Tucson Museum of Art Announces Contemporary Photography Fund

Tucson Museum of Art has announced that four longtime donors – Patricia Carr Morgan, Peter F. Salomon, Kenneth J. and Judith H. Riskind – have established a dedicated Contemporary Photography Fund to continue TMA’s focus on acquisition, research, operational support and exhibition of this medium.

 “This new public fund has two strategic objectives:  build a collection of world-class, regionally significant contemporary photography and represent the works of diverse communities, cultures, identities, and perspectives incorporating new technologies and formats,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, TMA Jon and Linda Ender director and CEO.

Kenneth Riskind, a founding member of the Contemporary Photography Fund, said, “The founding group members are thrilled to provide the seed money to create this new public Fund. We see an exciting future with new acquisitions, artists, and exhibits that attract new visitors to TMA.” 

Riskind added that anyone can donate any amount to the Contemporary Photography Fund, helping to support speaker forums, visiting artist conversations, scholarly research, education modules, preservation, and special events focusing on contemporary photography.

Interstellar, FLUX, the fund’s first acquisition by internationally acclaimed multi-media artist Alia Ali is a bellwether of this new TMA initiative. According to CEO Mikolajczak, Interstellar will go on view this October with a forthcoming project with Ali slated for fall of 2022.

Ali is a Yemeni-Bosnian-US multi-media artist who has traveled to 67 countries, lived in and grown up among five languages. Her works communicate through photography, video and installation, with collections at Princeton University, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the British Museum, among others.

The Contemporary Photography Fund focuses on photography created from the 1970s forward. There are currently 512 photographic works by 80 artists in TMA’s permanent collection. Since 1952, TMA has hosted more than 20 dedicated photography exhibitions. As a result of acquisition endowments and fundraising, the museum’s contemporary art collection has expanded to nearly 1,500 works including paintings, sculpture, photography, and video.

As an institution built upon the original territories of the O’odham, the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block acknowledges the Indigenous Sonoran Desert communities, past and present, who have stewarded this region throughout generations.

TMA connects art to life through meaningful and engaging experiences that inspire discovery, spark creativity, and promote cultural understanding. Founded in 1924, TMA encompasses an entire city block in historic downtown Tucson and is committed to developing quality exhibitions, expanding, and diversifying its collection and presenting relevant and innovative programs while broadening public access to the arts.

The museum features exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary art, Latin American art from ancient to today, Indigenous arts and Art of the American West. A permanent collection of over 12,000 works of art spans continents, centuries, and media. TMA’s campus includes five properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an art education center and research library, the Museum Store, and the highly acclaimed museum restaurant Café a la C’Art.

TMA is a private 501(c)(3) charitable arts and education organization.