PHOENIX, AZ (October 5, 2026) – Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) announces a historic gift from Arizona-based philanthropist, physician, and biotechnology executive Sukumar Nagendran that establishes PhxArt as a leading U.S. art museum with a dedicated Sri Lankan art initiative. The gift creates the Nagendran Gallery for the Art of Sri Lanka and South Asia, dedicates the Dr. Sukumar Nagendran Wing for the Art of Asia, and provides ongoing support for acquisitions and exhibitions, scholarly research, and public programs designed to elevate South Asian artistic voices. The significant $5M gift also expands the institution’s dedicated Art of Asia galleries to more than 9,500 sq. ft. and deepens its commitment to the presentation and preservation of Asian art, one of the Museum’s foundational collections. Opening November 13, 2026, the inaugural exhibition in the Nagendran Gallery highlights works by contemporary Sri Lankan artist Pala Pothupitiye, alongside a presentation of historical Sri Lankan art from the collection of the Fernando family.

“Since the founding of Phoenix Art Museum in 1959, Asian art has been a pillar of the institution, among its earliest acquisitions,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Over the decades, the Museum’s Asian arts holdings have grown to include a significant and unique collection of historical Sri Lankan works that distinguishes the Museum nationally and provides a critical foundation for scholarship, interpretation, and public engagement. Dr. Nagendran’s visionary generosity enables us to build on this strength and pair our exceptional historical holdings with robust programming focused on contemporary Sri Lankan and South Asian artists, which feels especially timely as Phoenix continues to grow as a global city with considerable Asian and Asian American populations. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Nagendran for this historic gift that not only expands our Asian art galleries and collections program but also advances our mission to foster connection, belonging, and dialogue as a civic and cultural resource for our community.”

Nearly one fifth of the PhxArt Collection features works by artists who live, work, or originate from Asia, spanning more than 1,000 years of history. Among these holdings, the Museum’s collection of Sri Lankan art stands apart for its exceptional depth, historical breadth, and rare concentration of masterworks drawn from the widely regarded Fernando Family Collection. Developed through a decades-long partnership with Phoenix-based collectors and philanthropists, Drs. Coleene and Barry Fernando and the late Quintus Fernando, PhD, the collection includes Buddhist sculptures, paintings on cloth and on panels, illustrated palm leaf manuscripts, and a newly uncovered body of original black-and-white photographs by Quintus Fernando. The manuscripts are especially notable for their craftsmanship, preservation, and art historical importance, representing a rarely exhibited aspect of Sri Lanka’s literary and devotional traditions, while the Buddhist works reflect centuries of artistic innovation and spiritual practice. Equally remarkable are Fernando’s photographs, discovered only within the past decade and believed to have been taken shortly before the family emigrated from Sri Lanka. Through transformative loans, gifts, and scholarly collaboration with the Fernando family, the Museum has emerged as a leading and internationally recognized steward of Sri Lankan art, with a significant collection of historical artworks highlighted in past exhibitions, including The Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka (2003) and Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka (2021).

Nagendran’s transformational gift builds upon and dramatically expands the Fernando family’s legacy, positioning PhxArt as one of the world’s foremost institutions dedicated to the study, presentation, and advancement of both historical and contemporary Sri Lankan artistic practice. Through Nagendran’s gift, which provides vital endowment support, the Museum will pursue exhibitions, acquisitions, research, artist residencies, and international partnerships to increase visibility for contemporary Sri Lankan artists working within the region and throughout the global diaspora.

“Throughout my career, I have experienced the tremendous and transformational difference collaboration, curiosity, creativity, and intellectual rigor can make in the lives of people from all walks of life,” said Nagendran. “Through this gift, I have the opportunity to build a partnership that explores and celebrates historical and contemporary Sri Lankan art on a global scale. Together, we can share not only the extraordinary artistic traditions of Asia, but also the stories, histories, and lived experiences of the Sri Lankan people, with the Museum’s audiences and the world more broadly. It is my hope that this initiative will deepen cultural understanding, inspire future generations, and help preserve and elevate some of the most important artistic voices and works from my home region for decades—and centuries—to come.”

The Museum inaugurates the Nagendran Gallery in November 2026 with Pala Pothupitiye: Mapping a Sri Lankan Consciousness, curated by Tushara Bindu Gude, PhD, Curator at the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts. Pothupitiye draws from diverse visual, cultural, and mythological sources to interrogate Sri Lankan history, and the exhibition highlights his most well-known body of work—cartographic paintings that use maps of the island as backdrops for his imaginative portrayals of imperial and national ambitions, colonial desires, religious and ethnic identities, and modern-day conflict. A second body of featured work explores the artistry and aesthetics of the ritual dance community into which Pothupitiye was born and how the legacies of colonialism have influenced Sri Lankan artistic practice. To provide a foundational understanding for the vision of Sri Lankan history that guides Pothupitiye’s artmaking, his work is placed in conversation with historical manuscripts and sculptures donated to the PhxArt Collection by the Fernando family, loans from the Fernando Family Collection, and photographs by Dr. Quintus Fernando that portray the island’s post-independence heritage.

In addition to presenting exhibitions such as Pala Pothupitiye: Mapping a Sri Lankan Consciousness, the broader initiative at PhxArt will include future international convenings, collaborations, and public programs that bring together artists, scholars, collectors, and cultural leaders from Sri Lanka and around the world, further positioning the institution as a global center for cross-cultural dialogue, research, and the presentation of South Asian art and culture.

For more information, contact the Museum’s Press Office at press@phxart.org.

About Sukumar Nagendran, MD
Dr. Sukumar Nagendran is a philanthropist, physician, and biotechnology executive with more than three decades of experience in clinical development, gene therapy, and translational medicine. He currently serves as President and Head of Research and Development at Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc., where he has also been a member of the Board of Directors since 2020. Previously, he served as Chief Medical Officer and President of Research and Development at Jaguar Gene Therapy, and as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at AveXis Inc. prior to the company’s acquisition by Novartis. Over the course of his career, Dr. Nagendran has held senior leadership positions at Pfizer Inc., Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo, Reata Pharmaceuticals, and Quest Diagnostics, and his work has contributed to the advancement and commercialization of innovative therapies, including gene and cell therapies now reaching patients globally. His philanthropic commitments include sponsoring the Fonseca-Nagendran Scholar Award at the American Diabetes Association to advance research in minority populations, as well as the Jerry Mendell Translational Science Scholarship at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. He also supports the construction of medical facilities, schools, essential infrastructure, and food and humanitarian initiatives in Sri Lanka. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Taysha Gene Therapies, SalioGen Therapeutics, COVE Therapeutics, Medocity, Inc, Solid Bio, and Amlogenyx. Nagendran has also been involved in many philanthropic efforts in Sri Lanka, including constructing medical facilities, schools, and drinking water and sanitation facilities, among others.

About the Art of Asia Collection at Phoenix Art Museum and The Dr. Sukumar Nagendran Wing for the Art of Asia
The Art of Asia Collection at Phoenix Art Museum is the institution’s most expansive and historically rich collecting area, home to more than 4,000 objects drawn from across Asia and spanning thousands of years. The collection includes art from India, Pakistan, Iran, Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, and Java, and contains some of the Museum’s oldest objects. Among its strongest holdings is the Chinese collection, which traces artistic development from early archaeological materials, such as tomb sculpture, pottery, and bronze, through the evolution of ceramics and the emergence of porcelain, as well as jade carving from the Neolithic period through the 19th century and paintings from the 14th to the 20th centuries. Japanese art is represented through prints, screens, paintings, samurai armor, and contemporary ceramics, reflecting both historical traditions and living practices. Religious art forms a central component of the Wing, with significant Hindu and Buddhist works from across Asia, including gilded bronze sculpture, complete shrines, and an exceptional group of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist bronzes representing nearly every Esoteric Buddhist deity. Internationally significant holdings of Sri Lankan Buddhist art further distinguish the Museum’s collection.

