your group’s visit to the Museum to experience art, culture, and history by contacting the Education Department. The regular season of Docent Art Talks will kick off in August 2023 in the Stonewall Foundation Community Room in conjunction with Second SundAZe.

A link to reserve timed admission tickets and more information about the 2022/23 season can be found on the museum’s website: TucsonMuseumofArt.org. Follow TMA on Facebook and Instagram (@TucsonMuseumofArt) for the latest news and exhibition highlights.

2022/23 SEASON EXHIBITIONS

The Story of a Painting: José Gil de Castro’s Carlota Caspe y Rodríguez
July 7, 2022 – July 23, 2023
Jon and Linda Ender Gallery
This exhibition takes an in-depth look at an exceptional 1816 oil portrait by José Gil de Castro in TMA’s collection. It considers the layered meanings in this single work, examining how the sitter’s identity was constructed, how the artist asserted his role in society, what we learn from the painting’s materiality, and the work’s collection history.

The Sacred and The Profane
August 11, 2022 – June 2, 2025
The Palice Gallery of European Art
The Sacred and the Profane is a selection of works of art from the Tucson Museum of Art’s permanent collection of European art from pre-1920 that explores veneration, everyday utility, and creative expression.

Frances Murray and Harold Jones: Simpatico
August 18, 2022 – August 6, 2023
Kenneth and Judith Riskind/Peter Salomon and Patricia Carr Morgan Gallery
This exhibition debuts a significant gift of photographs by Frances Murray and Harold Jones, two artists active in Tucson in the 1970s who contributed greatly to the photographic arts in the region.

Monica Aissa Martinez: Nothing in Stasis
September 1, 2022 – April 23, 2023
Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art
Interested in the intricacies of the physical body, Phoenix-based artist Monica Aissa Martinez (b. 1962, Texas) uses line, shape, space, and color to represent the complex connections between body, mind, and spirit. Martinez is drawn to the language of myth and symbol, feminine and masculine, emotion and logic, circle and line, and horizontal (heavens and spirit) and vertical (earth and body), finding beauty in the systems and organization of living things.

More Than: Expanding Artist Identities from the American West
October 15, 2022 –March 19, 2023
James J. and Louise R. Glasser Galleries and Earl Kai Chann Gallery
This exhibition focuses on works of art created in the American West, the U.S. Southwest Borderlands, and parts of Canada, viewing how artists embrace various parts of themselves and incorporate these identities into their work. To broaden discussions about ways that identity and the art of the American West genre is viewed and understood, poetry by 2019 Tucson Poet Laureate T.C. Tolbert and accompanying texts by local community members are included within the exhibition. Additionally, historic works are placed in conversation with some contemporary pieces to link the past and present and draw comparisons between artists’ ideas, styles, and motifs.

New Mexico Moderns: Selections from the Donald L. and Julia B. Graf Collection
October 15, 2022 – March 19, 2023
Lois C. Green Gallery
Selections from a recent gift to TMA represent an artistic era marked by abstraction, experimentation, and inspiration from the light, land, and cultures of New Mexico. The works center around Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque from the beginning of the twentieth century until the early 1970s.

Enduring Legacies: The James T. Bialac Indigenous Art Collection
February 2, 2023 – February 25, 2024
John K. Goodman Pavilion
The James T. Bialac Indigenous Art Collection presents an expansive array of contemporary Indigenous Art featuring late 20th- early 21st century paintings and works on paper. Donated to the TMA collection by Arizona collector James T. Bialac, this exhibition celebrates his lifelong passion to collect Indigenous works of art, befriend and support artists, play a role in nurturing creativity, and help sustain Indigenous artistic traditions. Enduring Legacies includes representation from regional artists of Arizona, the Southwest, and the greater American West, providing a glimpse into the cultures, histories, artistic styles, and experiences of contemporary Indigenous artists.

Arizona Biennial 2023
April 1, 2023 – September 17, 2023
James J. and Louise R. Glasser Galleries, Earl Kai Chann Gallery, and Lois C. Green Gallery
First organized in 1948, the Arizona Biennial is a much-anticipated juried exhibition that showcases some of the most innovative and diverse new works being created in the state. For emerging artists, this exhibition often provides an opportunity to exhibit their art in a museum setting or to introduce their work to the public for the first time. Museum visitors are also exposed to works by established artists with statewide, national, and international reputations. The Arizona Biennial 2023 juror is Taína Caragol, the curator of painting, sculpture, and Latinx art and history at the National Portrait Gallery.

Popol Vuh and the Maya Art of Storytelling
May 4, 2023 – October 22, 2023
Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art
One of the most important recorded stories of the Indigenous Americas, a K’iche Maya origin story known as the Popol Vuh has inspired countless artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. This exhibition is centered around a series of images by the Guatemalan modern artist Carlos Mérida, in conversation with works ranging from ancient to contemporary, including a cut paper mural by Justin Favela.

José Luis Cuevas: Unpardonable Sin
May 4, 2023 – October 22, 2023
Kaye Cauthorn / Berger-Hanft Gallery
José Luis Cuevas refused to conform to the tradition of depicting Mexico’s landscapes and customs, committing the “unpardonable sin” of embracing literary and visual sources from Europe and the United States. The exhibition combines the artist’s works with his words, drawn from his prolific writings.

The 2022/2023 Exhibition Season at TMA is presented by Jim and Fran Allen, Jon and Linda Ender, James and Louise Glasser, and I. Michael and Beth Kasser.  AC Hotel Tucson Downtown/Loveblock is the official hotel sponsor of TMA.

About Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block
As an institution built upon the original territories of the O’odham, the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block (TMA) acknowledges the Indigenous Sonoran Desert communities, past and present, who have stewarded this region throughout generations.

TMA connects art to life through meaningful and engaging experiences that inspire discovery, spark creativity and promote cultural understanding. Founded in 1924, TMA encompasses an entire city block in historic downtown Tucson and is committed to developing quality exhibitions, expanding and diversifying its collection and presenting relevant and innovative programs while broadening public access to the arts.

The museum features exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary art, Latin American art from ancient to today, Indigenous arts and Art of the American West. A permanent collection of over 10,000 works of art spans continents, centuries and media. TMA’s campus includes five properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an art education center and research library, the Museum Store and the highly acclaimed museum restaurant Café a la C’Art.

TMA is a private 501(c)(3) charitable arts and education organization. For additional information visit TucsonMuseumofArt.org or call (520) 624-2333.

###

For general media inquiries contact Iesha Doane, Marketing and Communications Manager at marketing@localhost or 520-616-2687