Best Of Tucson®

Best Art Museum

Tucson Museum of Art

Right now, there's a double feature at the TMA. William Keith's lovely, old-fashioned paintings of the West fill the main spaces, while Kate Breakey's challenging painted photos of dead birds and lizards occupy the Directions Gallery. That's the beauty of this museum. TMA manages to satisfy lovers of cowboy art AND connoisseurs of contemporary art as adeptly as a movie studio that balances adventure flicks and art films. TMA's Palice Pavilion is a mini-museum of Hispanic folk arts; its Goodman Pavilion gives the cowboys their due; and the main building veers carefully between shows of past and present. Credit goes to hardworking contemporary curator Julie Sasse for championing the cutting edge.

Runners up:

2. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, 1030 N. Olive St., 621-7968

3. University of Arizona Museum of Art, University of Arizona, 621-7567