_{^{Cara Romero, Coyote Appears at Muhaḍagĭ Doʼag (Greasy Mountain), 2026, archival pigment print. © Cara Romero. Image courtesy of the artist.}}

PHOENIX, AZ (June 3, 2026) – During First Friday on June 5, 2026, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will premiere Coyote Appears at Muhaḍagĭ Doʼag (Greasy Mountain), a new commission by contemporary photographer Cara Romero, whose first major museum exhibition, Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light), is currently on view at PhxArt through June 28, 2026. The artist’s first triptych, the large-scale photograph was created at South Mountain Park and Preserve in Phoenix and depicts Dre Noline who is both San Carlos Apache and Salt River Pima-Maricopa reclining within the landscape and embodying the human connection to Coyote and all animals.

“We are honored to welcome Coyote Appears at Muhaḍagĭ Doʼag (Greasy Mountain) by Cara Romero into the permanent collection of Phoenix Art Museum,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Cara is one of the most important voices in contemporary photography today, with deep ties to the Desert Southwest, and this work marks a powerful return to black-and-white film after nearly two decades of working digitally. The piece is both visually striking and deeply thoughtful in its reflection on humanity’s relationship to the land, centering Indigenous materials, perspectives, and practices in a way that feels urgent and timeless. We invite our community to join us for June First Friday as we celebrate the unveiling of this extraordinary work.”

Grounded in regional, collaborative storytelling with Native peoples, Coyote Appears at Muhaḍagĭ Doʼag (Greasy Mountain) is emblematic of Romero’s practice in touching on universal themes of women’s empowerment, environmental stewardship, and the role of landscape in shaping identity. The image’s model connects us to Coyote, who exists as both herself and a conduit for the Coyote spirit. She wears a shell necklace, a Pima cotton dress, and Pima sandals, markers of her ancestral connection to this landscape and peoples of Phoenix. Romero made the Coyote mask and collaborated with fiber artist Leah Mata-Fragua to create the model’s necklace. The sandals are the model’s personal shoes, an intimate detail demonstrating the way Romero invites her sitters to take part in the creative process alongside her.

“This photograph honors the desert landscape and Indigenous Mythos that emerges from it,” said Romero, whose homelands are on the Chemehuevi Valley Indian Reservation. “It considers flora and fauna as sentient beings and how they can teach us about being in relationship—how all living things are interconnected. The image is a gentle offering and reminder of our shared connection to our landscape.”

Coyote Appears at Muhaḍagĭ Doʼag (Greasy Mountain) is currently on view on the first floor of the Museum’s Katz Wing for Modern Art, placing Romero’s work in conversation with other contemporary artists creating large-scale works rooted in place. Organized by the Hood Museum, Dartmouth, the artist’s exhibition Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light), is showcased on the second floor of the Katz Wing for Modern Art, providing a focused view into the artist’s practice. Featuring 60 iconic large-scale photographs spanning a decade, the exhibition illuminates the way Romero blends fine art and editorial styles to challenge dominant narratives of Indigenous decline and erasure and to disrupt preconceived notions about what it means to be a Native American.

High-resolution photography of the new commission can be found here. For additional inquiries, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org or press@phxart.org.  

About Cara Romero

Cara Romero, b. 1977, Inglewood, Calif. (American / Chemehuevi), is an artist known for dramatic fine art photography that examines Indigenous life in contemporary contexts. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings: the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, California, and the urban sprawl of Houston, Texas. Informed by her identity, Romero’s visceral approach to representing Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences results in a blending of fine art and editorial styles. Maintaining a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Romero regularly participates in Native American art fairs and panel discussions and was featured on PBS’s Craft in America in 2019. Her award-winning work is included in numerous public and private collections, domestically and internationally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum, Amon Carter Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, and Forge Project Collections, among others. Romero travels between Santa Fe and the Chemehuevi Valley Indian Reservation, where she maintains close ties to her tribal community and ancestral homelands.

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.

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PHOENIX (June 2, 2026) – Phoenix Art Museum announces the addition of 185 works by Indigenous artists to its collection. The gift from The William P. Healey Collection of Native American Art marks the single largest gift of Native art to the Museum in its 65+ year history and strengthens the Museum’s Art of the Americas Collection by providing a major infusion of modern and contemporary works by 99 artists representing 44 tribal nations. The acquisition furthers the Museum’s efforts to expand its Art of the Americas holdings and better represent the complex and layered histories of the Americas in its galleries. Drawing from this significant gift, the Museum 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. Featuring more than 100 of the gifted works, The Way We Came will be on view from August 26, 2026, through July 11, 2027.

“We are deeply grateful to William Healey for this transformational gift to the Phoenix Art Museum Collection,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “These works address a critical gap in our holdings and represent a significant step forward in our commitment to telling a more expansive story of the Americas, one that not only recognizes the profound impact of Native artists in the Southwest, but also honors their enduring influence across North America and their essential role in shaping modern and contemporary art.”

PhxArt’s Art of the Americas Collection spans the 16th century to the present, with strengths in historical art of the American West, pre-modern American art, and Viceregal Latin American Art. With acquired works from the Healey Collection, including paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures spanning the 20th century to present, the Museum broadens its holdings to bring in vital perspectives by modern and contemporary Indigenous artists, who explore a wide range of cultural traditions and stories and demonstrate myriad forms of artistic expression. Of note, the collection offers the rare opportunity to highlight the continuity of artistic tradition across generations of families; parent-child artists represented in the gift include Fred and Michael Kabotie, Allan Houser and Bob Haozous,
Tony Abeyta, Celebration from the Underworld, 1998-1999. Oil on canvas. William P. Healey Collection of Native American Art at Phoenix Art Museum, Gift of William P. Healey. Photo: Davin Lavikka
and Narciso and Tony Abeyta. Additionally, 22 of the 99 artists represented in the collection are women, advancing deeper recognition of women artists. Placed in conversation with the Museum’s existing Art of the Americas holdings, these works will offer critical counterpoints to established art historical frameworks and enrich dialogues across collecting areas.

