Tucson Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Tucson museums supplies classes your area

Today we will all be going on a deep dive into art in Tucson and our opening section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

If you are after any specific section you can jump straight to it using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Tucson art map with all of the various places we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

The Southwest is a region that we have written about many times before if you are curious to learn more.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Tucson

If you want to visit the best art galleries and museums in Tucson you can go to:

The Desert Art Museum is open from noon to 4pm Thursday through Saturday as  a non-profit institution that first welcomed visitors in 2013. The Museum has a library, classrooms, conference and auditorium space, and a 25,000-square-foot display area while Maynard Dixon, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, and Gerald C. Smith are among the many historical relics and classic and current Southwestern paintings on display.

The Museum of Art and Historic Block brings art to life via relevant and engaging activities that encourage exploration, creativity, and cultural awareness. The Tucson Fine Arts Association founded the Museum in 1924 and it was originally housed at the Kingan House on Franklin Street in the El Presidio Historic District. To define its exhibiting and education goal, the group was formally renamed the Tucson Art Center in 1954 and today you can visit them from 10am to 5pm Thursday through Sunday.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is the only museum near you that is fully dedicated to modern art from across the world and it was founded by artists in 1997 in a renovated firehouse in downtown as it uses modern art to find innovative answers to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. MOCA is open from 11am to 6pm Thursday through Saturday and from 11am to 4pm on Sunday hosting a series of critical exhibits by locally, regionally, and globally known contemporary artists that promote conversation and empathy between artists and viewers.

A collective of artists that are devoted to bringing local art and music to the downtown area founded Solar Culture Gallery.

Etherton Gallery has been the go-to place for photography collectors and lovers in the Southwest since 1981 showing prominent local and regional artists in a range of mediums. Etherton is known for its museum-quality exhibits and extensive collection of historical and modern photographs.

The 2,800-square-foot Madaras Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm Monday through Saturday and from 11am on Sunday displaying one of the greatest collections of local art including the work of 26 guest artists. Paintings, canvas reproductions, prints, sculpture, pottery, and hand-blown glass are all available and that beautiful picture from the top of our post came from there.

Over 60 of the top artists in your area are represented by Desert Artisans’ Gallery who works with a range of mediums including clay, glass, jewelry, paintings, photography, and wood. Visit them from 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Saturday.

The De Grazia Gallery in the Sun Museum is open from 10am to 4pm daily after starting out as a tiny building project in the early 1950’s and today it has grown into a 10-acre National Historic District conceived and built by renowned Arizona artist Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia. The Gallery in the Sun Museum houses six permanent art collections that depict historical events and Native American civilizations in the Southwest while some of the gallery’s 15,000 DeGrazia originals are on show in rotating exhibitions and many are available for purchase in the consignment room plus the gift store has a large range of replicas.

Ceramic sculptures by Chris Bubany Studio are hand painted with influences from the vibrant colors and motifs of the Southwest where she grew up. Hummingbirds, wildflowers, quail, desert sceneries, and more may all be found from 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Saturday.

Materials & Supplies Near You

These art stores in your area should have all of the materials and supplies you need:

People have relied on Arizona Art Supply for high-quality art materials and technical information for over 65 years and they also contribute generously to professional arts groups in order to ensure that individuals have solid community foundations.

For the past fifteen years Posner’s Art Store has been offering the finest materials to artists all around the world. With over forty years of combined expertise selling and using numerous mediums and goods in this sector they work hard to provide you with the best service and products possible.

Sarnoff Art is a locally owned and operated gallery that prides itself on cultivating partnerships with the Tucson artistic community. Their knowledge will get you on the proper course whether it’s for professionals, school assignments, or creative hobbies.

Fred’s Custom Stretching is well-known for managing some of the state’s largest murals, canvas paintings, and picture frame projects.

You probably don’t need us to tell you what the chain stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby are all about.

Shows & Events

Some of the top local art shows, events, and festivals would be:

The iconic Wigwam Resort is located in the center of Litchfield Park’s historic area and hosts the amazing three-day festival Wigwam Festival of Fine Art which features nationally recognized artists, dancers, and musicians. Towering palms, groomed lawns, and vibrant lush gardens greet visitors at the front gate as the historic grounds are full of lovely nooks and botanical gardens providing an intimate setting and unrivaled ambiance for outdoor eating, arts, and entertainment.

For a fun an annual event that takes place about 45 minutes South of the city check out the Tubac Arts Festival which will feature paintings, handcrafted crafts, antique crafts, and more from hundreds of visiting artists from across the country.