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 (October 2, 2026) –In honor of the 60^th anniversary of the Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) fashion collection and Arizona Costume Institute (ACI), PhxArt will host a special one-night-only evening with CFDA Fashion Designer Christian Siriano, featuring a curated runway show of his Spring/Summer 2027 collection and the unveiling of a newly commissioned work by Siriano for the PhxArt fashion collection. The event will also celebrate the launch of the Museum’s newest original fashion publication—Colorwear—which explores the history of the institution’s renowned fashion holdings and features Siriano’s commissioned design on its cover.

Hosted at the Museum on October 20, 2026, from 6 – 9 pm, the historic event will also feature a cocktail reception and Q & A with Siriano, as well as the opportunity to purchase a copy of Colorwear pre-signed by the designer. The following tiered tickets to the event are now available to the public:

Runway Show + Reception

$250 for the public

$175 for Arizona Costume Institute members

Oct. 20 | 6 – 9 pm | Phoenix Art Museum

Tickets at this level include access to:

•    Christian Siriano Runway Show

•    Reception + Q & A with Christian Siriano

•    Commission Unveiling in the Ellman Fashion Galleries

Tickets to the runway show + full celebration can be purchased here.

Reception Only

$100 for the public

Oct. 20 | 7 – 9 pm | Phoenix Art Museum

Tickets at this level include access to:

•    Reception + Q & A with Christian Siriano

•    Commission Unveiling in the Ellman Fashion Galleries

Tickets to the reception only can be purchased here.

A copy of Colorwear pre-signed by Siriano can be purchased with either ticket option for an additional $50.

“We are thrilled to welcome Christian Siriano back to Phoenix for what will be a truly historic moment for Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona Costume Institute,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “As ACI celebrates its 60th anniversary, we are also marking the official release of Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion and the unveiling of the extraordinary gown commissioned from Christian for the Museum’s collection, which fittingly graces the cover of the publication. Bringing these milestones together with a runway show featuring Christian’s Spring/Summer collection, fresh from New York Fashion Week, creates an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate both ACI’s remarkable legacy and the vitality of fashion today. Since 1966, generations of ACI members and leaders have championed fashion as an art form and helped build a collection of national significance. We are deeply grateful for their vision, dedication, and enduring support, and to Christian for helping us commemorate this milestone with an unforgettable celebration of fashion, creativity, and the next chapter of ACI at Phoenix Art Museum.”

Christian Siriano is a CFDA award-winning designer and member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America who launched his eponymous collection in 2008 following his studies in London under Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen. Known for whimsical and showstopping designs, his collection is shown each season at New York Fashion Week and sold in retailers across the globe. Siriano’s designs have been worn by former First Ladies Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, Oprah, Zendaya, Angelina Jolie, Billy Porter, and Cardi B, among many others. 

The October 20 evening with Siriano is part of a full season of 60^th-anniversary events for Arizona Costume Institute and fashion at PhxArt. The runway show portion of the evening will feature approximately 15 looks from the designer’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, which debuted at New York Fashion Week in September. Siriano drew inspiration for the collection from the 18th-century French tale The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles, creating garments that exist at the intersection of the story’s darker themes and its dreamlike ending. In Siriano’s designs, graphic black tailoring, structured corsets, and laser-cut shapes and silhouettes meet romantic florals, chiffon, and tulle, offering a compelling visual interpretation of the dark fairytale.

As part of the evening’s festivities, attendees will also hear from Siriano during a Q&A at an exclusive reception following the runway show. Additionally, they will be the first to view in person an extraordinary ombré gown created by Siriano designed exclusively for the Museum’s renowned fashion collection. The commissioned work features a vibrant fuchsia bodice that gives way to a cascading skirt of 16 ruffled tiers in varying shades of purple. The colors of the gown are inspired by Elsa Schiaparelli’s “Shocking Pink” of the 1930s and the powerful statement colors of 1980s fashion. The vibrant look will be unveiled in the Kelly Ellman Fashion Galleries as part of the Colorwear exhibition.

The October event additionally marks the launch ofan original PhxArt publication, Colorwear. The book features more than 150 ensembles from the institution’s fashion collection, arranged across 13 vivid chapters organized by color. The publication, which showcases Siriano’s commissioned gown on the cover, reveals how designers through time and across continents create wearable art that continues to inspire. It also includes contributions from celebrated fashion historians and DRESSED podcast hosts April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary.

“Over the past 60 years, ACI has grown into a community united by a love of fashion and a belief in its enduring place in the arts,” said Donna Johnson, President of Arizona Costume Institute. “What makes this anniversary especially meaningful is knowing that the passion and support of ACI members have helped build a collection and a legacy that will continue to inspire future generations. Celebrating that legacy alongside a designer as imaginative and influential as Christian Siriano, and welcoming him back to Phoenix, feels like a wonderful bridge between where we have been and where fashion will take us next.”

ACI was founded in 1966 to support the Museum’s fashion department through the acquisition and preservation of garments and accessories of historical and aesthetic significance. Today, the PhxArt fashion collection numbers more than 9,000 objects, and ACI has created a vibrant community of fashion and design enthusiasts who support the museum through various fashion-forward fundraisers, including the organization’s signature event—the ACI Holiday Luncheon. In 2024, Siriano appeared in conversation with Chrissy Sayare, co-founder and CEO of To Be Continued…, at the ACI Holiday Luncheon. Considered the Valley’s premier fashion fundraiser, the Holiday Luncheon brings in more than $800,000 in support of the PhxArt fashion collection in each year.

For more information about the Christian Siriano event, the PhxArt fashion collection, or Arizona Costume Institute, please contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org.

About Christian Siriano

Award-winning CFDA designer Christian Siriano has established himself as a tour de force in the fashion world since launching his eponymous collection in 2008 following his studies in London under Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen. Siriano’s designs have been worn by today’s biggest names including former FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden, former FLOTUS Michelle Obama, VPOTUS Kamala Harris, Angelina Jolie, Oprah, Zendaya, Ariana Grande, Julianne Moore, Lady Gaga, Tiffany Haddish, Billy Porter, Cardi B, Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts, and Jennifer Coolidge, to name but a few. Having just celebrated the brand’s 18-year anniversary, the Siriano design studio continues to celebrate beauty and diversity in this ever-changing fashion industry. As a result, Christian’s work has been featured in a multitude of prestigious museum exhibits including his first ever solo work retrospective titled Christian Siriano: People Are People at SCAD in Savannah and Atlanta, respectively, as well as The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. He’s also contributed pieces to Kensington Palace’s largest exhibition to date titled Crown to Couture, the Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear exhibition at the V&A, Grit to Glamour at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The MET Costume Institute where he broke a Met Gala record for having three separate looks featured in the 2021 exhibit In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. Christian himself was also named among Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2018 for his leading contributions to body diversity on the runway and red carpet, was a member of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 class of 2015, and was the youngest person to ever appear on Crain’s “40 Under 40” list at age 24.

Apart from his thriving fashion empire, Christian has been the host and mentor for Disney’s hit series “Project Runway” and recently added best-selling author (Dresses to Dream About and Dresses to Dream About: Deluxe Edition) and interior designer (Siriano Interiors) to his impressive list of credits. In 2024, he launched the second collection of his furniture line and a new coffee table book titled CHRISTIAN SIRIANO: THE NEW RED CARPET. Most recently, Christian launched RUNWAY by Christian Siriano, a seven-piece “masstige” skincare line, backstage at his Fall 2026 runway show. 

About Arizona Costume Institute

Arizona Costume Institute was founded in 1966 to support the fashion 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 current ACI Board of Managers president is Donna Johnson. To learn more about Arizona Costume Institute, visit arizonacostumeinstitute.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 more than 9,000 examples of fashionable dress and accessories from the 17th century to the present. Celebrated for its quality and comprehensiveness, the collection explores the art of dressing and seeks out the rarest examples of these dress traditions, with particular strengths in 19th-century womenswear, works by 20th-century designers, and 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; the Geoffrey Beene Archive, with more than 300 evening gowns and custom designs; and the Paper Dresses Archive.