Featured artists in the Healey gift to the PhxArt Museum Collection include:
•Jaune-Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai)
•Narciso Abeyta (Navajo)
•Tony Abeyta (Navajo)
•Cara Romero (Chemehuevi)
•Harry Fonseca (Miwok, Nisenan)
•Fritz Scholder (Luiseño)
•Pablita Velarde (Tse Tsan, Santa Clara Pueblo)
•Tonita Peña (Quah Ah, San Ildefonso Pueblo)
•Stephen Mopope (Kiowa)
•Oscar Howe (Dakota Sioux)
•Acee Blue Eagle (Muscogee Creek)
•Allan Houser (Apache)
•Harrison Begay (Navajo)
•Fred Kabotie (Hopi)
•T. C. Cannon (Kiowa, Caddo)
•Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee)
•Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo)
•Michael Chiago (Tho-Hono, Tohono O’odham, Pima-Maricopa)

Stemming from this major acquisition, PhxArt will premiere in August 2026 The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art (The William P. Healey Collection at Phoenix Art Museum), an exhibition that brings more than 100 works from the Healey Collection to Arizona audiences. Curated by Dr. JoAnna Reyes, the Museum’s adjunct curator of Art of the Americas, and second generation Native artist Tony Abeyta (Navajo), with whom Healey shaped this collection, the exhibition will center on the concept of “survivance,” a term coined by Anishinaabe scholar Gerald Vizenor that combines “survival” and “resistance” to describe how Indigenous peoples move beyond mere survival toward an active, creative sense of presence that carries knowledge forward. Exhibition themes include the power of storytelling, the evolution of abstraction and modernism, the role and importance of place and landscape, and the ways cultural knowledge and visual languages have been transmitted through familial lines of artists, artists’ collectives, and art education and training, including the complex legacies of Native boarding schools.

“I am deeply honored to help steward this remarkable collection of Native art and am committed to caring for it with integrity and respect,” said Reyes. “I am especially excited by the opportunity to place these works within a fuller, more connected story of the Americas—one that embraces and highlights the richness, diversity, and continuity of Indigenous artistic traditions across time and place.”

An avid, lifelong collector with a deep interest in Western art and ephemera, William P. Healey developed the Healey Collection over decades in close consultation with Tony Abeyta, a partnership that helped ensure that cultural insight and authenticity guided the acquisition process. Healey prioritized purchasing works directly from artists and their estates and fostered personal relationships with reputable gallerists, including James Trotta-Bono, who served as a close advisor. Healey has demonstrated a sustained commitment to the arts through his philanthropy, including his long tenure as a member of the Charlie Russell Riders and Foundation, his service on the Board of Directors at the C.M. Russell Museum, his prior service as a board member of the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma, and his donation of 100 artworks by Indigenous artist to the St. Louis Art Museum in 2024. The Healey gift to PhxArt prioritizes both historical depth and contemporary voices, tracing evolving artistic expressions while honoring tradition.

“The enthusiasm and dedication to excellence I have experienced from the team at Phoenix Art Museum has been extraordinary,” said Healey. “The Museum has deep personal meaning for me over many years, making it especially significant to see the collection find its permanent home here. At a moment when the American art canon is being reshaped and expanded, I believe it is paramount that Native American artists are recognized as essential to that story. Phoenix Art Museum has made a major commitment to using this collection to help achieve that end.”

“I am honored to bear witness to how Bill Healey assembled this important collection,” said Abeyta. “It began with a vision to tell the story from the perspective of Native American artists. Too often, the Western Indigenous narrative has been sidelined or viewed through a romanticized lens. Bill sought to add an authentic testament to this American narrative. The acquisition of this collection by Phoenix Art Museum fulfills that vision by sharing it with the world. The gift of these artworks stands as a testament to his vision to clarify the achievements of Native American artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each painting, no matter which tribe or time period, is connected through cultural practice, innovation, and a shared quest for individualism.”

In addition to the exhibition, the Museum will highlight the Healey gift through a future publication slated for Spring 2028, which will be published in partnership with Scala Arts Publishers Inc. Essays will explore themes of resistance and cultural survival from the 1900s–1930s, the history of Native artists moving within the Abstract Expressionist/Modernist movements of the 1930s–1950s, the postwar era and emergent expressions of aesthetic and political self-determination from the 1950s–1980s, and future directions of Indigenous art. Contributors include Dr. Leah Shenandoah (Wolf Clan Member of the Onyo’ta:aká: – Oneida Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy); Dr. Ashley Holland (Cherokee [EBCI]); Dr. Anya Montiel (Tohono O’odham); and Dr. Chelsea Herr (Choctaw).
For images or more information about this latest acquisition and upcoming exhibition, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at samantha.andreacchi@phxart.org or press@phxart.org

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.

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PHOENIX (April 22, 2026) – This summer, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will present the acclaimed art installation The Instrument of Troubled Dreams by Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller to Arizona audiences for the first time. Internationally recognized Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are known for their immersive multimedia sound installations and audio and video walking tours that invite visitor engagement and sensory engagement. Created in 2019, The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is an interactive, room-sized audio installation featuring a replica of a modified 1960s Mellotron MK II keyboard, 23 speakers, and chairs. Museum visitors are invited to sit and play the instrument, experiencing a range of music, vocal tracks, and background sounds. The Instrument of Troubled Dreams will be on view in the Marshall Gallery at PhxArt from June 13, 2026 through May 2028.

“The Instrument of Troubled Dreams reflects the Museum’s ongoing commitment to bringing more immersive, experiential art into our galleries,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “This installation by the internationally recognized artists known for their immersive multimedia sound installations and audio/video walks is a rare opportunity for our community to experience how their work harnesses sound to forge connection, spark memory, and create powerful, story-driven moments grounded in both personal and collective experience.”

