Best Gallery
Tucson Desert Art Museum
7000 E. Tanque Verde Road
520-202-3888 , tucsondart.org
Artist Brian Bystedt’s steel wall hangings and other works by local favorites, such as Russ Recchion’s “Young Cowboys,” are currently showing at Tucson Desert Art Museum’s Four Corners Gallery. All sales support the museum’s mission of preserving the art and culture of the Southwest, which is notable in its own right.
Reader Recommended
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun
6300 N. Swan Road
520-299-9191, degrazia.org
Philabaum Glass Gallery
711 S. Sixth Avenue
520-884-7404, philabaumglass.com
Best Art Museum
Tucson Museum of Art
140 North Main Avenue
520-624-2333, tucsonmuseumofart.org
The roots of this regional museum and center for artistic inquiry and appreciation reach back to 1924, when the Tucson’s Woman’s Club established the Tucson Fine Arts Association. On a mission to connect art to life, the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block showcases a growing collection of nearly 12,000 works of art spanning over 3,000 years of history.
Reader Recommended
The Mini Time Machine Museum
of Miniatures
4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive
520-881-0606 , theminitimemachine.org
Tucson Desert Art Museum
7000 E. Tanque Verde Road
520-202-3888, tucsondart.org
Best Visual Artist
Jessica Gonzales
jessicagonzalesart.com
“Finding identity in the spaces between,” reads native Tucsonan Jessica Gonzales’ Instagram account. Her murals and paintings are colorful, bold and can be seen around town at places like PAWS Veterinary Center and The Rialto Theatre.
Reader Recommended
Joe Pagac
joepagac.net
Diana Madaras
madaras.com
Best Movie Theater
The Loft Cinema
3233 East Speedway Boulevard
520-795-0844, loftcinema.org
At 52 years old, this mission-driven nonprofit arts organization is the longest continuously operating movie theater in Tucson. It works with members from the Tohono O’odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe to feature films that create awareness of global Indigenous communities.
Reader Recommended
Road House Cinema
4811 E. Grant Road
520-209-2728, roadhousecinemas.com
Galaxy
100 S. Houghton Road
1-888-407-9874, galaxytheatres.com
Best Art Classes
Art Institute at the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
2021 N. Kinney Road
520-883-3024
desertmuseumarts.com
Shiny Bugs, Adventures in Portrait Drawing and Desert Mandalas are just a few names of the classes offered at this institute, which offers a Nature Illustration Certificate Program. Students acquire new skills as well as an appreciation and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.
Reader Recommended
Tipsy Picassos
520-343-5977
tipsy-picassos.square.site
Sonoran Glass School
633 W. 18th Street
520-884-7814 , sonoranglass.org
Best Musical Instrument Store
Chicago Music Store
Multiple locations
chicagomusicstore.com
For almost 100 years, patrons have popped into this local favorite in its third generation of family ownership for rentals, lessons and repairs. It has every instrument, including keyboards, guitars, folk instruments, amps, strings, brass and woodwinds, but it specializes in accordions, carrying the widest range in Southern Arizona.
Reader Recommended
Bookmans
Multiple locations, bookmans.com
Instrumental Music Center
7063 E. Speedway Boulevard
520-733-7334, imc-az.com
Best Theater Company
Gaslight Theatre
7010 E. Broadway Boulevard
520-886-9428, thegaslighttheatre.com
Now located in the old Jerry Lewis Theatre at the corner of Broadway and Kolb, Gaslight was founded in Alaska as the Mighty Moose Melodrama Theatre. Judging by the current production, “Shriek!: A Parody of True Love & Ogre-Acting,” and fun family atmosphere, it is easy to see why audiences keep coming back for more six nights a week.
