Best Museum
STAFF PICK: Established 20 years ago with the active support of Ansel Adams, the Center for Creative Photography is an overlooked treasure. It contains 70,000 prints that can be viewed by appointment, an exhibition hall with vital shows, a library of 11,000 volumes on photography, 100 periodicals from around the world, and a regular display of new acquisitions. There are 3,000 Adams prints and 2,200 of his favorite collected prints. The entire Adams archive is here along with a hundred other photographers'. It doesn't have much of an address anymore, since the street it stands on is now a pedestrian underpass. However, you can't miss the impressive architecture that houses the Center. Just walk a bit east of Park Avenue and south of Speedway, and there it is right across from the Peter Marroney Theater. Private viewings of collections are available for free by appointment. You'll get to put on white gloves, sit in a gloriously air-conditioned room and take in some mesmerizing images. Public shows are ushered in with open receptions where locals can schmooze with photography greats in the Center's refined atmosphere. Currently on exhibit is Point of Entry, a timely display of immigrant photographers from the 1930s, '40s and '50s, an exhibit of combined archived works from Alexander Alland, Robert Frank, John Gutmann and Otto Hagel. There's also a gift shop. And don't tell the University of Arizona greed-meisters, but admission is free.