Born in small rural towns in Canada, Janet Cardiff (b. 1957) and George Bures Miller (b. 1960) have collaborated for more than 35 years. Working with sound and new media technologies—including film, robotics, and advanced audio-recording techniques—they create immersive, interactive installations that explore memory, narrative, space, and time. Their video installation The Berlin Files (2003) was featured in the Museum’s 2006 exhibition Constructing New Berlin, the first major survey of contemporary art produced in post-Wall Berlin. The Instrument of Troubled Dreams marks the second presentation of their work at Phoenix Art Museum and the Arizona premiere of this particular installation.

To engage with the work, Museum visitors are invited to sit at a replica of a modified 1960s Mellotron keyboard and become active participants in The Instrument of Troubled Dreams. While the original Mellotron was used to compose music using prerecorded tape banks, this instrument has been transformed into a storytelling device. Each of the 72 keys has been programmed to play back a different sound effect, vocal track, or musical part so participants can compose their own film-like soundtrack. These sounds and narratives are played back in full spherical surround sound over 23 speakers encircling the listener/performer in a dystopian story of their own making.

“Cardiff & Miller transform sound into a storytelling medium,” said Christian Ramírez, the Museum’s Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement. “As visitors activate the installation, layers of music, voices, and environmental sounds unfold in real time, creating cinematic audio landscapes that shift with every choice. The work invites audiences to step inside a constantly evolving narrative shaped by listening, memory, and participation.”

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller’s The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is on loan to PhxArt from the collection of Diane and Bruce Halle, longtime supporters of contemporary art and lenders of Carlos Amorales’ Black Cloud, also on view in the Museum’s Greenbaum Lobby and John Morrell Promenade.

About the Installation

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller’s The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is on loan from the Diane and Bruce Halle Collection.

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.

Admission is free for Museum Members and youth aged 5 and younger. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix, with additional support by Arizona Community Foundation. For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

High-resolution photography can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org or kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org.

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.

About Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller

Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller live and work in British Columbia. They are internationally recognized for their immersive multimedia sound installations and their audio and video walks. Their work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey, Mexico (2019); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (2018); the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2017); the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2017); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark (2015); the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2015); the Menil Collection, Houston (2015); the 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014); the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2013); and Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012). In 2011, they received Germany’s Käthe Kollwitz Prize. In 2001, they represented Canada at the 49th Venice Biennale, where they received the Premio Speciale and the Benesse Prize.

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PHOENIX (March 31, 2026) – On April 15, 2026, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will present its newest fashion exhibition Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion. The exhibition commemorates the 60th anniversary of Phoenix Art Museum’s fashion collection by presenting a chromatic celebration of colorful ensembles and whimsical accessories. Arranged across a runway of vibrant hues, this exhibition reveals how North American and European designers including Hubert de Givenchy, Olivier Lapidus, Tina Leser, and Giorgio di Sant’Angelo have used color as a source of inspiration. In addition to luscious gowns and sparkling dresses, the exhibition features some of the smallest and most extraordinary objects in the Museum’s fashion holdings, such as Judith Leiber pillboxes encased in multihued crystals, psychedelic scarves, and shoes that evoke the golden tones of an Egyptian burial or the bold explosion of graffiti paint. From couture to ready-to-wear, Colorwear immerses you in the power of color as storytelling, mood, and creative expression. Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion will be on view at PhxArt from April 15, 2026 through August 15, 2027 in the Kelly Ellman Fashion Galleries.

This riotous celebration of color continues throughout the year with rotating ensembles, the unveiling of a colorful new commission, and an upcoming catalogue that features contributions from fashion historians and Dressed: The History of Fashion podcast hosts April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary.

“Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion offers a special glimpse into the extraordinary accessories and ensembles that have shaped Phoenix Art Museum’s fashion collection for six decades,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “By bringing together objects that range from the smallest to the most extravagant, the exhibition immerses visitors in the expressive power of color as a form of storytelling. Colorwear not only celebrates the Museum’s history but also animates it through rotating installations, a new commission, dynamic public programs, and a forthcoming publication that explores fashion at PhxArt through the lens of color.”

The Museum began collecting fashion in 1966, when the Arizona Costume Institute was founded to support the acquisition and preservation of garments and accessories of historical and aesthetic significance. Today, the PhxArt fashion collection houses more than 9,000 objects spanning the 18th century through the present and is home to four special archives, including Paper Dress, the Geoffrey Beene Archive, the Emphatics Archive, and the Ann Bonfoey Taylor Archive. Alongside the kaleidoscopic array of Colorwear, visitors can also discover objects that tell the history of fashion at PhxArt, from historic accessories to rare and avant-garde examples from the archival collections, and new acquisitions by contemporary designers such as The Son of Picasso, a Native American artist of Kiowa, Taos Pueblo, Diné (Navajo), and Delaware descent.

Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion will be accompanied by a compelling series of public programs and lectures by nationally celebrated fashion professionals, as well as the fall release of the Museum’s first fashion-focused collection book of the same name, Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion, published by Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.

“Colorful clothing sparks emotion—both when we wear it and when we see it. It can uplift our mood and encourage boldness or inspire a more contemplative or nostalgic state. Some designers have even become known for their signature colors, such as Schiaparelli’s Shocking Pink, Dior’s Gray, and Chanel’s Black. In fact, color is one of the first elements we describe when discussing an ensemble,” said Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion. “Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion draws inspiration from this powerful aspect of design, bringing together works that show how master designers have explored color over time. Through garments and accessories, the exhibition highlights individuality, self-expression, and visual storytelling through the splendor of color.”

High-resolution photography for Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org  or kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org.

About the Exhibition

Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion and Summer Rye, Fashion Curatorial Assistant & ACI Liaison. The exhibition is made possible through the generosity of Jacquie and Bennett Dorrance and Arizona Costume Institute.

All fashion exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by The Kelly Ellman Fashion Endowment Fund and The Thomas Carlton Rogers II Fashion Exhibition Fund.

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.

Admission is free for Museum Members and youth aged 5 and younger. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix, with additional support by Arizona Community Foundation. For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

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, an art+music festival, and more for the community. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.