Reader Recommended
Arizona Theatre Company
330 S. Scott Avenue
1-833-282-7328, atc.org
Unscrewed Theater
4500 E. Speedway Boulevard
520-289-8076, unscrewedtheater.org
Best Author
Lydia Milet
lydiamillet.net
When not working (as an editor and staff writer) at the Center for Biological Diversity, this award-winning author writes essays, opinion pieces, books and book reviews. She has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 (“Love in Infant Monkeys”) and her novel, “A Children’s Bible,” was shortlisted for the National Book Award.
Reader Recommended
Adam Rex
adamrex.com
Brian Smith
briansmithwriter.com
Best Dance Studio
Ballet Tucson
200 South Tucson Boulevard
520-903-1445, ballettucson.org
The ballet and pointe instruction are of the highest caliber at Ballet Tucson, which is Southern Arizona’s only professional ballet company, plus jazz, tap, modern, hip-hop and Bollywood classes are also offered. Students can audition for the annual “Nutcracker” production to dance on stage with professionals at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall.
Reader Recommended
Breakout Studios
5811 E. Speedway Boulevard
520-275-1085, breakoutstudios.online
Viva Performing Arts
4563 S. Park Avenue
520-544-9543, vivaperformingarts.com
Best Dance Company
UA School of Dance
1017 N. Olive Road
520-621-1302, dance.arizona.edu
UA School of Dance jumped into everybody’s living rooms this year when dance majors and sophomores Avery Gay, Madison Kotch and Olivia Zeiml appeared on season 18 of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Gay even made it into the Top 10.
Reader Recommended
Ballet Tucson
200 S. Tucson Boulevard
520-903-1445, ballettucson.org
ZUZI!
650 N. Sixth Avenue
520-629-0237, zuzimoveit.org
Best Outdoor Art Installation
Joe Pagac’s Murals
joepagac.net/mural-map
His murals brighten up any landscape, from his “Lounge Lizards” on an exterior brick wall of a private home on Euclid Avenue, to the filming of a cowboy scene in the parking lot of Roadhouse Cinemas. His favorite subjects are local plants, animals and brilliant sunsets.
Reader Recommended
Ben’s Bells
bensbells.org
Jewish Community Center
Sculpture Garden
3800 E. River Road
520-299-3000, tucsonjcc.org
Best Music School
School of Rock
6586 E. Grant Road
1-833-887-7625, schoolofrock.com
Not every student at School of Rock will grow up to be star, but they sure can feel like it, jamming with their friends in front of audiences at the Fourth Avenue Street Fair or Tucson’s Walk for Alzheimer’s. Kids’ confidence will blossom on stage playing at local spots like Hotel Congress and On the Rocks.
Reader Recommended
Chicago Music Store
Multiple locations
chicagomusicstore.com
Tucson Jazz Institute
3233 S. Pinal Vista
520-514-0935, tucsonjazzinstitute.com
Best Place to Donate Your Time and/or Money
Community Food Bank
of Southern Arizona
3003 S. Country Club Road
520-622-0525, communityfoodbank.org
Last year, this nonprofit distributed 36,037,177 pounds of food. Its programs include emergency food assistance, farmers market, community gardens, nutrition education, culinary training, support for local growers and advocacy.
Reader Recommended
PACC
4000 N. Silverbell Road
520-724-5900, pima.gov
Humane Society of Southern Arizona
635 W. Roger Road
520-327-6088
support.hssaz.org
Best Mariachi Band
Pueblo High School
Mariachi Band
3500 S. 12th Avenue
520-225-4300 , mariachiaztlandepueblohs.com
This group of hard-working students ranging in age from 14 to 18 has shared the stage with Linda Ronstadt, symphony orchestras, Pink Martini, Rufus Wainwright, Calexico and Rita Moreno. Director John Contreras leads this award-winning band that travels to perform and hosts events, such as “Night of the Masquerade” at the historic courthouse Downtown.
Reader Recommended
Desert View High School Mariachi Band
4101 E. Valencia Road
520-545-5100
susd12.org
Luz De Luna
363 N. El Camino del Norte
520-906-6023
marldl.com
