The Tucson Museum of Art will open Arizona Biennial 2026 on May 22, bringing together 31 contemporary artists from across the state for the latest edition of the region’s longest-running statewide juried exhibition.

The show runs through September 27 in the James J. and Louise R. Glasser and Earl Kai Chann Galleries at the museum, 140 N. Main Avenue. Admission is included with general museum entry.

Now in its latest edition, the Arizona Biennial has served since its founding as a platform for innovative work across a range of media, offering audiences a window into the evolving artistic landscape of the Southwest. For each edition, the museum selects a new juror to choose the work and shape the exhibition into a cohesive whole — a structure that keeps the biennial’s perspective fresh and its selections unpredictable.

This year’s juror is Julie Rodrigues Widholm, executive director of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at UC Berkeley. Rodrigues Widholm said the selection process — reviewing images and artist statements for a gallery she had never visited — brought an unusual kind of freedom.

“I typically come to curatorial decisions with deep familiarity with the work, the artists and the venue, so being asked to respond to the work on its own visual terms brought a focus and freedom I found invigorating,” she said. “Unexpected resonances emerged across the selections, which have informed how the exhibition took shape.”

She said she came to the process with genuine curiosity about Arizona’s contemporary art scene.

“Serving as a juror for the Arizona Biennial was a genuinely exciting opportunity to take in the creative breadth across the state and deepen my sense of what’s happening in the Southwest,” Rodrigues Widholm said. “I look forward to meeting the artists and seeing the artworks in the galleries in May.”

The 31 selected artists — working in a range of media and representing communities across Arizona — are: Michael Afsa, Sama Alshaibi, Maria Ruth Aragon De la Fuente, Scott Baxter, Claire Blanchette, BrassTuna, Cherie Buck-Hutchison, Eli Burke, Manny Burruel, Ashley Czajkowski, Hoge Day, Rafael Angel Diaz, Mikey Estes, Nathan Garcia, Lex Gjurasic, Maura Grogan, Kate Hoover, Adia Jamille, Monica Aissa Martinez, Mary Meyer, Daniella Napolitano, Anh-Thuy Nguyen, Sheldon Patten, Tom Patton, George Peñaloza, Wendy Raisanen, Inna Rohr, Dee Ruff, Julius Schlosburg, Karima Walker and Danielle Wood.

Public programs and opportunities to engage with participating artists are planned throughout the exhibition’s run, though specific events had not been announced as of press time. 

The biennial reflects TMA’s broader mission of connecting art to life and amplifying the work of living artists while highlighting the cultural and social issues shaping the region. The museum has built the biennial into a consistent entry point for Arizona artists seeking broader visibility — past editions have launched careers and introduced emerging voices to national audiences.

The Tucson Museum of Art is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit TucsonMuseumofArt.org or call 520-624-2333.