About the Phoenix Art Museum Fashion Collection

Phoenix Art Museum is one of few institutions in the United States that continually collects, preserves, and exhibits works of fashion, placing the southwestern institution in the company of other leading fashion museums. The Museum began collecting fashion in 1966, when Arizona Costume Institute was founded to support the acquisition and preservation of garments and accessories of historical and aesthetic significance. Today, the PhxArt fashion collection houses more than 9,000 objects of women’s, men’s, and children’s dress spanning the 18th century through the present. It is also home to three special archives, including the Geoffrey Beene Archive of more than 300 garments by the late designer gifted by Patsy Tarr; the Emphatics Archive, featuring avant-garde fashions by Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler, and others; and the Ann Bonfoey Taylor Archive, featuring the extraordinary custom-couture wardrobe of the American-socialite and tastemaker.

About Arizona Costume Institute

Arizona Costume Institute was founded in 1966 to support the fashion-design department of Phoenix Art Museum through the acquisition and preservation of garments and accessories of historical and aesthetic significance and through events and fundraising efforts that support and deepen awareness of the Museum’s fashion exhibitions and education programs. ACI’s support of this collection area depends on the enthusiasm of dedicated volunteers. The ACI Board of Managers 2025-2027 president is Donna Johnson. To learn more about Arizona Costume Institute, visit arizonacostumeinstitute.org.

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PHOENIX (March 9, 2026) –Phoenix Art Museum announces the acquisition of Reflection Between Flashes (2023) by Vietnam-based artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen. The work is the latest purchased by the Museum with funds from Men’s Arts Council and the first by Nguyen acquired into the Museum’s collection of more than 21,000 objects. Nguyen, whose work was recently presented in a solo exhibition at James Cohan in New York City, is internationally renowned for his video and sculpture that examine colonial histories and supernaturalism by tapping into inherited stories and counter-memory. His work Reflection Between Flashes is inspired by the kinetic works of Alexander Calder but is cast from salvaged, unexploded munitions recovered in Central Vietnam. The mobile, which expands representation of contemporary Southeast Asian artists in the Museum’s collection, will be on view at the Museum beginning April 25.

“The kinetic work of Tuan Andrew Nguyen is an extraordinary addition to the PhxArt Collection,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Nguyen’s work regularly unearths stories of resilience, community, and regeneration, reminding us all of memories that objects and materials can hold and how artists transform them to be seen and experienced in new ways. We are deeply grateful to Men’s Arts Council for supporting the acquisition of this work, and we look forward to sharing it with our visitors.”

Born in Saigon and now based in Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen and his family emigrated in 1979 as refugees to the United States. In 1999, he graduated from the fine-arts program at University of California, Irvine, and in 2004 earned his Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. Nguyen is a co-founder and former board member of Sàn Art and was a founding member of The Propeller Group whose work was exhibited at PhxArt in 2017.

Nguyen’s most recent sculptures are made from unexploded ordnance (UXO) recovered in the Quang Trị region of central Vietnam, the site of the largest aerial bombardment in history. Reflection Between Flashes features 12 plate bells, seven of which are cast from salvaged artillery shell brass, while the remaining five are stainless steel incorporating salvaged bomb metal. The elegant form of the monumental hanging mobile stands in stark contrast to the brutal origins of the materials used to create it. This work moves with the flow of air and vibrations of sound in the gallery space, creating a naturally shifting play of abstract spatial relationships that suggest a state of perpetual change. Nguyen worked with a sound healer to tune the work to a series of pitches centered around 432 Hz, a frequency associated with healing energies and the vibration of the cosmos.

“Much of Nguyen’s recent work focuses on creating harmony where there has been destruction and loss.” said Colin Pearson, the Museum’s curator of Asian art. “Reflections Between Flashes continues this thread and embodies his concept of ‘material reincarnation’ in a mobile that produces visual and musical harmony from the detritus of the war in Vietnam. Guests will witness the sculpture slowly shift and rotate, activated by the invisible movement of air, while contemplating the delicate balance that suspends each piece. Nguyen’s use of melted bomb and artillery shells draws our attention to the frightening origin of the metal, and to the salvage workers in northern Vietnam who still perform the dangerous work of harvesting unexploded ordnance five decades after the end of the war. My hope is that people will both appreciate the beauty of Reflections Between Flashes and reflect on the long aftereffects that warfare has on the people and places involved.”

Nguyen was recently announced as a 2025 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius Grant”, and he was chosen for a prestigious High Line Plinth commission for a monumental sculpture in New York City’s High Line park. Nguyen has had major solo presentations at the New Museum, New York; Fondació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC. His work is in the permanent collections of several distinguished national and international museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Brooklyn Museum; Carré d’Art – Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, France; Dallas Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Taguchi Art Collection, Japan; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and now, Phoenix Art Museum.

“We are incredibly proud to support the acquisition of Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s powerful sculpture for the Phoenix Art Museum collection,” said Sentari Minor, president, Men’s Arts Council. “This work speaks to transformation, resilience, and the enduring human capacity to create beauty from the remnants of conflict. By bringing Nguyen’s voice into the Museum’s Asian art holdings, we are expanding not only representation but also the depth and complexity of the stories told within the galleries. It’s important for our community to encounter contemporary works that challenge, reflect, and inspire—and this sculpture does exactly that.”

For more information about this latest acquisition, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org or press@phxart.org

About Phoenix Art Museum

Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) has engaged millions of visitors with the art and fashion 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 art experiences. Each year, more than 250,000 guests engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions, as well as 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. The Museum also presents vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson and is home to The Gene and Cathy Lemon Art Research Library, The Thorne Miniature Rooms, The Ullman Center for the Art of Philip C. Curtis, and Arizona Costume Institute (ACI). For the community, PhxArt hosts lectures, live performances, outstanding examples of global cinema, arts-education workshops, family-focused programs, and more. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880. 

About Tuan Andrew Nguyen

Tuan Andrew Nguyen (b. 1976, Saigon, Vietnam) creates work that explores the power of storytelling through video and sculpture. His projects are based on extensive research and community engagement, tapping into inherited histories and counter-memory. Nguyen extracts and re-works dominant, oftentimes colonial histories and supernaturalisms into imaginative vignettes. Fact and fiction are interwoven in his poetic narratives that span time and place.