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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FEATURED EVENTS

Lenhardt Lecture | Jeffrey Gibson in Conversation with Candice Hopkins

Wednesday, October 14 | 6:30 pm

Free for Members | $5 for the General Public

PhxArt is pleased to welcome artist Jeffrey Gibson (a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent) who will appear in conversation with the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Forge Project, Candice Hopkins (citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation), for the fall Lenhardt Lecture. Widely recognized as one of the leading contemporary American artists working today, Gibson has earned international recognition for his multidisciplinary practice, which synthesizes Indigenous traditions and aesthetics with layered references to contemporary culture and global histories. He will appear in dialogue with Hopkins, whose writing and curatorial practice explore the intersections of history, contemporary art and Indigeneity.

Tickets are available here.

The Lenhardt Lecture is made possible through the generosity of The Dawn and David Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative. Lenhardt Lecture Series is supported in part by Prime Steak Concepts.

In Conversation: Modern Treads with Susan Driver and Rachel Zebro

Wednesday, October 28 | 6:30 pm

Free for Members | $5 for the General Public

Join Rachel Zebro, Curator of Modern Art and Manager of Collections and Archives, and Susan Driver, Curator of the Collection of Discount Tire for a conversation about the current exhibition, Modern Treads: The Discount Tire Poster Collection. Together, they will explore the Discount Tire poster collection, a graphically rich display of modern advertisements started in 1982 by the company’s founder, Bruce T. Halle. At the turn of the 20th century, industry giants such as Michelin, Dunlop, Continental, Pirelli and Goodyear recognized the poster as an effective form of communication and turned to talented lithographers for eye-catching designs. Drawn exclusively from the Collection of Discount Tire, these vibrant posters reveal the intersection of artistic innovation and industrial advancement.

Tickets are available here.

SOUNDCHECK | MRCH

Friday, October 30 | 7 pm

$10 for Members | $28 for the General Public* 

*Tickets include all-day access to the Museum

One Friday per month from 7–8 pm, PhxArt transforms into a live-music venue, hosting raw, can’t-miss performances from the Southwest’s top acts. Indie electronic duo MRCH makes moody music you can dance to. With songs featured in TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Search Party, The Vampire Diaries, The Sex Lives of College Girls, etc. As well as upcoming film Capsized (premiering at EIFF Aug 2026) ~ the duo has carved out a niche cinematic presence. They’ve toured independently, supporting bands including Cannons, CHVRCHES, Foster the People, Bad Suns and more.

Tickets are available here.

SOUNDCHECK is made possible through the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Men’s Arts Council, with additional support from the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for the Performing Art.

First Friday

Friday, October 2 | 5–8 pm

Voluntary Donations | Special Exhibition Tickets Sold Separately

Hit the road and step into a nostalgic dream of vintage travel, roadside adventures and the memories we make along the journey. Inspired by the connections between graphic design, printmaking and exploration, October’s First Friday invites you to create, wander, remember and leave your own mark through hands-on art-making.

• The Tread We Leave Behind with Olivia Yuen | Get crafty with local artist and printmaker Olivia Yuen and design your own tire tread postcard.
• You Can Go Your Own Way with Jen Urso | Create a personal map with local artist and cartographer Jen Urso, turning your travels, memories and imagined destinations into a unique illustrated journey.
• PhxArt Archives | Speed over to the Administration building to tour through our special exhibition On the Record, to see treasures from the PhxArt archival collections. Afterward, create a souvenir magnet to travel home with you.
• C10 Girls Cultura | Get to know C10 Girls Cultura, who celebrate women who share a passion for classic C10 trucks and the community that brings them together.
• Films at PhxArt: Little Miss Sunshine at 6 pm | Film tickets are sold separately. Reserve your spot here.
• The Arizona Office of Tourism | The Arizona Office of Tourism strives to create an Arizona experience that captures the hearts and minds of both residents and travelers worldwide in search of extraordinary adventure and natural wonders.
• Cycle AZ 66 | Learn more about Cycle AZ 66 and the ultimate biking adventure along Route 66.
• Food Truck by Rosie’s Inspired Kitchen
• Photobooth with PARC PHX
• Live Music with DJ Joseph Torres

Tickets are available here.

First Fridays are made possible by APS with additional support from Arizona Community Foundation.

OPENING SOON

Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion

Through August 8, 2027

The unveiling of a newly commissioned gown by Christian Siriano for the PhxArt Fashion Collection will hold prominence in the Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion exhibition. This installation will coincide with the launch of Colorwear, an original PhxArt publication that explores the history and highlights of the institution’s fashion collection and features Siriano’s PhxArt commission on its cover.

Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion at Phoenix Art Museum 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. Additional support provided by Fan Association of North America (FANA). 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.

NEW ON VIEW

Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan

Through February 21, 2027

Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan is the first exhibition of works by the South Korean master painter Kim Chong Hak in Arizona. It features more than 80 paintings, drawings and sketches that span the arc of Kim’s long career, highlighting an aspect of Korean art from the late 20th century that is little known outside of South Korea. Born in Sinuji, Korea, in 1937, Kim Chong Hak first worked as an abstract painter in the 1960s and ultimately rejected the adoption of Western-style abstraction. In the late 1970s, he settled in Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea and home of Mount Seorak—the highest peak in the country’s Taebaek mountain range. There, he sought out an alternative artistic discourse, moving away from the monochromatic painting popular in Korea of the time and toward his own unabashedly expressive style.

Kim Chong-Hak, Painter of Seoraksan is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and curated by Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Lead sponsorship of the publication is provided by Johyun Gallery and the Korea Foundation. Generous support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Su and Al Longman, Gallery Hyundai and the Yang Won Sun Foundation. The presentation of Kim Chong-Hak, Painter of Seoraksan at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Colin Pearson, Curator of Asian Art, and made possible by the generous support of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Exhibition Endowment Fund, Hyunsook Jeanne Sours, and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. 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.

A New Renaissance: Revisiting Old Masters

Through October 2027

A New Renaissance: Revisiting Old Masters pairs historical European artworks from the PhxArt Collection with new contemporary acquisitions, demonstrating the evolution of artistic traditions across time and place. The exhibition brings together works by Maria Kreyn, William Hamilton, Henri Rousseau, Marie Laurencin and Flora Yukhnovich, reimagining landscapes, portraits, still lifes and themes of objects and luxury.

A New Renaissance: Revising Old Masters is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Rachel Zebro, Curator of Collections. A New Renaissance: Revising Old Masters is made possible 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.

For a full list of exhibitions on view now at Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org/art/exhibitions/

OTHER OCTOBER EVENTS

Storytime
Thursday, October 1| 10:30 am
Free for Members | Included with General Admission

For more information, click here.

Storytime is made possible by First Things First, 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.

Object of the Month: Pere Lembrí, The Coronation of the Virgin

October 1, 3, 15, 22, 29 | 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.

Create Playdate

Saturday, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | 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.

29th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival

Sunday, October 4 | 2 pm

$10 for Members | $15 for General Public
Tickets are available here.

Films at PhxArt: Marie Antoinette

Wednesday, October 7 | 6 pm

Free for Members | $10 for General Public
Tickets are available here.

PhxArt Book Club: Abecedario de Juárez: An Illustrated Lexicon
Wednesday, October 7 | 6:30 pm
Free event

Location: The Lemon Art Research Library, located inside the Museum Administration Building

For more information, click here.

Kids Day

Sunday, October 11 | 12–5 pm

Free for Members | Included with General Admission

Tickets are available here.

Kids Day is made possible by Desert Financial Credit Union, with additional support from 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

Films at PhxArt: Amadeus

Wednesday, October 28 | 6 pm

Free for Members | $10 for General Public
Tickets are available here.

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein

Saturday, October 31 | 1 pm

$15 for Members | $20 for General Public 
Tickets are available here.

