Jul, 23, 2026
American and Western American ArtMedia AlertsSpecial Events and Programs
Phoenix Art Museum premieres exhibition of more than 80 works by Indigenous modern and contemporary artists; hosts CATVIDEOFEST and Phoenix Symphony performance in August
PHOENIX (July 23, 2026) – This August, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will premiere The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art: The William P. Healey Collection at Phoenix Art Museum, an examination of modernity in Native American art and the numerous ways Indigenous artists from the 20th century through today have sustained, adapted, and reimagined cultural knowledge. PhxArt presents specialty arts-engagement programming for the summer season with Kids Day, collaborations with The Phoenix Symphony and Sissy Art, and—back by popular demand—CATVIDEOFEST 2026. Additional event details and ticket links are provided below.
FEATURED EVENTS
Kids Day at PhxArt
Sunday, August 9 | Noon – 5 pm
Free for Members + Summer Pass holders | Included with general admission
Designed for visitors of all ages, Kids Day at PhxArt features interactive in-gallery art-making, Storytime, and dynamic performances that connect you with PhxArt’s collection and special exhibitions. This August, Kids Day is inspired by the work of Lehmann Emerging Artist Award recipient Chris Ignacio. Renowned for his puppetry and performance, Ignacio creates work that explores emotions and identity.
- Noon–5 pm | Use your creativity to construct a puppet craft
- Noon–5 pm | Meet the artist Chris Ignacio + assemble a moveable figure that illustrates action and emotion
- 1:30–2 pm | Join us for a reading of The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions by Anna Llenas
- 2–2:45 pm | Performance by The Phoenix Symphony
Tickets are available here. All art-engagement programming is included free with general admission.
Kids Day is made possible by Desert Financial Credit Union, 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.
Summer with Sissy Art
Free for Members + Summer Pass holders | Included with general admission
In August, join local art + social collective Sissy Art (@sissyart) for artmaking in the galleries! Sissy Art offers an exciting and relaxing way to craft and unleash your inner artist with unique hands-on creative activities.
- Wednesday, August 5* | 5 – 8 pm – Drawing Club – Reserve tickets here.
- Saturday, August 22 | 1 – 4 pm – DIY Sock Puppets – Purchase tickets here.
*Free-access times. Art-making activities are included with general admission.
Summer Symphony Series
Free for Members + Summer Pass holders | Included with general admission
The Phoenix Symphony is coming to PhxArt for four more performances this summer. Catch them on select Sundays during Kids Day and on select Wednesday evenings throughout the season and experience the Museum in a whole new way.
Performance Dates
- Sunday, August 9 at 2 – 2:45 pm
- Wednesday, August 19 at 5 – 5:30 pm*
- Sunday, September 13 at 2 – 2:45 pm
- Wednesday, September 16 at 5 – 5:30 pm*
*Free-access times. Performances are included with general admission. Purchase tickets here.
CATVIDEOFEST 2026
$10 for Members | $12 for general public*
CATVIDEOFEST 2026 is a compilation of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and classic internet powerhouses. Each year, across the U.S., local theaters partner with nearby cat-focused charities, animal welfare associations, and shelters alike, with a portion of ticket proceeds from every show supporting local cats in need.
*Tickets do not include General Admission to the Museum.
- Saturday, August 8 at 1 pm | Purchase tickets here.
- Sunday, August 9 at 2 pm | Purchase tickets here.
OPENING SOON
The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art from the William P. Healey Collection
Opening August 26, 2026
The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art from the William P. Healey Collection examines modernity in Native American art and demonstrates how Indigenous artists have sustained, adapted, and reimagined cultural knowledge across a century. The exhibition considers how visual culture was transmitted through familial lines of artists, artists’ collectives, and pedagogical lineages, including the complex legacies of Native boarding schools. It also explores the power of storytelling, examining how works rooted in ceremony demonstrate continuity and resistance, while tracing evolving relationships to abstraction and modernism. Featured artists include Fritz Scholder, T. C. Cannon, Kay WalkingStick, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Emmi Whitehorse, Quincy Tahoma and more.
The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art: The William P. Healey Collection at Phoenix Art Museum is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and is curated by JoAnna Reyes, PhD, Adjunct Curator for Art of the Americas and guest curator Tony Abeyta (Navajo). 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.
NEW ON VIEW
Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography
Through January 3, 2027
Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography features nearly 100 works from the collection of the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography (CCP) in Tucson that demonstrate the transformative, experimental, and whimsical nature of the medium. Featured works span nearly the entire history of the medium, presenting everything from still lifes to time-lapse and astronomical imagery. The exhibition celebrates the 20-year anniversary of the landmark partnership between Phoenix Art Museum and CCP.
Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography 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.
2025 Arizona Artist Awards
Through January 24, 2027
In NOW WHAT?, 2025 Scult Family Artist Award recipient Alice Leora Briggs reflects on human mortality and the passage of time through an intimate display anchored by her signature sgraffito works and a site-specific installation. In adjacent galleries, 2025 Lehmann Emerging Artists Awards recipient Chris Ignacio premieres a new series, Everything is Ourselves, that draws from puppetry and performance traditions to consider how animated objects function as extensions of identity, while fellow Lehmann Award recipient Jan Talmadge Davids showcases repair(ian), a series that examines the relationship among physical landscape, emotional identity, and geographies.
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. Alice Leora Briggs: NOW WHAT? and the 2025 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards exhibitions are organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Christian Ramírez, the Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement. Their Phoenix premiere is made possible by the Cohn Fund for Arts and Culture, a founding gift of the Phoenix Art Museum Education and Engagement Excellence. Additional support is 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.
For a full list of exhibitions on view now at Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org/art/exhibitions/.
OTHER AUGUST EVENTS
Saturday, August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 | 11 am – 3 pm
Free for Members | Included with general admission
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.
Object of the Month: Something like Ezekiel: Waiting for the Transformative Moment, Michi Meko
August 1, 6, 20, 27 | 11:30 am
Free for Members | Included with general admission
For more information, click here.
Object of the Month is made possible by CMI Gold & Silver.
Storytime
Thursday, August 6 | 10:30 am
Free for Members | Included with general admission
For more information, click here.
Storytime 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.
Friday, August 7 | 5 – 8 pm
Free general admission
Tickets are available here.
First Friday at PhxArt is made possible through the generosity of APS with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation.
Films at PhxArt: Do the Right Thing
Wednesday, August 12 | 6 pm
Free for Members | $10 for general public
Tickets are available here.
National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World
Sunday, August 23 | 1 pm
$15 for Members | $20 for General Public
Tickets are available here.
OTHER DISCOUNTED + FREE-ACCESS PROGRAMS
Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays
Every Wednesday | 3 – 8 pm
Voluntary-donation general admission
Free for Museum Members | $10 special exhibition
Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays are made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix, with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation.
Active-duty U.S. military personnel and their families enjoy free admission from Armed Forces Day (May 16, 2026) through Labor Day (September 7, 2026) as part of the Blue Star Museums program.
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, get out of the heat and into our air-conditioned galleries with the PhxArt Summer Pass.
For just $75, pass holders get:
- Unlimited visits from May 27–September 6, 2026
- Free general admission for two adults and all youth (17 and under)
- Free monthly film screenings
- Free access to Create Playdate + Sissy Art art-making activations in the galleries
- Free access to artist lectures
- 10% off at the award-winning Museum Store
- And more!
For more information, click here.
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.
# # #