Now based in Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen has had major solo presentations at the New Museum, New York, NY (2023); Fondació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain (2024); Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa (2024) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC (2024). His videos and films have been included in major international festivals, biennials, and exhibitions including Prospect.6, New Orleans, LA (2024); the 12th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany (2022); Manifesta 14, Prishtina, Kosovo (2022); Aichi Triennale, Aichi Prefecture, Japan (2022); Biennale de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal (2022); Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Tapei, Taiwan (2021); Manifesta 13, Marseille, France (2020); Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE (2019); SOFT POWER, SFMoMA, San Francisco, CA (2019); the 2019 Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE (2019); 2017 Whitney Biennial, New York, NY (2017); the 55th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany (2009); 8th NHK Asian Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan (2007); 18th Singapore International Film Festival (2005) and 4th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Bangkok, Thailand (2005). Nguyen has received numerous awards, including the 2023 Joan Miró Prize.

His work is included in the permanent collections of institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Carré d’Art – Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, France; Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), Paris, France; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI; Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, CA; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Taguchi Art Collection, Japan; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, and the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.

About Men’s Arts Council

The Men’s Arts Council (MAC) of Phoenix Art Museum, founded in 1967, is a 501(c)3, non-profit organization that supports the Museum’s programs and activities through its unique events such as the Copperstate 1000 and the Copperstate Overland, a vintage off-road rally. The Men’s Arts Council’s efforts enable the organization to make annual contributions to Phoenix Art Museum’s operating budget and financially sponsor exhibitions. For more information, visit https://mensartscouncil.com/.

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PHOENIX (January 29, 2026) –On Thursday, March 12, 2026, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) presents the return of Women Powered. The beloved program, which offers guests the opportunity to network amongst peers and hear from dynamic women leaders, brings global fashion designer, entrepreneur, and women’s empowerment advocate Rebecca Minkoff, live to the Museum. To celebrate the 60^th anniversary of PhxArt’s fashion program, the Museum will host a special edition of Women Powered, featuring an inspiring conversation with the nationally renowned New York-based designer led by Valley entrepreneur and fashion icon Chrissy Sayare. Minkoff will share stories of her own success, building bold ideas, navigating business, and living at the intersection of entrepreneurship and creativity. This event is welcome to all ages and industries.

At 5 pm, the Museum will host a cocktail reception with a cash bar in the Dorrance Sculpture Garden. Then at 6:30 pm, attendees will enjoy a fireside chat with Minkoff and Sayare in Whiteman Hall.

Make the evening even more memorable by adding a signed copy of Minkoff’s newest book Fearless: The New Rules of Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success to your reservation. The personally autographed special edition is available in limited quantities and is a meaningful takeaway from an inspiring night.

Elevate your evening with an exclusive, intimate dinner honoring the nationally renowned designer directly following the program. Enjoy a luxury dining experience with a hosted bar and receive a signed copy of Minkoff’s recent book Fearless: The New Rules of Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success. This special experience offers a rare opportunity to engage more personally with our guest of honor and deepen your connection to the ideas shared on stage while making a meaningful impact. Dinner tickets are $500 each. Seating is limited. Advance purchase required for dinner by March 4.

Tickets to Women Powered are $45 for the general public, $25 for PhxArt Members, $15 for college students with an active ID. Optional ticket to include a singed copy of Fearless: The New Rules for Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success also available at $45 for Members, $65 for non-Members. Dinner tickets are $500 each. Seating is limited. Advance purchase required for dinner by March 4. Tickets are available here.

Rebecca Minkoff’s journey began with a fearless leap—moving to New York City at just 18 to chase a dream in fashion. With no roadmap and few resources, she turned a love for design into a global brand synonymous with accessible luxury. But what truly sets Rebecca apart isn’t just her success as a designer. It’s her unwavering commitment to lifting others as she climbs. In 2018, she launched the Female Founder Collective, a powerful network of women-led businesses committed to advancing financial equity and opportunity for women at every level. Through her Superwomen podcast and candid speaking engagements, she shares the unfiltered side of entrepreneurship and life like navigating setbacks, battling fear, and balancing life with ambition. Her talks leave audiences energized and inspired, reminding them that fear is not a weakness but a compass to guide them through the impossible.

For more information about this event, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org.

About the Fashion Collection at Phoenix Art Museum

The Fashion Collection at Phoenix Art Museum strives to tell an accurate history of fashion and is actively pursuing works that represent a broader and more inclusive glossary of designers. Comprising nearly half of the Museum’s permanent holdings, the collection houses nearly 9,000 examples of fashionable dress and accessories from five centuries of style. With everything from a pair of 17th-century sueded-leather gloves to 21st-century couture runway looks, the collection explores the art of dressing and seeks out the rarest examples of these dress traditions. Celebrated for its quality and comprehensiveness, the collection boasts strengths in 19th-century womenswear as well as works by 20th-century designers, with significant examples from major representatives of European and North American fashion history. Special archives within the collection include the Ann Bonfoey Taylor wardrobe of more than 200 examples by mid-century couture designers, The Emphatics Archive of more than 400 works from avant-garde designers, and the Geoffrey Beene Archive, with more than 300 evening gowns and custom designs.

About Arizona Costume Institute

Arizona Costume Institute was founded in 1966 to support the fashion-design department of Phoenix Art Museum through the acquisition and preservation of garments and accessories of historical and aesthetic significance and through events and fundraising efforts that support and deepen awareness of the Museum’s fashion exhibitions and education programs. ACI’s support of this collection area depends on the enthusiasm of dedicated volunteers. The ACI Board of Managers 2023-2025 president is Joy Sprink. To learn more about Arizona Costume Institute, visit arizonacostumeinstitute.org.

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.