National Theatre Live screenings are made possible in part by the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts.

OTHER DISCOUNTED + FREE-ACCESS PROGRAMS

Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays
Every Wednesday | 3–8 pm
Voluntary Donations

Free for Museum Members | $10 special exhibition

Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays are made possible by SRP and the City of Phoenix – Office of Arts and Culture, with additional support provided by Arizona Community Foundation and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. 

Military Discount

Active-duty U.S. military personnel and veterans enjoy $5 off general admission tickets. 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. 

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The post Phoenix Art Museum hosts Lenhardt Lecture with artist Jeffrey Gibson in Conversation with Candice Hopkins; welcomes MRCH for October SOUNDCHECK; First Friday celebrating exhibition Modern Treads: The Discount Tire Poster Collection appeared first on Phoenix Art Museum.

PHOENIX (September 15, 2026) – Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) announces the recipients of the 2026 Arizona Artist Awards. Alanna Airitam was named recipient of the 2026 Scult Family Artist Award and Memo Gutierrez and Nika Kaiser were named recipients of the 2026 Sally and Richard Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards (Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards.) Liza Stout is the winner of the Sette/Cohn Artist Award, established in 2024 to expand the Arizona Artist Awards program and deepen PhxArt’s support of local artists. As part of the awards, each artist receives a lifetime Membership to Phoenix Art Museum as well as funds to support their artistic practice. Airitam, Gutierrez, and Kaiser will also have the opportunity to exhibit their work in solo and group exhibitions at the Museum. Airitam will premiere work in January 2027, with Guitierrez and Kaiser exhibiting jointly in summer 2027.  

“We are thrilled to announce this year’s recipients of the Scult, Lehmann, and Sette/Cohn Artist Awards in recognition of their meaningful contributions to Arizona’s vibrant arts and culture landscape,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Each of these artists has developed a dynamic and thoughtful practice shaped by their lived experiences, communities and unique perspectives on identity, connection and the broader human condition. We are honored to support their work as part of our ongoing commitment to elevating the voices of Arizona-based artists and are deeply grateful to the Scult, Lehmann and Cohn families, Lisa Sette, and Artlink for their generosity and partnership in making these efforts possible.”

Scult Family Artist Award

Each year, Phoenix Art Museum recognizes a mid-career Arizona-based artist with the Scult Family Artist Award. Eligible candidates must have lived in Arizona for a minimum of four consecutive years and are nominated by a group of curators, museum directors and other arts professionals from across the state. Candidacy is evaluated based on their demonstration of artistic excellence, active creation and exhibition of new work and career-spanning evolution. Following a robust review process, a jury of curators, art scholars, artists and other experts and professionals in the field from across the country selects the recipient. The Scult Family Artist Award includes monetary support of $20,000 and an invitation to present a solo exhibition of new and past work at the Museum. The 2026 Scult Artist Award jury included Catharina Manchanda, Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum; Patricia Sannit, 2016 Scult Family Artist Award recipient; Keshia Turley, Assistant Curator at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; Christian Ramírez, Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement, Phoenix Art Museum; and Jeff Scult.

The 2026 Scult Family Artist Award recipient, Alanna Airitam, is a photographic artist based in Tucson, Arizona, whose work explores Black lived experience as a site of memory, imagination and possibility. Working across photography, installation, archival research and material experimentation, she considers how histories are constructed, how ideas of beauty, value and belonging take form, and how the ways we live, create and care for one another might reveal about the conditions necessary for human flourishing. Drawing from traditions of Black studio photography and Western portraiture, Airitam engages the archive as both a site of historical reckoning and a repository of knowledge, beauty, love, creativity and self-determination. Moving between history, lived experience and speculative possibility, her work asks how people create meaningful lives within and beyond the structures that seek to define them, and what other ways of being might become imaginable when flourishing is understood as fundamental to being fully alive. A self-taught artist, Airitam has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is held in numerous public and institutional collections, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Phoenix Art Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, Center for Creative Photography, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Tucson Museum of Art. Her commitment to creating spaces for artistic exchange and community extends beyond her studio practice as co-founder of the Southwest Black Artists Collective and co-founder and co-director of The Projects/SPACE, an artist-run space in Tucson, Arizona.

Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards

The Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards help foster the creative practices and careers of emerging Arizona-based artists. Candidates must have lived in Arizona for a minimum of one year and are invited to apply through an annual open call hosted by Artlink, a non-profit organization that has supported and amplified Arizona artists and community-based art events and initiatives for more than 30 years. Recipients receive $10,000 in monetary support and the opportunity to present a joint exhibition at the Museum with fellow Lehmann awardees. The 2026 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards jury was assembled by Ramírez and included Ramírez; Catharina Manchanda, Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum; Patricia Sannit, 2016 Scult Family Artist Award recipient; Keshia Turley, Assistant Curator at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; and ​Sally Lehmann.

The Museum has named Memo Gutierrez and Nika Kaiser recipients of the 2026 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards. Based in Phoenix, Gutierrez is a multimedia artist who works with sound, electronics, and sculpture. His practice examines the possibilities within discovering the intrinsic agency of found and raw materials through sonic and sculptural expression. Gutierrez was born in El Paso, Texas, where he lived until moving to Tempe to pursue his MFA at Arizona State University. His work has been shown both nationally and internationally. He has received various awards including the International Sculpture Center’s “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture.” His work has been shown at Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez, Axis Gallery, Belger Crane Yard Studios, Mesa Arts Center, Eric Fischl Gallery, Modified Arts Gallery, and the Tucson Museum of Art. His work is a part of the permanent collections of both the El Paso Museum of Art and the Rubin Center for Visual Arts.

Kaiser is a multi-disciplinary artist working with video, sound, photography, and installation. Her practice deploys a meeting of the imaginary and the real to explore ideas of deep time, interspecies connection, anti-capitalism, and future ecologies, and is informed by her upbringing in the Sonoran borderlands. Kaiser holds an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Oregon. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including two Arts Foundation New Works Grants, two Night Bloom Grants, and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship. Among many of her collaborative projects, she performs as one half of the experimental sound and video project Alluvium and she co-runs Precious Cargo, an experimental gallery space and book shop that focuses on DIY publishing projects. Kaiser teaches Experimental Practices in the Department of Film and Television at the University of Arizona.

Sette/Cohn Artist Award

Established in 2024, the Sette/Cohn Artist Award is a $5,000 prize awarded to an emerging Arizona artist selected from the Lehmann Emerging Artist Award application pool as part of a five-year initiative dedicated to supporting arts engagement and strengthening community partnerships. It is named in honor of Lisa Sette, who has supported and represented Arizona-based artists, both through her gallery and personally, for more than 40 years, and Lee and Mike Cohn, longtime Museum supporters who in 2023 provided the seed funding to launch the Phoenix Art Museum Education and Engagement Excellence Fund and have extended their generosity to support Arizona-based artists. The award’s recipient is selected by Olga Viso, Selig Family Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, Phoenix Art Museum; Lee and Mike Cohn; and Lisa Sette.

The 2026 Sette/Cohn Artist Award recipient is Liza Stout. Stout’s artwork explores the connection between the body and caregiving tools, highlighting the unseen repetition of labor. Raised in a Colorado resort town sustained by hospitality and service, she grew up working in restaurants, where tending to the experiences of guests trained her in particular detailed attention: the folding of a napkin or the mopping of a floor. These were precise tasks that asked of the body the same focused repetition that making a sculpture does, sanding back and forth on wood or compressing clay between her fingers.

Stout builds tools and objects that reference the gestures that support, contain or tend to other bodies. Wood is central to her practice because of its tactile presence in daily life. As a natural material it absorbs repeated motion, wears unevenly and carries the evidence of hands over time. The making of each tool is itself a kind of labor, and that process feeds directly into performance, where the objects are activated and brought into dialogue with generational histories of caregiving. This creates a loop with no clear ending, one that mirrors how caregiving and service work actually operate: ongoing and always beginning again.

