Dec, 23, 2025
Media AlertsSpecial Events and Programs
Phoenix Art Museum presents new, original photography exhibition and special Florentine Baroque lecture in January
PHOENIX (December 17, 2025) – This January, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will premiere a new, original photography exhibition exploring the human figure and bodily experiences of movement, self-expression, aging, and more. PhxArt, in partnership with FOCUS on European Art, will host Dr. Davide Gasparotto, Senior Curator of Paintings and Chair of Curatorial Affairs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, for a special lecture discussing the gilded frames of the Florentine Baroque on January 28. Additional programming includes Kids Day, with activations inspired by the exhibition Flowers of the Punjab, and the next edition of monthly music series SOUNDCHECK, featuring Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra. Additional event details and ticket links are provided below.
FEATURED EVENTS
LECTURE // Dr. Davide Gasparotto, Carved Splendors: Florentine Baroque Frames at the Medici Court
Wednesday, January 28 | 6 pm
Free for Members | $8 for general public
Hear from Dr. Davide Gasparotto, Senior Curator of Paintings and Chair of Curatorial Affairs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, during a special lecture, hosted in partnership with FOCUS on European Art, as he discusses the gilded frames of the Florentine Baroque, inspired by the exhibition Florentine Baroque: The Haukohl Collection.
Originally from Italy, Gasparotto studied at the University and the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa before beginning his curatorial career at the National Gallery of Parma. From 2012 to 2014, he served as Director of the Galleria Estense in Modena, where he oversaw significant exhibitions and collection initiatives prior to joining the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2014. An expert in Renaissance art, his scholarship focuses on painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period, the rediscovery of classical antiquity, and the history of collecting, with particular emphasis on the Italian Renaissance. His research and lectures—such as his work on Bertoldo di Giovanni and the revival of classical culture in the age of Lorenzo de’ Medici—reflect his deep engagement with the artistic and intellectual currents that shaped the Renaissance and its legacy.
Tickets are available here.
Phoenix Art Museum offers a special thanks to FOCUS on European Art, a charitable organization that promotes education in the arts with special emphasis on European art and art history, for their partnership in hosting this event. An evening with Dr. Davide Gasparotto and Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl is made possible through the generosity of presenting sponsor The Kasser Family, with additional support from Huntington T. Block Insurance and WealthSpire. Florentine Baroque: The Haukohl Collection is organized by Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl with the generous support of the Haukohl Philanthropies. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Rachel Sadvary Zebro, Associate Curator of Collections. Florentine Baroque: The Haukohl Collection is made possible by FOCUS on European Art. Additional support is provided by Joanna and Mick Levin. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
SOUNDCHECK: Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra
Thursday, January 15 | Bar opens @ 5 pm | Doors open @ 5:30 pm |
Show 6 – 7 pm
Presented in the Dorrance Sculpture Garden
Free for Members | Included with general admission for the public
On January 15, SOUNDCHECK welcomes Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra (PAO!) to PhxArt. PAO! proudly carries the musical and social torch first lit by the powerful duo Fela Kútì and Tony Allen, the original inventors of the Afrobeat sound in Lagos, Nigeria in West Africa. Led by funky heiress Camille Sledge, the 16-strong orchestra is composed of the most ambitious, outrageous musicians in Phoenix today. PAO! has penned an abundance of original material that melds the eclectic heritage of the ensemble with that classic Afrobeat style. The outcome is a truly powerful sound that pays homage to the masters, while maintaining a fierce individuality, acting as a loud voice-piece of solidarity and understanding for the global community. From concert halls to music festivals, fashion shows to fundraisers, PAO! has shared the stage with musical icons from George Clinton to The Roots, and many others.
Tickets are available here.
SOUNDCHECK is made possible through the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Men’s Arts Council, with additional support from Desert Financial Credit Union and the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for the Performing Arts.
OPENING SOON
Muscle Memory: Lens on the Body
January 24, 2026 – June 28, 2026
Muscle Memory: Lens on the Body explores the ways in which photographers across history have represented and reckoned with the human body and its associated dimensionality, evolution, and politicization. Drawn primarily from the collections of the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) at the University of Arizona in Tucson and Phoenix Art Museum, the exhibition showcases more than 80 wide-ranging works that contend with the body’s form, physicality, and limits. The exhibition’s works are presented across four thematic sections and offer audiences the opportunity to consider the body’s ability to morph and bear traces of lived experiences.
