Last year's season showed that the gallery also looks beyond the local community of artists. It kicked off with the traveling show Kissing, a charming and slightly off-the-wall show of the kiss as captured throughout the history of photography. Then there was the big painting show that, typically, paired a set of heavy hitters--Bailey Doogan of Tucson, and Holly Roberts of New Mexico--with up-and-coming Tucson newcomer Chris Rush. Then the gallery switched to a brand-new medium (and new pedestals and shelves) for the citywide Glass Lollapalooza. Etherton's show of Italian glass-masters was a scintillating assembly of sculptures surreal and splendid.

READERS' POLL RUNNERS-UP: Readers also voted for the Tucson Museum of Art (140 N. Main Ave.) and the Center for Creative Photography (UA Fine Arts Oasis, on Speedway and Park Avenue); but with their big budgets and boards and what-not, these institutions are not in the same category as a gallery. Both did a good job throughout the year in putting up compelling shows: TMA's Jim Waid exhibit ranks right at the top; its own glass show was fab--and all that Tibetan hoopla, complete with performing monks, took the TMA in a new direction. Some highlights of the Center's year included the opposing desert views of Richard Misrach and Lee Friedlander, a wild camera obscura show, and the heartfelt, exalted snapshots of Sandra Semchuk.

1998 Winner: Etherton Gallery 1996 Winner: Etherton Gallery 1995 Winner: Tie: Tucson Museum of Art + Etherton Gallery

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