Stout earned her MFA from Arizona State University and her BFA from Pratt Institute. She was a 2026 Windgate Fellow at the Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia. Her work has been shown at Tempe Center for the Arts, Terra Forma and the Arizona Biennial at the Tucson Museum of Art.

“I offer my heartfelt congratulations to Alanna, Memo, Nika, and Liza on being named this year’s Arizona Artist Awards recipients,” said Christian Ramírez, Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement at Phoenix Art Museum. “Each of these artists has developed a distinctive and multifaceted practice, and their work is a powerful reflection of the talent, creativity and strength of Arizona’s arts community. I look forward to working with Alanna, Memo, and Nika as we begin planning their exhibitions and finding meaningful ways to engage our community with their evocative work and unique perspectives. I am equally excited to see how Liza takes advantage of this award opportunity to continue growing and evolving as an artist.”

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.

For high-resolution photography or more information, contact the Museum’s Communications Office 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, 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 Artlink Inc.

Artlink keeps the arts integral to our development by connecting artists, businesses, and the community. Founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by artists in 1989, the Artlink name is a guiding principle for the organization, as it supports stakeholders of the arts and culture community, amplifying its collective strength. Visit artlinkphx.org to sign up for the Artlink newsletter, or connect socially on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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PHOENIX (September 2, 2026) –For the 2026–2027 season, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) is pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed artist Jeffrey Gibson (a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent) will appear in conversation with the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Forge Project, Candice Hopkins (citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation), for the fall Lenhardt Lecture. Celebrated contemporary artist Kelly Akashi will come to Phoenix in April as the spring Lenhardt Lecture speaker. Widely recognized as one of the leading contemporary American artists working today, Gibson has earned international recognition for his multidisciplinary practice, which synthesizes Indigenous traditions and aesthetics with layered references to contemporary culture and global histories. He will appear in dialogue with Hopkins, whose writing and curatorial practice explore the intersections of history, contemporary art, and Indigeneity. The Museum will present Gibson and Hopkins on October 14, 2026. Tickets to the Lenhardt Lecture featuring Gibson and Hopkins on October 14 at 6:30 pm are live here.

On April 14, 2027, PhxArt welcomes Kelly Akashi, whose work is already familiar to Museum audiences through Polar Vista, acquired by the Museum in 2023 and currently on view in the Katz Wing for Modern Art. Tickets to the spring Lenhardt Lecture featuring Akashi are here. Lenhardt Lecture tickets are free for Museum Members and $5 for the public.

“We are honored to welcome Jeffrey Gibson, Candice Hopkins, and Kelly Akashi to Phoenix Art Museum as the next speakers in our esteemed Lenhardt Lecture series,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “Among the most influential artists working today, Gibson and Akashi each bring deeply personal yet universally resonant perspectives that illuminate the stories, histories, and lived experiences shaping our world, while Hopkins has curated some of the most significant exhibitions in the past decade to reframe art history through an Indigenous lens. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative, including the Lenhardt Lecture series, we celebrate the extraordinary impact the program has had on our Museum and our community. Through the generosity and vision of the Lenhardt family, we have welcomed many of the defining artists and cultural voices of our time, creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue while expanding the voices, narratives, and perspectives represented throughout PhxArt’s exhibitions, programs, and collection.”

Jeffrey Gibson (American, b. 1972) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and convener, celebrated for his work in painting, installation, video, and performance. Over two decades, he has examined how language, pattern, and music construct meaning, synthesizing Indigenous and Western traditions through vibrant color, complex patterning, and layered sound. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson represented the U.S. at the 2024 Venice Biennale with his acclaimed exhibition the space in which to place me, which made its U.S. debut at The Broad in Los Angeles in May 2025. In June 2025, he unveiled a site-specific installation at Kunsthaus Zurich and that same year was selected for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Genesis Facade Commission. His work is held in major collections including MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Art.

Gibson will be joined in October by Candice Hopkins.A citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation, Hopkins is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Forge Project, Taghkanic, New York, and Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is curator of the exhibitions Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination Since 1969; Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, co-curated with Dylan Robinson; and ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒻᒪᕆᒃ Double Vision, featuring textiles, prints and drawings by Jessie Oonark, Janet Kigusiuq, and Victoria Mamnguqsualuk. She was also the Senior Curator for the inaugural 2019 and 2022 editions of the Toronto Biennial of Art and part of the curatorial team for the Canadian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, among other accomplishments.

Kelly Akashi (b. 1983, Los Angeles) uses material transformation to give physical form to memory, inheritance, and loss. Working across glass, bronze, crystal, stone, and ash, she renders fragile or ephemeral matter into enduring forms, creating works that hold traces of touch, labor, and impermanence and are grounded in a practice defined by deep material engagement and a conceptual approach. Akashi’s work has been presented in solo exhibitions at the San Jose Museum of Art, Frye Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Henry Art Gallery, SculptureCenter, and Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Milano. She has also created public commissions for JFK International Airport’s New Terminal One, as well as projects with the Aspen Art Museum, Clark Art Institute, and the Hyundai Terrace for the 2026 Whitney Biennial. She is the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Women in the Arts Award from MOCA Los Angeles, among many other distinctions. Akashi’s work Polar Vista(1993–2023) is on view now in the Museum’s Katz Wing for Modern Art and was aquired by the institution in 2023.

“Dawn and I are thrilled that Jeffrey Gibson, Candice Hopkins, and Kelly Akashi are joining us this season for the Lenhardt Lecture series,” said David Lenhardt, a member of the Museum’s Board of Trustees. “Gibson and Akashi are both masters at layering cultural references, media, and meaning through their practices. Their artworks encourage deep looking and reward the viewer with new discoveries each time they engage. We are also excited to welcome Hopkins, whose commitment to advancing Indigenous practices in contemporary art has made such a transformative impact. We are grateful they will be sharing their meaningful stories and insights with our Phoenix community.”

In addition to their presentations at Phoenix Art Museum, Gibson and Akashi will engage with local artists and creatives as part of the educational and community-based component integral to the series. Each year, Lenhardt Lecture speakers give back and work with Arizona-based creators in various capacities to provide vital mentorship.

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

About Jeffrey Gibson

Jeffrey Gibson (American, b. 1972) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and convener celebrated for his work in painting, installation, video, and performance. For over two decades, he has examined how language, pattern, and music construct meaning, synthesizing Indigenous and Western traditions through vibrant color, complex patterning, and layered sound. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson represented the U.S. at the 2024 Venice Biennale with his acclaimed exhibition the space in which to place me, which made its U.S. debut at The Broad in Los Angeles in May 2025. In June 2025, he unveiled a site-specific installation at Kunsthaus Zurich. Gibson was selected for the Metropolitan Museum’s 2025 Genesis Facade Commission, and his monumental bronze sculptures will be on view through June 2026. His work is held in major collections including MoMA, the Whitney, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Art. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and is artist-in-residence at Bard College.

About Candice Hopkins

Candice Hopkins is a citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation and lives in Red Hook, New York. Her writing and curatorial practice explore the intersections of history, contemporary art, and Indigeneity. She is Executive Director & Chief Curator of Forge Project, Taghkanic, New York, and Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies, Bard College. She is curator of the exhibitions Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination Since 1969, Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, co-curated with Dylan Robinson, and ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒻᒪᕆᒃ Double Vision, featuring textiles, prints and drawings by Jessie Oonark, Janet Kigusiuq, and Victoria Mamnguqsualuk. She was the Senior Curator for the inaugural 2019 and 2022 editions of the Toronto Biennial of Art and part of the curatorial team for the Canadian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, featuring the work of the media collective Isuma; as well as documenta 14, Athens and Kassel; and Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Her notable essays include “The Gilded Gaze: Wealth and Economies on the Colonial Frontier,” in the documenta 14 Reader; “Outlawed Social Life,” in South as a State of Mind; and “The Appropriation Debates (or The Gallows of History),” in Saturation: Race, Art, and the Circulation of Value (New Museum/MIT Press, 2020).