Muscle Memory: Lens on the Body is co-organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. The exhibition is curated by Emilia Mickevicius, PhD, the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
ON VIEW NOW
Eric Fischl: Stories Told
Through June 14, 2026
Eric Fischl: Stories Told brings together 40 large-scale works by the renowned painter, who grew up in Long Island, New York, and Phoenix, Arizona. Working with figurative painting and narrative content in the late 1970s, when it was decidedly out of favor in the art world, Fischl made his subject what he knew best: memories of suburban life and the nuclear family of his childhood. Stories Told features works from the late 1970s to today, illuminating the artist’s continued exploration of the human figure in fraught, ambiguous moments where social taboos, anxieties, family secrets, masculinity, unacknowledged privilege, the collision of the public and the private, and more, bubble just below the surface.
Eric Fischl: Stories Told is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and guest-curated by Heather Sealy Lineberry, Curator Emeritus at the Arizona State University Art Museum and faculty associate in the ASU School of Art’s Museum Studies program. The exhibition is presented by the Men’s Arts Council, with leadership support from Margaret T. Morris Foundation, and Steven Martin and Anne Stringfield. Major support provided by Michael and Nancy Gifford, James and Janet Dicke, Bruce and Suzie Kovner, and DL Withers Foundation. Additional support is provided by Rafael Jablonka, Erica Samuels, and Skarstedt Gallery. In-kind support provided by Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix. Contemporary art exhibitions and projects are made possible in part by the Rob Walton, Jordan Rose, and Rose Law Group Fund for Contemporary Art. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation, with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. Leadership support for the exhibition publication, Eric Fischl: Late America, is provided by Skarstedt Gallery.
James K. Ballinger Wing | Art of the Americas + Europe Galleries
Opening November 28, 2025
Home to 10 gallery spaces, the newly renovated and dedicated James K. Ballinger Wing reopens after a five-month renovation, featuring outstanding examples of historical American, Western American, Viceregal Latin American, and European art from the PhxArt Collection presented in conversation with contemporary works by Amalia Mesa-Bains, Virgil Ortiz, and Federico Solmi, among other new acquisitions and significant loans. The refreshed space also features special exhibitions on Ed Mell and George Elbert Burr, the renovated Thorne Miniature Rooms, and the relocated and reimagined Ullman Center for the Art of Philip C. Curtis.
The inaugural installation of the James K. Ballinger Wing, an initiative honoring the historic collections of Phoenix Art Museum and the visionary leadership of Director Emeritus James K. Ballinger, was made possible by generous gifts from the Virginia M. Ullman Foundation and the Kemper & Ethel Marley Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation, Cathie Lemon, the Men’s Arts Council, and Harry and Rose Papp. The installation in the Ullman Center for the Art of Philip C. Curtis is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. It is made possible by the Virginia M. Ullman Foundation. Installations of American Art and Art of the American West in the Tooker and Wayland galleries are organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. The installation in the Kemper & Ethel Marley Gallery for Art of the American West is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. It is made possible by the Kemper & Ethel Marley Foundation. Ed Mell: In the Studio in the Woodyard Gallery is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Olga Viso, the Selig Family Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs. It is presented by the Kemper & Ethel Marley Foundation. George Elbert Burr: The Desert Etchings is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Olga Viso, the Selig Family Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs. The installation of Viceregal Art of Latin America in the Astorga Gallery is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by JoAnna Reyes, PhD, Adjunct Curator for Art of the Americas. It is made possible by the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation. Installations of European Art in the Harrington, Sukhman, and Stegall galleries are curated by Rachel Zebro, Associate Curator of Collections. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
CLOSING SOON
Through January 4, 2026
Through 70 photographs drawn primarily from the collection of the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Funny Business: Photography and Humor offers a compelling view into the ways artists have utilized visual humor not only to provoke laughter and delight but also as a means of resistance
Funny Business: Photography and Humor is co-organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. The exhibition is curated by Emilia Mickevicius, PhD, the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
2024 Arizona Artist Awards
Through January 25, 2026
Safwat Saleem: The Unrequited Love Institute and the 2024 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards Exhibition feature works by Arizona-based contemporary artists. The 2024 Arlene and Morton Scult Artist Awardee Safwat Saleem showcases his latest works in an installation that centers on immigrant narratives and the cultural loss that results from assimilation. In the 2024 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards Exhibition, emerging artists Elizabeth Z. Pineda and Omar Soto explores issues surrounding immigration, identity, queer joy, and escapism.
The Arizona Artist Awards are made possible by the Scult Family; Sally and Richard Lehmann; and the Cohn Fund for Arts and Culture, a founding gift of the Phoenix Art Museum Education and Engagement Excellence Fund. Safwat Saleem: The Unrequited Love Institute and 2024 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards are organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Christian Ramírez, the Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement. The exhibitions are made possible by the Cohn Fund for Arts and Culture, a founding gift of the Phoenix Art Museum Education and Engagement Excellence Fund. Additional support provided by the Rob Walton, Jordan Rose, and Rose Law Group Fund for Contemporary Art. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by the Opatrny Family Foundation, with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
OTHER JANUARY EVENTS
Friday, January 2 | 5 – 8 pm
Free general admission | $10 special exhibition tickets
Programming will return on February 6, 2026.