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“We are pleased to welcome Caroline Kent this March as part of our ongoing Lenhardt Lecture series, made possible through the generosity of the Lenhardt family,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “Through her exploration of language and abstraction, Kent helps redefine what it means to communicate in a global society. Her practice challenges us to see beyond what’s familiar to us, inspiring dialogue and transformation. The spring Lenhardt Lecture is a rare opportunity to hear firsthand how art can challenge boundaries and allows visitors to gain insight into Kent’s process and vision.”

Kent, an associate professor in the Art, Theory, and Practice department at Northwestern University, was born in Sterling, Illinois in 1975, earning a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois State University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota. From 2000 to 2002, she lived in Alba Iulia, Romania, as a Peace Corps volunteer. Kent’s work explores the limits of language and the process of translation through an expanded painting practice. Developed through an open-ended archive of improvisational works on paper, her paintings built from this context take multiple forms, including drawings, sculpture, and performance. She labors to expand the discourse of modernist abstraction by questioning how language operates in unknown and ever-evolving conditions. Her work moves from surface and frame to environment and architecture through acts of translation from one medium to the next. 

Over the past few years, Kent’s practice has evolved into a kind of Gesamtkunstwerk, a total art form, articulating space, matter, and time through architecture, objects, and performance. Past exhibitions have included movement-based troupes and dancers who built choreography from the forms of specific artworks, becoming full-space installations. Wooden shapes extend beyond the paintings, cornices and walls bend to buttress portals, and the vocabulary of forms has begun to produce a choreography for bodies navigating these new worlds. The production of objects has shifted from a conflation of perception tied to a particular time and place to an unfolding universe of becoming. Bringing forms from within the painting to the outside is a simultaneous act of translation and transformation. Kent’s work suggests that an abstract language beckons a context that speaks to other material and immaterial forms in the world.

“Dawn and I are so pleased to welcome Caroline Kent as this spring’s Lenhardt Lecture speaker,” said David Lenhardt, vice chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees. “Kent’s work makes us consider ways to think differently and connect more deeply. We believe that her voice will inspire attendees to see the power of creativity in building bridges and broadening communication.  

In addition to her presentation at Phoenix Art Museum, Kent will visit with students, local artists and creatives to provide mentorship. This educational and community-based work is another component of the Lenhardt Lectures and enables lecture speakers to give back and engage with Arizona-based creatives in various capacities.

For more information about the Lenhardt Lecture series or for high-resolution images, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org.

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.

About the David and Dawn Lenhardt Lecture and the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative 

The David and Dawn Lenhardt Lecture engages Valley audiences with some of the most acclaimed contemporary artists in the world. In 2018, the inaugural lecture presented New-York based artist Jim Hodges, and subsequent lectures have featured artists Shara Hughes, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Arcmanoro Niles, Teresita Fernández in conversation with Amalia Mesa-Bains, Derek Fordjour, Rashid Johnson, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe in conversation with Larry Ossei-Mensah, Leonardo Drew, Charles Gaines in conversation with Thelma Golden and Adam Pendelton in conversation with Dr. Adrienne Edwards.

The Lenhardt Lecture is a key component of the David and Dawn Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative. Made possible through the generosity of the Arizona-based Lenhardt family, the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative was established in 2017 to deepen the Museum’s commitment to contemporary art through various programs, namely the Lenhardt Lectures, which engage Valley audiences with some of the most acclaimed contemporary artists in the world; the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Acquisition Fund, which enables Phoenix Art Museum to collect works by contemporary artists; and the Dawn and David Lenhardt Gallery, designated for the presentation of contemporary art, including works acquired with funds from the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative, loans from national and local collectors, and a rotating series of artworks from the Lenhardts’ own collection. In 2021, the initiative was expanded to support the diversification of the contemporary art collection of Phoenix Art Museum through the acquisition of works by artists contributing to discourses on race, gender, and other socially relevant concerns, including those by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and women artists, among others. Since 2017, the Museum has acquired artworks by Shara Hughes, Arcmanoro Niles, Derek Fordjour, Rashid Johnson, and Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe with funds from the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative. 

About Caroline Kent

Caroline Kent, an associate professor in the Art, Theory, and Practice department at Northwestern University, was born in Sterling, Illinois in 1975, earning a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois State University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota. From 2000 to 2002, she lived in Alba Iulia, Romania, as a Peace Corps volunteer. Kent’s work explores the limits of language and the process of translation through an expanded painting practice. Developed through an open-ended archive of improvisational works on paper, her paintings built from this context take multiple forms, including drawings, sculpture, and performance. She labors to expand the discourse of modernist abstraction by questioning how language operates in unknown and ever-evolving conditions. Her work moves from surface and frame to environment and architecture through acts of translation from one medium to the next. 

A 2025 USA Fellow and recipient of the Aspen Arts Prize for innovation in painting, Kent has received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, and Jerome Foundation. Additionally, she was a 2020 Artadia Chicago Awardee and a 2021 Joyce Alexander Wein Prize recipient from the Studio Museum in Harlem. Her recent exhibitions include La Trienal at El Museo del Barrio, New York City and Ancestral at the Museum of Brazilian Art (M.A.B.), São Paulo, Brazil. Kent has showcased her work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, MCA Chicago, the New Orleans Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Hill Art Foundation, BAMPFA, the Queens Museum, and the Walker Art Center.

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PHOENIX (January 5, 2026) – This January, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) and FOCUS on European Art will partner to present Carved Splendors: Florentine Baroque Frames at the Medici Court, a special lecture by Dr. Davide Gasparotto, Senior Curator of Paintings and Chair of Curatorial Affairs at the J. Paul Getty Museum (The Getty) in Los Angeles, will discuss the gilded frames of the Florentine Baroque period,inspired by the current exhibition at PhxArt, Florentine Baroque: The Haukohl Collection. The event will be held on January 28 at 6 pm at Phoenix Art Museum. Tickets are free for Museum Members and $8 for the general public and can be reserved here. A ticketed, black-tie dinner honoring Dr. Gasparotto and Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl will be held following the lecture. Tickets are available for $300 per guest, which includes an inspired plated dinner by M Culinary, beverage service, and live musical entertainment and can be reserved here.

A native of 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 Getty 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.

