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Central Tucson—which has most of the shops, restaurants, and businesses—is roughly bounded by Craycroft Road to the east, Oracle Road to the west, River Road to the north, and 22nd Street to the south. The older Downtown section, east of Interstate 10 off the Broadway-Congress exit, is smaller and easy to navigate on foot. Downtown streets don't run on any sort of grid, however, and many are one way, so it's best to get a good, detailed map. The city's Westside area is the vast region west of Interstates 10 and 19, which includes the western section of Saguaro National Park and the San Xavier Indian Reservation.
Ansel Adams conceived the idea of a photographer's archive and donated the majority of his negatives to this museum. In addition to its superb collection of his work, the center houses the David Hume Kennerly Archive and works by other major photographers, including Paul Strand, W. Eugene Smith, Edward Weston, and Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Changing exhibits in the main gallery display selected pieces from the collection.
If you like vintage signs, clocks, and neon art, check out this quirky and cleverly designed museum, a labor of love (and ingenuity) by Tucson sign artist Jude Cook and his wife Monica. The collection, impressive in its breadth, includes rescued, restored signs from mid-century businesses, as well as vintage wall thermometers, soda and beer signs, and items that you would never guess used neon, like old medicinal remedies for sore throats and balding hair. Demonstrations of glass bending and neon sign-making are given on most days.
The museum consists of a modern building housing superb collections of Latin American Art and Western Art, and five adjacent historic buildings on Main Avenue that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. You can tour four of the historic houses, La Casa Cordova, the Stevens Home, the J. Knox Corbett House, and the Edward Nye Fish House, though each have different hours. The fifth, the Romero House, believed to incorporate a section of the presidio wall, is now used for the museum's ceramics education program. Visitors enter through the main museum on Alameda Street. The Latin American Art wing includes ancient Andean and Incan sculpture, Spanish Colonial art, and contemporary Latin works. The Art of the American West collection showcases Western and indigenous Southwestern art; rotating exhibits include Asian, European, and Modern pieces from the permanent collection.
La Casa Cordova, one of the oldest buildings in Tucson and one of the best local examples of a Sonoran row house has a Spanish-style design adapted to adobe construction. The oldest section of La Casa Cordova, constructed around 1848, is only open November to January to display El Nacimiento, the largest nativity scene in the Southwest.
The Stevens Home was where the wealthy politician and cattle rancher Hiram Stevens and his wife, Petra Santa Cruz, entertained many of Tucson's leaders during the 1800s. A drought brought the Stevens's cattle ranching to a halt in 1893, and Stevens killed himself in despair after unsuccessfully attempting to shoot his wife (the bullet was deflected by the comb she wore in her hair). The 1865 house was restored in 1980 and now houses Café à la C'Art, a delightful restaurant.
The J. Knox Corbett House was built in 1906–07 and occupied by members of the Corbett family until 1963. J. Knox Corbett was a successful businessman, postmaster, and mayor of Tucson, and his wife, Elizabeth Hughes Corbett, an accomplished musician and daughter of Tucson pioneer Sam Hughes. The two-story, Mission Revival–style residence has been furnished with Arts and Crafts pieces. It's open only on weekends.
The Edward Nye Fish House, an 1868 adobe that belonged to an early merchant, entrepreneur, and politician and his wife, is notable for its 15-foot beamed ceilings and saguaro cactus–rib supports.
Admission to the museum and all four homes is free on the second Sunday and the first Thursday evening of every month, and there are free docent tours daily.
This small campus museum houses a collection of more than 6,000 artworks, mainly European and American paintings from the Renaissance through modern day, including works by Georgia O'Keeffe and Jackson Pollock. A highlight is the Kress Collection's retablo from Ciudad Rodrigo: 26 panels of an altarpiece made in the 1490s by Fernando Gallego.
