Tucson Museum of Art
Museum · Tucson · Tucson & the Sky Islands
Checked
Large art museum on a four-acre block in downtown Tucson's Presidio District, with 74,000 sq ft of space including 19th-century historic homes adapted for galleries and a pottery school. The Cordova House (1848) now serves as the museum restaurant. Founded in 1924, TMA focuses on modern, contemporary, Latin American, Western, Native American, and Asian art across 8,000+ objects.
The Historic Block is a full city block of adobe and Mission Revival buildings around the modern museum, built up from Tucson's original presidio neighborhood. Cordova House, the oldest structure here, dates to about 1848 and is one of the few original adobes left from the walled presidio era; the Cordova family lived in it from the 1930s into the 1970s, and its earliest room now opens each winter to display El Nacimiento, one of the longest-running nativity scenes in the Southwest. A separate adobe on the block, the 1865 Stevens House, has been converted into the museum's own restaurant. The museum itself grew out of a local arts association founded in 1924 into a collection topping 8,000 objects, with Latin American, Native American, Western, Asian, and contemporary art on permanent and rotating display across eight or nine exhibitions at a time.
What you see
A full block of adobe and Mission Revival era buildings wraps around landscaped courtyards, the modern museum wing set beside the older houses along Main Avenue.
Practical
The Nacimiento nativity display in Cordova House's oldest room is open only in November and December.
- Cuisine
- baked goods, breakfast, lunch, brunch
historymuseumadobecafe
tucsonmuseumofart.org ↗Google Maps ↗
Cafés nearby
Climbs, views & nature nearby
History & landmarks nearby
Climbs nearby
Common questions
- Why stop at Tucson Museum of Art on a bike ride?
- Large art museum on a four-acre block in downtown Tucson's Presidio District, with 74,000 sq ft of space including 19th-century historic homes adapted for galleries and a pottery school. The Cordova House (1848) now serves as the museum restaurant. Founded in 1924, TMA focuses on modern, contemporary, Latin American, Western, Native American, and Asian art across 8,000+ objects.
- Where is Tucson Museum of Art?
- Tucson Museum of Art is in Tucson, Tucson & the Sky Islands (Arizona, United States).