Phoenix Art Museum

The collection traces its origins back to 1912 when the Phoenix Woman’s Club and Arizona State Fair Committee decided to develop a fine arts program. The first painting in the collection was bought in 1915. In 1925 the Phoenix Fine Arts Association was formed. The first permanent museum set up in 1936 as the Phoenix Art Center, by Works Progress Administration, as part of their Federal Art Project. It was later renamed the Phoenix Art Museum. Philip Campbell Curtis was the founding director.