Press Release

Tucson, AZ – Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block (TMA) has been awarded a $19,000 Community Investment Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona. The funds will provide general operating support for exhibitions and public programs at the museum.

The grant was one of 216 Community Investment Grants awarded for Fiscal Year 2020, representing a total investment of $2,463,000 in operating support to nonprofit arts organizations, local arts agencies and tribal cultural organizations whose mission is to produce, present or teach the arts.

“Operating support enables us not only to keep our doors open and our lights on, but also to take our programs out into schools and public libraries and provide 24 free admission days per year at the museum with no barriers to access,” said TMA CEO Jeremy Mikolajczak. “In the coming year we will begin a number of new collaborations with groups from around southern Arizona, expanding the populations we serve.”

“Through the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the State of Arizona endeavors to ensure that all Arizonans can participate in and experience the arts,” said Jaime Dempsey, Executive Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts “Through these grants the Arts Commission partners with organizations across the state that are dedicated to serving their communities through the arts.”

In accordance with the Arts Commission’s strategic plan and governing statutes, schools and nonprofit arts organizations are awarded grants based on such factors as community investment, quality of programming, fiscal ingenuity and responsible stewardship of public funds.

Grant applications are reviewed within rigorous panel processes which are open to applicants as well as the broader public. Review panels are led by Governor-appointed Commissioners and are composed of diverse community leaders, volunteer experts, educators and arts practitioners from rural, urban and suburban areas throughout Arizona.