Tickets are available here.
First Friday at PhxArt is made possible through the generosity of APS with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation.
LEARN // Object of the Month: I Remember Being Alone, Grace Kennison
January 3, 15, 22, 29 | 11:30 am
Free for Members | Included with general admission for the public
For more information, click here.
Object of the Month is made possible by CMI Gold & Silver.
Saturday, January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | 11 am – 3 pm
Free for Members | Included with general admission for the general public
For more information, click here.
Create Playdate is made possible by The Discount Tire Endowment for Children’s Art Programs, and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
LEARN // Lemon Library Book Club: Bad Boy
Wednesday, January 7 | 6:30 pm
Located in the Amphitheater inside the Museum
Free event. Please reserve your ticket and check in at the Guest Services Desk.
For more information, click here.
Saturday, January 10 | 10 am – 2 pm
Free for Members | Included with general admission for the public
January’s Kids Day highlights the beautifully patterned textiles featured in the Flowers of the Punjab exhibition.
For more information, click here.
Kids Day is made possible by the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts, The Discount Tire Endowment for Children’s Art Programs, and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.
Wednesday, January 14 | 6:00 pm
Free for Members | $8 for general public
For more information, click here.
Films at PhxArt is made possible by Fit Via Vi Films.
FILMS // National Theatre Live: Life of Pi
Sunday, January 18 | 1:00 pm
$15 for Members | $20 for general public
For more information, click here.
National Theatre Live screenings are made possible in part by the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts.
Performance in the Garden: Elizabeth Z. Pineda
Wednesday, January 21 | 6:30pm
Dorrance Sculpture Garden | Free
Join 2024 Lehmann Emerging Artist Award recipient Elizabeth Z. Pineda for a special performance of Un Libro de Familia, 02.
For more information, click here.
The Arizona Artist Awards are made possible by the Scult Family; Sally and Richard Lehmann; and the Cohn Fund for Arts and Culture, a founding gift of the Phoenix Art Museum Education and Engagement Excellence Fund. Safwat Saleem: The Unrequited Love Institute and 2024 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards are organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Christian Ramírez, the Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement. The exhibitions are made possible by the Cohn Fund for Arts and Culture, a founding gift of the Phoenix Art Museum Education and Engagement Excellence Fund. Additional support provided by the Rob Walton, Jordan Rose, and Rose Law Group Fund for Contemporary Art. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by the Opatrny Family Foundation, with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
Curator Talk: The Figurative World of Eric Fischl
Thursday, January 22 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Free for Members | Included with general admission for the public
Registration required. Capacity is limited.
This January, join guest curator Heather Sealy Lineberry, Curator Emeritus at the Arizona State University Art Museum, for an in-depth look at Eric Fischl: Stories Told,
For more information, click here.
Eric Fischl: Stories Told is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and guest-curated by Heather Sealy Lineberry, Curator Emeritus at the Arizona State University Art Museum and faculty associate in the ASU School of Art’s Museum Studies program. The exhibition is presented by the Men’s Arts Council, with leadership support from Margaret T. Morris Foundation, and Steven Martin and Anne Stringfield. Major support provided by Michael and Nancy Gifford, James and Janet Dicke, Bruce and Suzie Kovner, and DL Withers Foundation. Additional support is provided by Rafael Jablonka, Erica Samuels, and Skarstedt Gallery. In-kind support provided by Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix. Contemporary art exhibitions and projects are made possible in part by the Rob Walton, Jordan Rose, and Rose Law Group Fund for Contemporary Art. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation, with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. Leadership support for the exhibition publication, Eric Fischl: Late America, is provided by Skarstedt Gallery.
OTHER DISCOUNTED + FREE ACCESS PROGRAMS
Every Wednesday | 3 – 8 pm
Voluntary-donation general admission
$10 off Memberships when purchased on-site
SPECIAL-EXHIBITION TICKETS: $10 for adults | $5 for youth under 17 | FREE for Museum Members
Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays are made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix, with additional support by Arizona Community Foundation.
Military Discount
Active-duty U.S. military personnel and veterans enjoy $5 off general admission tickets to Phoenix Art Museum. A valid ID is required for on-site redemption.
About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) has engaged millions of visitors with the art of our region and world. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, PhxArt creates spaces of exchange and belonging for all audiences through dynamic exhibitions, collections, and experiences with art. Each year, 300,000 guests on average engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 21,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern, and contemporary art and fashion design, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. PhxArt also presents live performances, outstanding examples of global cinema, arts-education programs and workshops, a monthly live-music series, and more for the community. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.