Prescott Antique Show & Vintage Market has been offering a large range of high-quality antiques in your area for many years and their annual show in July is definitely worth checking out.

The El Zaribah Shriners are holding an Arts and Crafts Festival in their big air-conditioned theatre which is open to the public for free where you can expect to find an estimated 70 vendors selling art at a fun-filled family atmosphere.

Tucson’s Art in the Park is a big art event that features work from some of the best artists and craftspeople in the West offering free admission at the Veterans Memorial Park as you can shop the art galleries before unwinding at the Vineyard.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

When you want to find some new unique works or figure out the true value of something visit art dealers and appraisers near you like:

Covington Fine Art Appraisals works here and around the United States with insurance, donations, estates, fair market value of paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures.

Steven Terpning owns and operates the Fine Art Publishing company which began by creating and selling limited edition fine art canvas reproductions of Howard Terpning’s work but rapidly grew to include other notable painters.

Madaras Gallery from our initial list could also have gone in this section.

Walking Tours

These art walking tours can be a lot of fun on a nice day:

The goal of Meet Me at Maynards is to attract active people and families to the downtown region for healthy activity, to appreciate and patronize local businesses, and to see the beauty, history, and architecture of these distinct neighborhoods.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Tucson lessons near you studios

You may also be interested in taking photos of these statues and sculptures in your area:

  • 911 Sculpture at 10637 E Camino Quince
  • Invisible Horses Sculpture at 1256 S Houghton Rd
  • Junk Sculpture Garden at 1402 E Water St
  • Glenn Stone-Muffler Man at 2811 N Stone Ave
  • Concrete Wine Bottle at 3306 N 1st Ave
  • The Mormon Battalion Monument at 165 W Alameda St

Paul “Oly” Olesniewicz established 911 Sculpture to produce high-quality bronze sculptures in honor of deceased and live police officers, law enforcement officials, military, forest service workers, and other first responders including medical workers.

The Invisible Horses Sculpture is of a mare and foal on an empty highway median carefully engineered to be unseen as you approach but apparent as you go past.

Jerry Hall created the Junk Sculpture Garden with discarded metal which he used to create scrappy figures in his yard.

Glenn Stone-Muffler Man is a large fiberglass figure with a large ax which is replaced with a sugar cane every season and interestingly when it was first placed in 1964 it advertised a car shop.

The Mormon Battalion Monument is a non-profit organization whose role is to help keep the Mormon Battalion alive in memory.

Tucson Art Classes

Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults the best Tucson art schools are:

The University of Arizona School of Art is committed to providing a rigorous and vibrant visual arts education challenging students to critically analyze, investigate, make, and teach art in both historical and current settings.

The Drawing Studio was founded in 1992 by artist Andrew Rush and 20 friends to provide training and camaraderie to artists and students outside of traditional schools.

Outside wheel and hand building classes, clay, a firing service, glazes, virtual workshops, adult and children’s project kits, as well as an online gallery store and outdoor pottery gallery are all available at Tucson Clay Coop.

Birthday parties, painting parties, showers, and other events are all held at Blue Raven where you may create a fun art activity for everyone and include it into your party arrangements.

Studios For Rent Near You

Take your next project more seriously by renting studio space to work in at:

Placita de la Luna is home to an eclectic mix of artist studios, retail stores, and office buildings.

Art on 6th Street is a cooperative of local artists with studios on 6th Street, Navajo Street, and Hillside Avenue in Prescott. On the 4th Saturday of each month 16 artists will open their 12 studios.

Six artists are given affordable studio space by Gallery Azul and Artist Studio Cooperative and occasionally a spot becomes available.

Framing

When you need art framing near you head to:

The major focus of Deadwood Frame is custom picture framing but they also sell a variety of other products and cards.

Arizona Picture & Frame Gallery combines a bespoke frame business with an art gallery in your area where the work is displayed in half of the store while the other half has ready-made frames and the custom counter.

In Southern Arizona Mo’s is the gold standard for framing services.

Artistic Archival Framing Installation and Service are provided by Lewis Framing Studio.

You can check out some of our other posts on:

Have Fun Enjoying The Tucson Art Scene

Well guys, we tried to cover the full art scene near you to the best of our abilities. You learned about the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers in your area.

If you made it this far you might just know a lot about the local art scene yourself. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if you noticed anything incorrect in the comments.

Have fun going to the galleries, museums, buying supplies or doing anything that has to do with art in Tucson!

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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