About Kelly Akashi

Kelly Akashi (b. 1983) uses material transformation to give physical form to memory, inheritance, and loss, translating intimate objects into sculptures that register time and change. Her practice is grounded in deep material engagement, where learning processes such as glassblowing, stone carving, casting, and candle-making becomes integral to her conceptual approach. She approaches mortality as a contemplative condition, attentive to the quiet dignity of transience. Akashi serves as Core Faculty in Grad Art at ArtCenter College of Design. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at the San Jose Museum of Art, Frye Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Henry Art Gallery, SculptureCenter, and Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Milano. Public commissions include a monumental installation for JFK International Airport’s New Terminal One, an outdoor sculpture commission for Williams College Museum of Art, projects with the Aspen Art Museum, Clark Art Institute, and the Hyundai Terrace for the 2026 Whitney Biennial. She is the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Women in the Arts Award from MOCA Los Angeles and grants from the Trellis Fund, the Andy Warhol Foundation, LACMA Art + Tech, Peter S. Reed Foundation, and Tieger Foundation.

About the Lenhardt Lecture and the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative

Since 2018, the Lenhardt Lecture series has engaged Valley audiences with some of the most acclaimed contemporary artists in the world. Featured speakers have included Jim Hodges, 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, Lily Stockman, Eamon Ore-Giron, Charles Gaines in conversation with Thelma Golden, Adam Pendelton in conversation with Dr. Adrienne Edwards, and Caroline Kent. The program also includes an educational and community-based component. All Lenhardt Lecture speakers engage with local artists and creatives, working with Arizona-based creators in various capacities to provide vital mentorship.

The Lenhardt Lecture is a key component of the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative. Established in 2017 through the generosity of the Arizona-based Lenhardt family, the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative deepens 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, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe and Lily Stockman with funds from the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative.

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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FEATURED EVENTS

Films at PhxArt: American Pachuco with Director David Alvarado + Producer Everett Katigbak

Wednesday, September 2 | 6 p.m.

$10 for Members | $15 for Non-Members

Against political resistance and industry skepticism, Luis Valdez pushed Chicano storytelling from the fields to the film screen, crafting iconic works that challenge, celebrate and expand America’s story. In the 1960s, his El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize workers to win the first farmworker union contract. His Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. Despite critical rejection that killed the show, he persevered, creating La Bamba—a blockbuster breakout film that authentically depicted Mexican American life to the world. Now in its 60th year, El Teatro continues to be a beacon for Latino/a creators. American Pachuco is the story of an artist who gave voice to the overlooked and opened pathways for generations. Featuring interviews with Linda Ronstadt, Lou Diamond Phillips, Cheech Marin, Delores Huerta and Edward James Olmos. Winner of both the Audience and Jury awards at the Sundance film festival.

Tickets are available here.

SOUNDCHECK | Meat Puppets

Friday, September 25 | 7 p.m.

$10 for Members | $28 for the public* 

*Tickets include all-day access to the Museum

SOUNDCHECK is back. One Friday per month from 7–8 p.m., Phoenix Art Museum turns into a live-music venue for one hour, with unplugged sets, local and regional acts, and art all around you.

Season two of SOUNDCHECK kicks off with Arizona Hall of Fame recipients the Meat Puppets. Formed in Phoenix in the early 1980s, the Meat Puppets turned punk’s creative freedom loose on country, psychedelia and Southwestern desert weirdness, making landmark albums like “Meat Puppets II” and “Up on the Sun” before Kurt Cobain brought brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood onstage for Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged and introduced them to a generation. More than 40 years later, the founding trio is back together, joined by keyboardist Ron Stabinsky and guitarist Elmo Kirkwood. As drummer Derrick Bostrom puts it, “This doesn’t feel like an oldies act. It feels like the culmination.”

Tickets are available here.

SOUNDCHECK is made possible through the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Men’s Arts Council, with additional support from the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for the Performing Arts.

Kids Day at PhxArt

Sunday, September 13 | Noon – 5 p.m.

Free for Members | 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 participants with PhxArt’s collection and special exhibitions. This September, Kids Day celebrates the 60th anniversary of Phoenix Art Museum’s fashion collection. Explore the current fashion exhibition COLORWEAR: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion and find your signature look.

• Noon–5 p.m. | Design your own personal style with a mix and match wardrobe craft
• Noon–5 p.m. | Accessorize with a custom-made button
• Noon–5 p.m. | Strike a pose in our fashion photobooth with photographer Kenzie Rich
• Noon–5 p.m. | Learn about ACI and PhxArt’s newest publication, COLORWEAR: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion
• 1:30–2 p.m. | Join us for a reading of Elmer by David McKee
• 2–2:45 p.m. | The galleries come alive with a 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 Symphony Series

Free for Members | Included with general admission

The Phoenix Symphony is coming to PhxArt for two 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.

• Sunday, September 13 at 2 – 2:45 p.m.
• Wednesday, September 16 at 5 – 5:30 p.m.*

*Free-access times. Performances are included with general admission. Purchase tickets here.

OPENING SOON

Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan

Opening September 9, 2026

Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan is the first exhibition of works by the South Korean master painter Kim Chong Hak in Arizona. It features more than 80 paintings, drawings and sketches that span the arc of Kim’s long career, highlighting an aspect of Korean art from the late 20th century that is little known outside of South Korea. Born in Sinuji, Korea, in 1937, Kim Chong Hak first worked as an abstract painter in the 1960s and ultimately rejected the adoption of Western-style abstraction. In the late 1970s, he settled in Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea and home of Mount Seorak—the highest peak in the country’s Taebaek mountain range. There, he sought out an alternative artistic discourse, moving away from the monochromatic painting popular in Korea of the time and toward his own unabashedly expressive style.

Kim Chong-Hak, Painter of Seoraksan is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and curated by Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Lead sponsorship of the publication is provided by Johyun Gallery and the Korea Foundation. Generous support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Su and Al Longman, Gallery Hyundai and the Yang Won Sun Foundation.

The presentation of Kim Chong-Hak, Painter of Seoraksan at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Colin Pearson, Curator of Asian Art, and made possible by the generous support of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Exhibition Endowment Fund, Hyunsook Jeanne Sours, and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. 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.

NEW ON VIEW

The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art from the William P. Healey Collection

Through July 11, 2027

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.

CLOSING SOON

Flowers of the Punjab: Textiles of India and Beyond

Closing September 6, 2026

Discover traditional textiles from the Punjab region of northwestern India, the birthplace of Sikhism. At the heart of the display is the Phulkari, a richly embroidered garment created by a girl’s female family members starting from her birth and completed by her marriage.

Flowers of the Punjab: Textiles of India and Beyond is organized by Phoenix Art Museum. It is curated by Colin Pearson, Curator of Asian Art, and made possible through the generosity of The Sikh Heritage 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.

Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan

Closing September 13, 2026

Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan celebrates the originality and virtuosity of 36 women artists who have explored sculptural expression outside the traditional field of Japanese studio ceramics since the 1970s. The exhibition’s 40 avant-garde works are drawn from the Horvitz Collection, considered one of the leading collections of Japanese contemporary ceramics outside of Japan, and explore wide-ranging content and motifs, including the human body, geology, flora and fantastical abstract forms.

Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection and curated by Janice Katz, Roger L. Weston Curator of Japanese Art. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Colin Pearson, Curator of Asian Art. Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan is made possible by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and Katharine and Nicholas J. Feduska, M.D. 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.

For a full list of exhibitions on view now at Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org/art/exhibitions/.

OTHER SEPTEMBER EVENTS

PhxArt Book Club: Temple of Love by Rick Owens
Wednesday, September 2 | 6:30 p.m.
Free event

Location: The Lemon Art Research Library, located inside the Museum Administration Building

For more information, click here.

Storytime
Thursday, September 3 | 10:30 a.m.
Free for Members | Included with general admission

For more information, click here.

