Press Release

Tucson, AZ (July 9, 2020) –Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block will reopen its doors Thursday, July 30, 2020 including the new Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art. Special preview days for TMA members are July 28 and 29. The museum’s updated hours of operation are Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

TMA’s top priority is the health and well-being of visitors and staff. New safety protocols have been implemented in accordance with city, county and state officials and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). A staggered maximum of 225 visitors per day will be permitted in the museum. Reserved timed tickets beginning July 30 will be available online with limited daily walk-in tickets available. In addition to on-site visitation, TMA will continue to enhance its digital offerings, allowing audiences to connect with the museum at home.

Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art

After two years of planning and construction, Tucson Museum of Art will open the new Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art and a renovated outdoor plaza and sculpture garden. The new 6,000 square-foot wing features an open floor plan, five galleries with natural light, and links Margaret E. Mooney Hall to the John K. Goodman Pavilion. Three galleries will highlight pre-Columbian works from the museum’s permanent collection alongside long-term loans from the I. Michael Kasser and Paul L. and Alice C. Baker collections. One of the remaining galleries is dedicated to Modern and Contemporary Latin American art including the debut of new acquisitions by Enrique Martínez Celaya, Monica Aissa Martinez, Patrick Martinez and Pedro Tagliafico. The final gallery is dedicated to Spanish Colonial art with works from Latin America and the Southwestern United States created in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries.

Also on View:

• Southwest Rising: Contemporary Art and the Legacy of Elaine Horwitch will remain on view through September 20, 2020;
• Debut of new permanent collection exhibitions including: For the Birds: Avian Works on Paper in the Jon and Linda Ender Gallery; From the TMA Permanent Collection, Mirle E. Freel, Jr., in the Kenneth J. and Judith H. Riskind/ Patricia Carr Morgan and Peter F. Salomon Gallery; Modern Art from the TMA Permanent Collection in the Anne E. Snodgrass Gallery; and a new installation in the John K. Goodman Pavilion.
• All remaining permanent collection galleries will be open.
• TMA’s newly renovated sculpture garden and plaza will also be available for visitors to enjoy.

New protocols include mandatory mask policy

New protocols include limiting capacity, regularly scheduled sanitation of all accessible surfaces, mandatory mask policy for all staff and visitors ages five and up, physical distancing procedures in exhibition galleries, sanitation stations throughout the museum and a limited-contact admissions experience. Visitors will enter the museum using the east entrance/ Mooney Hall where pre-reserved tickets will be scanned by staff who will assist visitors in navigating their museum experience.

Visiting TMA:

• Purchase timed and dated tickets online in advance. Please call 520-624-2333 for accommodations.
• Masks are mandatory to enter and visit the museum. Forget your mask? TMA will have disposable and cloth masks available for purchase.
• Entry will be through Mooney Hall in the main museum entrance, and all visitors will exit through the museum’s Goodman Pavilion to ensure proper physical distancing, with special conditions for our visitors with accessibility challenges.
• Smartphones and small tablets are encouraged, as exhibition guides and maps are only available in digital formats. Free guest WiFi is available.
• Contactless and foot-activated hand sanitizer stations will be offered throughout the museum, located at Mooney Hall, Goodman Pavilion, and lower level galleries.
• Café a la C’Art will be open for lunch and accessible through the entrance at 140 N. Main Avenue or the Washington Street parking lot.
• The Museum Store will be open and is now located as you exit the museum through the Goodman Pavilion. Non-museum guests may enter the store at 140 N. Main Avenue (no museum admissions).
• Knox Corbett House, La Casa Cordova, Alice Chaiten Baker Center for Art Education and the TMALearn Creative Space will remain closed through the end of 2020.
• Culture Pass, Free First Thursdays and Second SundAZe will not be offered until further notice. A limited number of free tickets will be made available and announced later.

For detailed information about new procedures and policies, please visit https://www.tucsonmuseumofart.org/know-before-you-go-new-procedures-and-policies/

Tickets

Required timed tickets will be limited to six per person. Based on occupancy, there will be limited on-site ticket sales. Three daily admission windows are available: 10 a.m.–noon; noon–2 p.m.; 2–5 p.m. TMA is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Members will be given advance access to tickets and may make reservations if their membership account is active. To verify, renew or upgrade membership levels, please contact Membership at 520-616-2699 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets will initially be available two weeks prior to selected dates for members, and one week prior for the general public.

Visitors will receive their tickets via email along with the museum’s new “Know Before You Go” guidelines and a museum map to enhance their experience. Visitors should arrive at—not before—the time specified on their ticket, as time slots are not transferable. You may enter the museum at any time during this period and enjoy the galleries for as long as you wish until closing time. Re-entry is not permitted. Your ticket purchase is not refundable. If a purchased ticket goes unused after 7 days, it will be considered a donation to TMA.

TMA will monitor the coronavirus situation regularly and will modify its protocols and policies as new information from state and local officials and the CDC becomes available.

Parking

Access to the museum parking lot off Washington Street is available but extremely limited. Metered street parking is available around the museum, as well as the El Presidio Parking Garage, 160 W. Alameda Street (south side of street, ramp descends to underground parking). The museum does not validate parking.

Media

For the safety of staff and visitors, media are requested to make an appointment to ensure proper physical distancing measures. Interviews can be conducted virtually or in-person by appointment. Media can request press access via a timed ticketed entry. Requests can be sent to athwaits@localhost.

About Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block

The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block was founded in 1924 and located within the El Presidio Historic District of downtown Tucson. TMA is a regional museum and center for artistic inquiry and appreciation, that seeks to inspire dynamic human experiences, create a passion for the visual arts and celebrate Southern Arizona’s rich and diverse culture.

The museum features permanent and traveling exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary, Native American, American West, Latin American, art of the Ancient Americas, European and Asian art. Encompassing a four-acre city block, the museum campus includes a historic block of 19^th and 20^th-century adobe and Mission Revival-style buildings, the recently expanded 40,000-square-foot main museum building including the new Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art, the 22,000-square-foot Alice Chaiten Baker Center for Art Education, the highly acclaimed museum restaurant Café a la C’Art, the Museum Store and 50,000-square-feet of courtyards and exterior spaces. The museum provides a robust schedule of community programs, educational opportunities and guided tours.

Hours: Thursday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and most major holidays.

Admission: Adults $12; seniors $10; students/youth (13-17) $7; children (12 and under), veterans, active military, museum members, FREE.

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

TMA’s Mission and Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA)

The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block connects art to life through meaningful and engaging experiences that inspire discovery, spark creativity and promote cultural understanding.

The purpose of IDEA is to position the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block (TMA) as a responsive community-centered institution that represents, activates and advocates for its communities. TMA connects art to life through meaningful and engaging experiences that inspire discovery, spark creativity and promote cultural understanding. In order to support and impact audiences under this mission the museum is committed to developing quality exhibitions, expanding and diversifying its collection and presenting relevant and innovative programs.

Furthermore, as a collecting institution TMA believes that the artworks in its care are dynamic: they evolve as histories, are re-examined and varying perspectives are taken into consideration – broadening how the institution preserves, exhibits, and interprets these works.

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