Tucson Galleries & Studios

An Oasis of Culture in the Desert

The Wall Street Journal has referred to Tucson as a "mini mecca for the arts." Here's a short list why:

Performing Arts
Catch a play, take in live music, or enjoy a dance performance. Tucson is one of a select few cities of its size that boasts its own ballet company, professional theater, symphony, and opera company.

Museums
Art aficionados will be thrilled to find that Tucson is home to top-notch art and specialty museums, including the nationally acclaimed Arizona State Museum, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson Museum of Art, and University of Arizona Museum of Art.

Galleries & Studios 
With more than 215 art groups and organizations in town and more than 35 art galleries in the downtown district alone, Tucson ranks as one of one of the best places in the state to view works by the masters as well as up-and-coming artists.

Concerts

Tucson Convention Center
The Tucson Convention Center has three venues offering spaces for intimate concerts, major headliners, full-blown Broadway productions, circus acts, sports events, and more.

Centennial Hall
A Southern Arizona landmark, Centennial Hall celebrates 75 years of performances on the University of Arizona campus in 2012. Since opening in 1937, greats such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Jackie Robinson and Liza Minnelli have graced the stage and the tradition continues this season with Bonnie Raitt, Lang Lang, Carol Burnett, David Sedaris, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, MOMIX, the Broadway musical "Fela!," and more.

Desert Diamond Casino
Desert Diamond brings in music headliners and other events.

Casino Del Sol
The AVA Ampitheater at Casino del Sol hosts top national and international entertainers in a beautiful open-air venue.

The Rialto Theater
The historic Rialto Theater hosts national and local bands in an array of genres, including indie, hard rock, jazz, flamenco, country, punk, and hip hop, and more.

Tucson Jazz Society
Your source for Tucson's jazz scene. For more than three decades, the TJS has promoted, presented, and preserved America's music through concerts and educational activities.

Public Art

There are literally hundreds of works of public art in every part of Tucson. Here's a list of the must-see works. For more information call the Tucson/Pima Arts Council at (520) 624-0595.

Exchange at the Presidio, by Clyde Ross Morgan, 1996
El Presidio Park. 255 W. Alameda.
This sculpture commemorates the first raising of the American Flag in Tucson in 1846 by the Mormon Battalion. It depicts the peaceful entry of the battalion into the small settlement and the exchange of goods with settlers at the Presidio.

Father Kino, by Julian Martinez, 1988
Northwest corner of Kino Blvd. & Winsett St.
This equestrian sculpture commemorates the role of the Jesuit priest, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, in the European colonization of Northern Mexico and Southern Arizona. Additional castings of this sculpture are on display in Kino's birthplace, Trento, Italy and Magdalena, Mexico, where he is buried.

Gila Monsters, by Robert Vint, Dan Wilhelm & Mike Wilhelm
Bridge on Irvington Rd. over the Santa Cruz River near Mission Rd.
Two larger-than-life Gila Monster lizards rise out of the bridge deck, their tails touching at the exact center of the bridge. The work is built of sprayed concrete and encrusted in a mosaic of broken ceramic tile.

Murals at El Rio Neighborhood Center,
by Antonio Pazos, David Tineo & Others, 1975-1997
1390 W. Speedway Blvd.
There are more murals at the El Rio Neighborhood Center than at any other location in Tucson. Rich in Mexican and Mexican-American images, several of the early murals celebrate the success of the community in getting the center built.

Pioneer Memorial, by Benjamino Bufano & Bernard Maybeck, 1920
200 S. 6th Ave.
This sculpture is the oldest work of public art in Tucson. The large marble bench was designed by a pioneer of modern architecture, Bernard Maybeck. Beniamino Bufano executed the relief in Classic Revival style.

Sonora, by David Bleck, 1991
Main Library Plaza. 101 N. Stone.
The large abstract red sculpture was commissioned in conjunction with the construction of the Main Library downtown. The painted steel structure was funded by the "percent for the art" program, which sets aside one percent of all city and county capital improvement projects for public art.

Diamondback Bridge, by Simon Donovan, 2003
East Broadway Blvd, West of Euclid Ave.
Also known as "The Snake Bridge," this controversial work is a functioning pedestrian bridge in the shape of a diamondback rattlesnake. 

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