Storytime is made possible by First Things First, 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.

Object of the Month: Celebration from the Underworld, Tony Abeyta
September 3, 5, 17, 24 | 11:30 a.m.
Free for Members | Included with general admission

For more information, click here.

Object of the Month is made possible by CMI Gold & Silver.

First Friday

Friday, September 4 | 5 – 8 p.m.

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.

Create Playdate

Saturday, September 5, 12, 19, 26 | 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

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.

In Conversation: 2025 Lehmann Emerging Artists

Wednesday, September 23 | 6:30 p.m.

Free during Pay What You Wish Wednesday

Tickets are available here.

Puppet Workshop with Chris Ignacio

Saturday, September 26 |10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

$40 for Members | $50 for Non-Members

Capacity is limited.

Tickets are available here.

National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren’s Profession

Sunday, September 27 | 1 p.m.

$15 for Members | $20 for general public 
Tickets are available here.

National Theatre Live screenings are made possible in part by the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for Performing Arts.

Films at PhxArt: The Social Network

Wednesday, September 30 | 6 p.m.

Free for Members | $10 for general public
Tickets are available here.

OTHER DISCOUNTED + FREE-ACCESS PROGRAMS

Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays
Every Wednesday | 3 – 8 p.m.
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.

Military Discount

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.

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 (August 19, 2026) – SOUNDCHECK is back at Phoenix Art Museum. This fall, for one Friday each month, Phoenix Art Museum turns into a live-music venue for unplugged, can’t-miss performances from popular local and regional acts. The monthly performances run from 7-8 p.m. and are made possible thanks to the generosity of presenting sponsor Men’s Arts Council, with additional support from the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for the Performing Arts. The SOUNDCHECK season kicks off with Meat Puppets on September 25, followed by MRCH on October 30. Tickets are now live on www.phxart.org and can be found here.

“We are very excited to bring back SOUNDCHECK during the 2026-2027 season at Phoenix Art Museum,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “This increasingly popular program gives visitors a new way to experience the Museum, with live musical performances that range from rock n’ roll and punk rock, to indie and contemporary pop. We are grateful to Men’s Arts Council and the Angela and Leonard Singer Endowment for the Performing Arts for their ongoing support of this program and their commitment to bringing even more people together through art, music and shared experiences.”

Launched in 2025, SOUNDCHECK is a monthly live-music experience at Phoenix Art Museum. Last year’s lineup included musical guests 76^th Street, The Sunflower King, The Phoenix Symphony and many more.

This year’s lineup kicks off on Friday, September 25, 2026, with Arizona Hall of Fame recipients Meat Puppets. Formed in Phoenix in the early 1980s, Meat Puppets turned punk’s creative freedom loose on country, psychedelia and Southwestern desert weirdness, making landmark albums like Meat Puppets II and Up on the Sun before Kurt Cobain brought brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood onstage for Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged and introduced them to a generation. More than 40 years later, the founding trio is back together, joined by keyboardist Ron Stabinsky and guitarist Elmo Kirkwood. As drummer Derrick Bostrom puts it, “This doesn’t feel like an oldies act. It feels like the culmination.” 

The second band in this year’s schedule is MRCH, on stage Friday, October 30, 2026. Indie electronic duo MRCH makes moody music you can dance to. Their songs have been featured in TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Search Party, The Vampire Diaries, The Sex Lives of College Girls, and more. As well as the upcoming film Capsized (premiering at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August 2026), the duo has carved out a niche cinematic presence. MRCH toured independently, supporting bands including Cannons, CHVRCHES, Foster the People, Bad Suns and others. 

“SOUNDCHECK brings together some of the best of what makes Phoenix so special, from incredible music and art to meaningful opportunities to connect as a community,” said Sentari Minor, board president of Men’s Arts Council. “As we kick off a new season, we’re excited to continue our partnership with Phoenix Art Museum and bring this event back for another year. It’s a celebration of local talent, creativity and community, and we look forward to welcoming everyone for another unforgettable experience.”

Tickets for Meat Puppets SOUNDCHECK performance are available here and tickets to MRCH can be purchased here.

SOUNDCHECK is included with regular-priced museum admission, giving visitors access to Phoenix Art Museum galleries in addition to live musical performances.

Additional bands in the 2026 SOUNDCHECK lineup will be announced later this fall.

High-resolution photography with image credits can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org. For more information on the Men’s Arts Council, contact Lindsay Hansen at 480-205-6195 or lindsay@ldhconsulting.net.   

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 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, AZ—August 17, 2026—In September 2027, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) and the Heard Museum will present Jamie Okuma: With These Hands, the first major mid-career retrospective of contemporary artist and fashion designer Jamie Okuma (Luiseño, Shoshone-Bannock, Wailaki, and Okinawan) and the inaugural exhibition co-presented by the two neighboring Phoenix-based institutions. Showcasing Okuma’s boundary-defying, interdisciplinary practice, the exhibition features more than 60 works from the late 1990s to the present, including objects from Okuma’s personal archive. Soft-sculptures, couture, ready-to-wear garments, and examples of beadwork demonstrate Okuma’s masterful approach to working across art and fashion design, yielding evocative pieces that are simultaneously grounded in tradition and contemporary sensibilities. A historic collaboration between the Heard and PhxArt, Jamie Okuma: With These Hands will be on view at both institutions simultaneously from September 24, 2027 through March 5, 2028.   

In a joint statement, from David M. Roche, the Heard Museum Dickey Family Director and CEO, and Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum: “We’re honored to present this landmark exhibition to the Phoenix community and beyond. Jamie Okuma: With These Hands marks a defining milestone in Jamie Okuma’s career, illuminating how her unique interdisciplinary practice has made an indelible impact in the realms of contemporary art, fashion, and Indigenous creative expression, while establishing a new framework for understanding her work within the contemporary visual arts and fashion history. This presentation further underscores the commitment our two institutions share to creating opportunities for Indigenous artists and to making Phoenix the premier destination to experience the breadth and diversity of Indigenous art and culture.” 

Jamie Okuma is an internationally acclaimed artist and fashion designer, known widely for her intricate beadwork, mixed-media sculpture, and couture works. As a child, Okuma created and began exhibiting beadwork made with antique seed beads, including dolls adorned in fully beaded regalia. Since then, her creative practice has vastly expanded, integrating traditional beading practices with the visual languages of horror film, punk subcultures, traditional powwow regalia designs, avant-garde couture fashion, and the natural landscapes of her California home to examine issues of identity and cultural belonging. 

Jamie Okuma: With These Hands situates Okuma’s work within broader cultural conversations around Indigenous authorship, identity, and culture, investigating the ways in which her practice fits within the context of other interdisciplinary artists of her generation—and what sets it apart. In addition to exploring Okuma’s practice within the framework of deep traditional connection, the survey sheds light on how she has achieved global success by reimagining and combining pop imagery, pictographic traditions, and historical patterns and iconography, effectively challenging preconceived notions of Indigenous art, design, and fashion.  

Presented across both the Heard and PhxArt, which are located less than three blocks apart in downtown Phoenix, objects in the exhibition are explored through a set of storylines, resisting the traditional thematic structures of surveys of this kind. As they move through the galleries at each venue, visitors will discover Okuma’s work within the context of family and homeland, beauty and protection, and power and defiance. Instead of standard gallery spaces with neutral walls, works will be showcased in immersive environments, inspired by geographies that have informed their creation. For example, a dress with silk-chiffon sleeves is placed in an expansive meadow scene in reference to the ecosystem’s waving grasses. Other environments present throughout the exhibition include the ocean, cityscapes, desert landscapes, and the forest, with each showcasing its own unique set of objects.  

“Jamie Okuma’s work acts as self-portraits and insists on Indigenous authorship as both a creative and a deeply personal act,” Roshii Montaño (Diné), Curator at the Heard Museum. “She challenges long-held assumptions about Native art and design while defining her practice entirely on her own terms. With These Hands foregrounds that self-determination and affirms a distinctly contemporary Native voice.”  

