Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, Arizona, United States, was founded in 1997, by Julia Latane, James Graham, and David Wright.
The museum was founded to create a permanent institution for contemporary art in Tucson's arts district. Originally housed in the HazMat building on Toole Avenue, the museum relocated to the former Fire Department building on Church Avenue in 2010.
History
Toole Building
In 1992, James Graham, Julia Latané and Dave Lewis founded the Toole Shed Studios under the auspices of the Tucson Arts Coalition. MOCA was incorporated in the spring of 1997. It was conceived as the next step in the continued growth and development of the Toole Shed Artists’ Studios and as an important addition to the downtown Arts District. In order to better serve the interests of the tenants and the community, and responding to the wealth of local contemporary art activity, the artists of Toole Shed Studios decided to incorporate as an independent cooperative. The articles of incorporation and bylaws were written in 1997 and 5013 status was received by the end of that year. Graham was the Founding Director of MOCA, and Latané served as President of the board with David Wright as Secretary and Treasurer.During the spring of 1998, the foundations for MOCA were laid. In August 1998 the opportunity arose to occupy a warehouse space at 191 East Toole Avenue. Over the course of the next four months, volunteer labor and many hours of hard work transformed this derelict warehouse into the Museum of Contemporary Art, with over four thousand square feet of exhibition space.
In March 2003, the position of Executive Director and Chief Curator was appointed to Anne-Marie Russell and in 2017 Ginger Shulick Porcella became the new Executive Director and Chief Curator of MOCA.
Fire Station
In 2009, Tucson’s Fire Station #1 was decommissioned and the firefighters moved to a new facility. An request for proposal for “highest and best use” was issued and MOCA Tucson saw this as a dual opportunity to obtain a permanent facility and to preserve an important part of Arizona’s modernist architectural history. The main hall originally used for fire trucks became the main exhibition space; the first-floor offices were transformed into white-box galleries for display of intimate work; the firefighters’ quarters became artist-in-residence accommodations; second story offices were adapted into the education space and administrative offices for the museum. Since 2009, MOCA has mounted eight to twelve exhibitions per year presenting work by locally, regionally, nationally and internationally known artists. MOCA has established an Artist-in-Residence Program, youth programming targeted at underserved populations, a robust public programming calendar including ArtNow!, Artist Talk series, dance, performance, music and other events celebrating the arts.Exhibits
Fundraisers
MOCA Tucson has two large fundraisers a year: an annual Gala and a Fall Fundraiser. Every two years, the gala features the Local Genius Awards, honoring visionary and innovative Tucsonans whose activities have a global impact and whose talents have been internationally recognized.| Year | Award Recipient |
| 2018 | Carol A. Barnes |
| Thomas Grogan | |
| Susan Stryker | |
| 2016 | Ofelia Zepeda |
| Mort Rosenblum | |
| Andrew Weil, M.D. | |
| Brad Lancaster | |
| 2013 | Rick Joy |
| Dr. Gary Nabham | |
| Dr. Anna Dornhaus | |
| Robert A. Williams | |
| Peter Warshall, Ph.D. | |
| 2011 | Joey Burnes |
| John Convertino | |
| Jacob Valenzuela | |
| Dr. Diana Liverman | |
| Jane Poynter | |
| Taber MacCallum | |
| Leslie Marmon Silko | |
| Janos Wilder | |
| 2009 | Peter Smith |
| Byrd Baylor | |
| Sherwin Bitsui | |
| Suzana Davila | |
| Robert Colescott | |
| Howe Gelb |
Residency Programs
Artist-in-Residence Program
MOCA Tucson has a competitive artist residency program that was relaunched through a public application process in 2017, receiving several hundred applications for just seven annual slots lasting between two weeks and three months. Selected artists receive private studio and housing space, studio visits with curators, production stipends and PR support, as well as an opportunity to present a public program, exhibition, or lecture at the museum.| Date | Artist |
| October 8–28, 2017 | Bryan Zanisnik |
| November 11–23, 2017 | Gelare Khoshgozaran |
| October 8, 2017 - January 13, 2017 | Robert Melee |
| January 15 - March 31, 2018 | Kris Grey |
| Scotty Wagner and Bailey Hikawa | |
| May 1–22, 2018 | Rachel Frank |
| October 1 - December 31, 2018 | Tra Bouscaren |