Florentine Baroque: The Haukohl Collection presents more than 30 examples of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts drawn from the most important Florentine Baroque art collection outside of Italy, assembled over more than 40 years by Houston-based art collector and co-founder of the Medici Archive Project Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl. Featured artworks by local Florentine artists and artists living across Europe reflect Florence’s flourishing art industry, as well as the cultural and intellectual legacy of the Medici Grand Dukes on the Renaissance and Baroque movements. The Haukohl Collection has been shared with museums and exhibitions worldwide, revealing the broader historical significance of Florentine art within European art history. The presentation of these works at Phoenix Art Museum is the first of its kind in Arizona.

This event is hosted in partnership with FOCUS on European Art, a membership-based 501(c)(3) support organization that promotes education in the arts, with special emphasis on European art and art history. 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.

For more information about this event, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at 602.257.2117 or kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org. For more information on FOCUS on European Art, contact FocusOnEuropeanArt@outlook.com.

About the Exhibition 

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.

Admission is free for Museum Members and youth aged five and younger. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix and First Fridays from 5 – 8 pm, made possible by APS and Lexus, with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation.  For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

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, an art+music festival, and more for the community. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.

About FOCUS on European Art

FOCUS on European Art is a charitable organization that promotes education in the arts, with special emphasis on European art and art history. FOCUS organizes salons, presentations and other events virtually and in person for its members and guests, inviting distinguished local, national, and international scholars and curators as speakers. FOCUS also supports art education and collections in public art museums by funding acquisitions, exhibitions, conservation, educational programs, and other board-approved donations. To learn more about Focus on European Art, visit focusoneuropeanart.org.  

About Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl and The Haukohl Philanthropies

Sir Mark is a collector and philanthropist residing in Houston, Texas. He is Chairman of the Board of The Vero Group, a Family Office. Sir Mark is an experienced Wall Street investor having previously been Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney in New York. He is co-founder of The Medici Archive Project of Florence, Italy. The Haukohl Family Philanthropies, whose objective is to advance art education for underserved audiences, have underwritten numerous acquisitions and exhibitions at the J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Arp Museum in Banhof Rolandseck of Remagen, Germany and the BOZAR in Brussels, to name only a few.

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Cara Romero, Alika No. 2, 2024, archival pigment print. © Cara Romero. Image courtesy of the artist.

PHOENIX, AZ (December 9, 2025) – In early 2026, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will present the landmark exhibition Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light), the first major museum exhibition dedicated solely to the artist’s evocative work. Romero blends fine art and editorial styles to challenge dominant narratives of Indigenous decline and erasure while disrupting preconceived notions about what it means to be a Native American. Organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Panûpünüwügai (Living Light) features more than 60 iconic large-scale photographs spanning a decade of the artist’s career, including a new, never-before-exhibited work commissioned by PhxArt to be created by Cara Romero—a project based in regional, collaborative storytelling with Native peoples. Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light) will be on view at PhxArt from February 28 through June 28, 2026.

“Phoenix Art Museum is profoundly honored to debut Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light) during this historic moment for the institution, as we expand our commitment to presenting the most innovative voices shaping contemporary art today,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Romero stands at the forefront of contemporary photography, masterfully weaving materials, myths, and Indigenous practices with urgent contemporary realities. Though rooted in her personal story and Indigenous futurism, her work speaks universally to themes of women’s empowerment, environmental stewardship, and the role of landscape in shaping identity. This exhibition represents a milestone for our communities to experience the work of a groundbreaking artist with deep cultural and historical ties to the Desert Southwest.” 

Cara Romero (b. 1977; Chemehuevi/American) is a renowned photographer known for dramatic fine-art photography that examines Indigenous life in contemporary contexts. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between the contrasting settings of the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, California, and the urban sprawl of Houston, Texas. Informed by her identity, Romero’s visual storytelling represents Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, countering dominant narratives of Native American experiences and showcasing the diversity within Indigenous nations and communities. 

“Having a contemporary photography exhibit at Phoenix Art Museum marks a radical turn in my journey as a Native American female photographer,” said Cara Romeo. “I am excited for the work to be integrated into an American Art museum as an intercultural conversation– I’m especially excited that PhxArt is the closest major American Art institution to my homelands on the Chemehuevi Valley Indian Reservation. 

This is my first solo exhibition touring the United States, and Phoenix is the second of four venues. It feels like such an epic venue for this exhibition. My hope is that together, we open people’s minds to the many fascinating diversities of Native people and stories.”

The exhibition’s title, Panûpünüwügai, translates to “living light,” and has multiple meanings: the spirit of light, the way light interacts with human beings, and how both light and people are enlivened through these interactions. Featured works, including site-specific installations and large-scale photographs, are organized across five thematic sections: 

California Desert and Mythos draws inspiration from Romero’s experiences of growing up in the Chemehuevi Valley in Southeastern California along the Colorado River, which shaped her worldview and work. Throughout this section, visitors encounter four young boys who represent not only themselves, but also time-traveling spirit beings of the landscape, reminding audiences that neither time nor the rich ecological and social history of the Mojave Desert are linear. 

In (Re)Imagining Americana Drawing, Romero upends stereotypical images and stories from pop culture and mass media that often define Native-American experiences and opportunities. Working with various collaborators to produce the works featured in this section, Romero riffs on images of American Girl dolls and Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, among other mainstream imagery. 

Rematriation: Empowering Indigenous Women showcases images that position female subjects in spaces of power. Created from a maternal and biographical perspective, these works are informed by the women leaders Romero has encountered in her own life and community. 

Environmental Racism spotlights some of Romero’s most memorable images, speaking to historical and contemporary issues of resource extraction and its impacts on indigenous ecosystems. These photographic dreamscapes—many of which were created underwater—encourage reflection on the relationships among humanity, place, the landscape, and extractive economies.