Exhibition Organization, Tour, and Catalog 

Jamie Okuma: With These Hands is co-organized by the Heard Museum and Phoenix Art Museum and co-curated by Roshii Montaño (Diné; Heard) and Helen Jean. It will be accompanied by an extensive catalog highlighting Okuma’s work, featuring contributions by Montaño; Gaylord Torrence, Curator Emeritus of Native American Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and Elizabeth Way, Ph.D., Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Fashion Institute of Technology; along with an interview between the artist and fellow collaborator Keri Ataumbi and a special letter from Vogue senior fashion and style writer Christian Allaire. The catalog will be published in collaboration with Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers in September 2027. Following its premiere, the exhibition will travel to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indiana.   

About the Heard Museum 

Since its founding in 1929, the Heard Museum has grown to become nationally and internationally recognized for its world-class exhibitions, award-winning publications, unparalleled festivals, and innovative educational programs. Dedicated to connecting Indigenous creativity to the world, the Heard showcases the beauty and vitality of Indigenous creative expression by presenting the voice and vision of American Indian artists. A welcoming destination for children and families, the Heard offers engaging experiences that inspire curiosity and foster appreciation for American Indian art and culture. The Heard Museum is supported by the generosity of Heard Museum members and donors, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. 

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 Jamie Okuma 

Jamie Okuma (b. 1977, Luiseño, Shoshone-Bannock) is a leading Indigenous artist and fashion designer. Okuma lives and works in La Jolla, California, where she is an enrolled member of the La Jolla band of Indians in Southern California. Okuma studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and has exhibited her art since childhood, winning seven Best in Show awards for her presentations at the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market and the Santa Fe Indian Market. Okuma’s work is held in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Albuquerque Museum, Crocker Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Hood Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, Schingoethe Center (Aurora University), Spencer Museum of Art, the Heard Museum, and Phoenix Art Museum, and has been exhibited internationally. Okuma recently became the first Native American inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and is a 2025 CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist.  

For more information, please contact: 

The Heard Museum: 

Ivana Morales 

Senior Account Executive 

evolve pr and marketing 

Ivana@evolveprandmarketing.com 

973-864-4523 

Phoenix Art Museum: 

Sarah McNaughton / Lucia Santos 

Resnicow and Associates 

smcnaughton@resnicow.com / lsantos@resnicow.com  

212-671-5161 / 212-671-5181 

The post First Monographic Survey of Renowned Indigenous Artist and Fashion Designer Jamie Okuma Contextualizes Her Interdisciplinary Practice Within Contemporary Indigenous Art and Global Couture appeared first on Phoenix Art Museum.

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

Create Playdate

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.

First Friday

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.

Military Discount

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.

Summer Pass

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. 

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The milestone event will commemorate six decades of supporting fashion and the arts in Arizona while bringing together community leaders, philanthropists, fashion enthusiasts and supporters of the Phoenix Art Museum. The Holiday Luncheon has long served as a celebration of creativity, culture and philanthropy, helping advance the Museum’s fashion initiatives and educational programming.

As chairs, Love and Robertson will help guide planning and fundraising efforts for the 2026 event, which will take place on Monday, Dec. 7 at the Arizona Biltmore.

“What an honor and pleasure it is to serve as the Holiday Luncheon Co-Chair for this special year as we celebrate ACI’s 60th Anniversary. I can attest to the impact ACI has in supporting Phoenix Art Museum’s fashion initiatives through my previous service on the ACI Board and as the 2018 Holiday Luncheon Chair. I look forward to honoring this milestone year while helping bring our community together in support of fashion, art and philanthropy,” said Lynne Love, Co-Chair of the Arizona Costume Institute’s 2026 Holiday Luncheon.

“I am honored to serve as co-chair of the Arizona Costume Institute’s 2026 Holiday Luncheon and support an organization that has championed fashion and the arts for six decades. The opportunity to bring together community leaders, philanthropists and supporters in celebration of ACI’s 60th anniversary is incredibly meaningful, and I look forward to helping create a memorable event that advances the important work of Phoenix Art Museum,” said Andrea Robertson, co-chair of the Arizona Costume Institute’s 2026 Holiday Luncheon.

Joining Love and Robertson in supporting the 2026 Holiday Luncheon are Ambassadors Carolyn Jackson and Matthew Boland. Additional leadership roles and event participants will be announced in the coming months.

About the Chairs

Lynne Love is a respected philanthropist, community leader and longtime supporter of Arizona’s arts and cultural community. A dedicated volunteer and advocate for charitable causes throughout the Valley, she has held numerous leadership roles, including Phoenix Heart Ball Chair, Arizona Women’s Board President, Authors Luncheon Chair benefiting kidney health initiatives in Arizona and Phoenix Theatre Gala Co-Chair.

A longtime supporter of the Arizona Costume Institute, Love served on the ACI Board of Directors for five years and previously chaired the organization’s 2018 Holiday Luncheon featuring renowned London milliner Stephen Jones. She has also served on the Xavier College Preparatory Board of Trustees, chaired Key to the Cure benefiting the American Cancer Society and supported organizations including Phoenix Art Museum’s pARTy, Runway to Research and Honor Ball.

Love’s contributions have earned her numerous honors, including recognition as a Heart Ball Sweetheart, recipient of the Phoenix Theatre Women Who Care Award and a Trends Charitable Fund Fashionality honoree. She is passionate about mentoring emerging philanthropic leaders and supporting organizations that strengthen Arizona’s arts and nonprofit communities.

Andrea Robertson is a philanthropist, entrepreneur and community advocate dedicated to creating opportunities and resources for individuals with disabilities and their families. She is the founder of Lexie’s Voice Foundation and Lexie’s Ranch, Arizona-based nonprofit organizations inspired by her daughter, Lexie, that provide inclusive programming, advocacy and support services for individuals with special needs.

Under Robertson’s leadership, the organizations have grown into impactful community resources that foster inclusion, connection and empowerment for families across Arizona. Beyond her nonprofit work, she is an active supporter of numerous charitable and community initiatives throughout the Valley and is passionate about bringing people together to create meaningful change. Her dedication to service and philanthropy has made her a respected leader within Arizona’s nonprofit community.

Event Details

The 2026 Holiday Luncheon will take place on Monday, Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arizona Biltmore.

Additional information on this year’s guest speaker, ticketing and table sponsorships, and other exciting programming details will be available later this summer.

2026 ACI Holiday Luncheon Leadership:

Chairs

Lynne Love

Andrea Roberston

Luncheon Ambassadors

Carolyn Jackson

Matthew Boland

Committee

Tanya Badyal
Sandy Becker
Ronna Beeson
Lisa Bell
Charlene Berge
Juliet Burgess
Linda Cohen
Meredith Cohen
Jenna Condas
Lee Courtney
Oscar De las salas
Nissa Dell
Shawnee Doherty
Carol Dries
Rebecca Fowler
Jay Franke
Elizabeth Garrett
Natalie Gaylord
Lisa Geyser
Laurie Goldstein
Suzi Hilton
Justine Hurry
Kimberly Jacobsen
Donna Johnson
Kelly Kolicko
Jill Krigsten
Joseph Leeds
Brooke Levy
Barbara Lytle
Ina Manaster
Philip Manghisi
Beth McRae
Jennifer Moser
Diane O’Malley
Joanne Osborne
Lory Parsons
Donna Pettigrew Hicks
Dawna Pitts
Sally Pope
Lisa Portigal
Helene Presutti
Sherri Quinn
Bea Rocklin
Chrissy Sayare
Jennifer Schuitemaker
Lisa Shapiro
Nancy Singer
Joy Sprink
Catherine Tuton
Vicki Vaughn
Teana Wagner
Pat Watts
Eileen Yeung

For more information: special.events@phxart.org or 602.307.2082.  If you are interested in setting up an interview with the chairs, please reach out to natalie@mcraeagency.com.

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