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| Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art | |
|---|---|
| Name | Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art |
| Alt | Exterior of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art |
| Established | 1999 |
| Location | Scottsdale, Arizona, United States |
| Type | Contemporary art museum |
| Director | [Name varies] |
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art opened in Scottsdale, Arizona as a focal institution for postwar and contemporary practices, situating itself amid the cultural landscapes of Phoenix, the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community, and the Grand Canyon corridor. The museum participates in regional networks alongside Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, Desert Botanical Garden, Tempe Center for the Arts, and national institutions such as Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The museum's founding in 1999 followed dialogues involving the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, local philanthropists, and civic committees influenced by models from Smithsonian Institution, Getty Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Early leadership drew on professionals with experience at Brooklyn Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Initial exhibitions referenced artists and movements associated with Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Marcel Duchamp, and Donald Judd. Over time the institution engaged curators who previously worked at New Museum, Pace Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, Dia Art Foundation, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and Carnegie Museum of Art.
The museum occupies a renovated mid-century structure in Scottsdale's Civic Center area, sited near Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona State University, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, and public art commissions by studios connected to Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Calder. Architectural interventions referenced principles found in projects by Tadao Ando, Richard Meier, I.M. Pei, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), and Foster + Partners, while landscape elements drew from practices associated with Lawrence Halprin and Dan Kiley. Structural systems and gallery planning reflected standards employed at M+ Museum, Kunsthaus Zürich, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and Victoria and Albert Museum.
The museum's rotating exhibition model presented work by internationally known figures such as Yayoi Kusama, Ai Weiwei, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Kara Walker, James Turrell, Jenny Holzer, Tracey Emin, and Marina Abramović, alongside regional practitioners connected to Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, ASU Art Museum, Phoenix Art Scene, and Native American artists from the Navajo Nation, Tohono Oʼodham Nation, and Hopi Tribe. Thematic shows engaged curators using frameworks from exhibitions at Documenta, the Venice Biennale, Skulptur Projekte Münster, Sundance Film Festival, and The Armory Show. Media represented included painting, sculpture, installation, performance, video art, and digital practices paralleling collections at Centre Pompidou, Maxxi, Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and Baltimore Museum of Art.
Educational programming partnered with universities and schools such as Arizona State University, Scottsdale Community College, Mesa Community College, Phoenix College, and K–12 districts in Maricopa County. Public programs incorporated artist talks, workshops, and panel series modeled after initiatives at Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and Whitney Independent Study Program. Teen and family offerings referenced pedagogies from Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Cooper Hewitt. Residency and commissioning programs echoed practices at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, SculptureCenter, and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Community engagement extended to collaborations with local entities like Scottsdale Arts Festival, Scottsdale Public Library, Phoenix Symphony, Scottsdale Unified School District, Scottsdale Cultural Council, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and neighborhood organizations in Old Town Scottsdale. Outreach included accessibility initiatives aligned with standards from Americans with Disabilities Act, partnerships with social service organizations such as United Way, and cultural programming in conjunction with Native communities represented by the Arizona Commission on Indian Affairs and museums such as Heard Museum and Musical Instrument Museum. Festivals, block parties, and public art projects linked the museum to events like Arizona Art Gala, First Thursday Scottsdale, and city-sponsored plazas.
Governance relied on a board of trustees composed of business leaders, collectors, and civic figures with ties to firms such as Freeport-McMoRan, Intel Corporation, American Express, Bank of America, and regional developers. Funding streams combined municipal appropriations from City of Scottsdale, Arizona, corporate sponsorships, individual philanthropy influenced by donors modeled after Eli Broad, Alice Walton, J. Paul Getty, foundation grants from entities like National Endowment for the Arts, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and program support through partnerships with galleries including Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace. Financial management and endowment strategies paralleled best practices promoted by Association of Art Museum Directors, American Alliance of Museums, and Council on Foundations.
Category:Museums in Scottsdale, Arizona