Throughout Ancestral Futures, Romero’s otherworldly images speculate on playful contexts but assert the sacred role of ancestral knowledges and place-based intelligences in building healthy futures, not only for Indigenous peoples, but for everyone. These works are informed by the artist’s love of magical realism and center narratives such as the life-giving power of women, the intelligence of corn, and the importance of telling stories that are both complicated and hopeful. Within this section, viewers will encounter the introduction of a newly commissioned work that Romero will create by drawing on her relationships with Indigenous community members from the Phoenix region. They will be invited to collaborate on a monumental photographic work that interweaves elements and imagery of desert ecology with the notion of nonlinear time, yielding a piece that will honor ancestors and their deep knowledge of the land while asserting the vitality of Native-American communities now and into the future. Following its debut in the PhxArt presentation of Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light), the work will become a part of the Museum’s permanent collection numbering more than 21,000 objects, building upon the institution’s existing strength in contemporary photographic portraiture. 

“Cara Romero is one of the leading image-makers of our time,” said Emilia Mickevicius, the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography at Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography, who coordinated the exhibition’s presentation at PhxArt. “I’m eager for our audiences to connect with her practice and unique storytelling through this immersive, captivating installation.” 

The exhibition curated by Jami Powell, PhD, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Indigenous Art at the Hood Museum of Art and is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, and Radius Books. The publication features contributions by Jami Powell, notable scholars including Suzan Shown Harjo (Mvskoke), former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Mvskoke), and Jordan Poorman Cocker (Kiowa and Tongan), Curator of Indigenous Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, among others. The catalogue will be available at the Phoenix Art Museum Store.

For high-resolution photography for Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light) or to request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org or press@phxart.org.   

About the Exhibition

Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light) is organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, and curated by Jami Powell, PhD, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Indigenous Art at the Hood Museum of Art. It is generously supported by leadership gifts from Claire Foerster and Daniel S. Bernstein, Thomas A. and Georgina T. Russo, and support from the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Charles Gilman Family Endowment, and a gift from Karen Miller Nearburg and Charles Nearburg. The exhibition’s presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Emilia Mickevicius, PhD, the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography. Its Phoenix premiere is made possible by the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation, Every Page Foundation, and John and Lois Rogers. Additional support provided by Prime Steak Concepts. 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.

Admission is free for Museum Members and youth aged five and younger. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix and First Fridays from 5 – 8 pm, made possible by APS and Lexus, with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation.  For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

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.

About Cara Romero 

Cara Romero, b. 1977, Inglewood, Calif. (American / Chemehuevi), is an artist known for dramatic fine art photography that examines Indigenous life in contemporary contexts. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings: the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, California, and the urban sprawl of Houston, Texas. Informed by her identity, Romero’s visceral approach to representing Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences results in a blending of fine art and editorial styles. Maintaining a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Romero regularly participates in Native American art fairs and panel discussions and was featured on PBS’s Craft in America in 2019. Her award-winning work is included in numerous public and private collections, domestically and internationally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum, Amon Carter Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, and Forge Project Collections, among others. Romero travels between Santa Fe and the Chemehuevi Valley Indian Reservation, where she maintains close ties to her tribal community and ancestral homelands.

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PHOENIX (October 27, 2025) – On November 28, 2025, Phoenix Art Museum premieres George Elbert Burr: The Desert Etchings as part of the reopening celebrations of the institution’s Art of the Americas + Europe galleries in the newly dedicated James K. Ballinger Wing. Featuring 50 outstanding prints from the Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, the exhibition examines Burr’s practice and legacy, grounded in a commitment to depicting the high desert landscapes of Arizona, Colorado, and Southern California.  

“Phoenix Art Museum is excited to present an incredible selection of works by George Elbert Burr as part the historic renovation of the James K. Ballinger Wing,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “George Elbert Burr: The Desert Etchings will be presented in the Museum’s Orme Lewis Gallery, which is now dedicated to ongoing installations of prints and drawings—considered one of the largest yet least exhibited parts of the PhxArt Collection. Fittingly, the exhibition honors not just the desert landscapes of our region and the American West but also the legacy of an artist with deep ties to the history of Phoenix Art Museum.”

American painter and printmaker George Elbert Burr (1859–1939) was born in the Midwest and moved to New York City in 1888 to establish his career as a traveling illustrator. His work was published in popular magazines such as  Harper’s and  Frank Leslie’s Weekly, and in 1891, he served as illustrator and photographer on President Benjamin Harrison’s Western tour of the United States. After extensive travels in Europe, health challenges in 1906 led Burr to Denver, where he devoted himself to printmaking. In the winters, however, the artist visited the Southwest to make sketches, from which he produced his acclaimed “Desert Set.” In 1924, Burr moved to Phoenix and over time became deeply involved in the arts community. He eventually served as an instrumental figure in the founding of the Phoenix Fine Art Association and the community-building efforts that led to the establishment of Phoenix Art Museum in 1959. 

Throughout his prolific career, Burr created approximately 25,000 works from an estimated 367 plates. Despite such an extensive body of work—demonstrative of technical innovation and mastery—the artist remains less recognized than his European predecessors, including Albrecht Durër and Rembrandt van Rijn. George Elbert Burr: The Desert Etchingsoffers Arizona audiences the opportunity to discover a wide selection of Burr’s finely detailed prints that skillfully render resolutely American subjects.

“Burr was a technical genius capable of creating myriad effects through a variety of printmaking techniques,” said Olga Viso, the Museum’s Selig Family Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, who curated the exhibition. “He could render the tiniest burrs and spikes of a barrel cactus or ocotillo branch with mind-bending exactitude while capturing the ethereal atmospheric conditions of a twilight sky, a sandstorm, cumulous clouds, or dirt devils moving slowly across the landscape. Visitors will be able to see the vast range of Burr’s impressive production as well as get up close to inspect individual prints with a magnifying glass.” 

For high-resolution imagery and to request interviews, please contact the Communications Office at press@phxart.org. 

About the Exhibition

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. 

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.

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. 

Entrance into George Elbert Burr: The Desert Etchings  is included in general admission for the public. Admission is free for Museum Members and youth aged 5 and younger. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix, and First Fridays from 5 – 8 pm, made possible by APS and Lexus, with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation. For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

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, 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.

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