Phoenix Art Museum, Art museum in Central Avenue Corridor, Phoenix, US
The Phoenix Art Museum is an art museum along Central Avenue in Phoenix that presents international exhibitions and holds over 18,000 artworks. The building extends across several wings and includes a research library with more than 40,000 books and periodicals.
The Phoenix Women's Club formed shortly after Arizona became the 48th state in 1912 and worked with the Arizona State Fair Committee on a fine arts program. In 1915 the club bought Carl Oscar Borg's painting Egyptian Evening for US$125 and gave it to the city, starting a community art collection. The State Fair Committee became the Phoenix Fine Arts Association in 1925, and the museum opened on November 18, 1959.
The collection features works from America, Asia, Europe and Latin America, while a separate area focuses on fashion design. Visitors can also view western American art alongside modern and contemporary pieces that rotate through changing exhibitions.
The museum stands on the Central Avenue Corridor, with a north parking area whose cantilevered canopy forms an outdoor pavilion at the entrance. The Lemon Art Research Library is a non-circulating research library focused on the museum's collection, holding more than 40,000 books, periodicals and artist files; it is free of charge during public hours.
The institution maintains a close partnership with the University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography and regularly presents photographs from both collections. This collaboration provides access to rare photographic works that would otherwise be visible only in Tucson.
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