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    • Liam Wallace
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    • Maria Katz
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For Art Lovers - Midtown Tucson Arts District

Visit us during the Open Studio Tour &
during the other 361 days of the year, ​​visit the Tucson Art District!
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Open Studio Tour Events

Artists & artisans located deep within the heart of Tucson, Arizona band together through the Heart of Tucson Art (HoTA) to celebrate the rich artistic culture of the Tucson Arts District. ​ ​This gives artists a chance to expose & sell their work, while ​​visitors get the chance to learn more ​about the individual artist, the artistic process and support the artist through a unique shopping experience.
Learn How to Visit Us!
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Tucson Clay Co-op
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Meredith Milstead's Studio
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Betsy Tanzer's Studio

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona is a city rich in the visual arts and cultural heritage. Described as a "mini mecca for the arts" by the Wall Street Journal, it is premiere arts destination. 

Open studio tour events are a staple in Tucson traditions and the arts sector is valuable to the region's economy.  Studies, conducted by the nonprofit Americans for the Arts in 2012, say that $87.7 million in annual revenue is generated from nonprofit art organizations in the Tucson area. Combined, the nonprofit and for-profit arts sectors constitute 5.08 percent of the county's overall workforce. This is more than the national average, which is 2.02 percent.

Located in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, the city is 2,389 feet above sea level and covers nearly 500 square miles. It is surrounded by multiple mountain ranges, including the Santa Catalinas and the Rincon Mountains. 

Tucson's rich cultural heritage centers around a unique blend of Native American, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo-American influences. These can be seen in the Hispanic barrios, historical and contemporary American architecture and the prehistoric Native American remnants.

Each February, Tucson hosts the world's largest gem & mineral show in the world and also hosts the mineral and fossil showcase. This event alone draws tens of thousands of visitors in the span or three weeks.

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Unique Art Studios, Galleries, and More

The Tucson Arts District is brimming with residential artists, artisans and art collectors, located centrally within the city.
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​This central area has a rich artistic culture and a background that is unique to it's urban landscape. 

​There are also many fine art galleries, artists cooperatives, prestigious art guilds, art services and major art schools within just a few zip codes.​
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Tucson Arts District Destinations

​The map below will guide you through the major visual art designations.
Fine Art Galleries
  • Antique Indian Art Michael D. Higgins ​
  • ArtsEye
  • Covington Fine Arts Gallery
  • Florence Quater Gallery
  • Four Corners Gallery
  • Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery
  • Mo's Gallery & Fine Framing
  • ​Porter Hall Gallery
  • Southern Arizona Water Color Guild (SAWG) Gallery
Professional Art Guilds
  • ​Tucson Gem & Mineral Society​
  • Tucson Pastel Society
  • Southern Arizona Water Color Guild (SAWG) ​
Cooperative Galleries
  • Artists At Work
  • Arte De La Vida ​
  • ​​Desert Artisans Gallery
  • Morning Star Traders 
  • ​​Tucson Artist Cooperative
Jewelry
  • Carlos Diaz Silversmiths
  • Dah Rock Shop
  • Design & Adorn Beading Studio
  • Jays of Tucson
  • