Phoenix Art Museum receives major gift to expand dedicated fashion galleries and debut fashion exhibition series

Jun, 20, 2024

Major GiftsFashion Design

Phoenix Art Museum receives major gift to expand dedicated fashion galleries and debut fashion exhibition series

The Ellman Foundation confers funding to add 5,000+ sq. ft. of fashion exhibition space and mount presentations highlighting the history and strengths of the PhxArt fashion collection

PHOENIX (June 20, 2024) – Today, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) announces a major gift from longtime Museum supporters and former Board Trustees Kelly and Steve Ellman that enables the Museum to expand fivefold the footprint of its fashion galleries, dedicated to exhibitions that showcase the history and art of fashion. The Kelly Ellman Fashion Galleries will open on October 9, 2024 with the first exhibition in a three-part series that explores the depths of the Museum’s fashion holdings. Drawn exclusively from the PhxArt fashion collection, The Collection: Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion features more than 80 garments and accessories. The display traces the formation of the Museum’s collection and the impact of Arizona Costume Institute on its expansion, while showcasing the collection’s impressive breadth and depth. Iconic silhouettes from the 18^th century through the present and vignettes illustrating significant themes and historical moments demonstrate the collection’s ability to explore and educate about the larger history of fashion. In addition to the expanded gallery space and inaugural exhibition, the Ellman gift also ensures fashion-related acquisitions, publications, and the early phases of a major collection digitization project.

“We are deeply grateful to the Ellman family for their ongoing support of Phoenix Art Museum’s beloved fashion collection over the past three decades,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Through major gifts, acquisition and programming support, and their continued invaluable patronage, the Ellmans have played a critical role in ensuring that PhxArt upholds excellence in this particular collecting area. Their impact has truly enabled the Museum to make the art of fashion accessible for our broadest audiences.”

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

The Ellman family has supported the Museum’s fashion collection since 1986, including a major gift that endowed the first iteration of the Ellman Fashion Design Gallery. This newest gift reaffirms the Museum’s commitment to increasing dedicated gallery space to our fashion collection, which now includes the entire mid-level floor of the Museum’s south wing. This change brings the institution’s permanent exhibition space for fashion from 1,200+ sq. ft. to nearly 6,400 sq. ft. The Ellman’s gift will also support future fashion exhibitions through the Kelly Ellman Fashion Endowment Fund, the establishment of the Ellman Fashion Program Fellow position, the first phases of a multi-year digitization project that will make the fashion collection more accessible to the general public on phxart.org, a collection publication created by SCALA Arts & Heritage Publishers, and fashion-related acquisitions that further strengthen and grow the Museum’s expansive fashion holdings.

The space’s inaugural exhibition, Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion, opens on October 9, 2024. Exhibition highlights include:

• A history on the founding of the Museum’s fashion collection, with an emphasis on the efforts of Arizona Costume Institute and notable supporters, including the Ellman family.
• A graphic display of more than 20 all-black silhouettes that have defined fashion history from the 18th century to the present.
• Vignettes of significant fashion “happenings” and themes, such as the Battle at Versailles, a high-fashion showdown between American and French designers in 1973; outstanding examples of avant-garde fashions; garments that draw inspiration from Romanticism and Greco-Roman culture; and technology-driven designs.

Notable designers and houses represented throughout Greatest Fits include:

“As the inaugural fashion presentation in the newly endowed Kelly Ellman Fashion Galleries, Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion will uncover and detail the strengths of our collection, while also highlighting exciting areas for potential growth and refinement,” said Helen Jean, the Museum’s Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design. “We are deeply grateful to the Ellmans for ensuring that this collection will continue to grow, educate, and inspire for generations to come.”

High-resolution photography for Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at 602.257.2117 or samantha.santos@phxart.org.

About the Exhibitions
Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design. The exhibition is made possible through the generosity of the Kelly Ellman Fashion Endowment and Arizona Costume Institute.

All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.

Admission is free for Museum Members; youth aged 5 and younger; and Maricopa County Community Colleges students. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 9 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix. For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum has provided millions of guests with access to world-class art and experiences in an effort to ignite imaginations, create meaningful connections, and serve as a brave space for all people who wish to experience the transformative power of art. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, the Museum is a vibrant destination for the visual arts and the largest art museum in the southwestern United States. Each year, more than 300,000 guests engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 20,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. The Museum also presents a comprehensive film program, live performances, and educational programs designed for visitors of all ages, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.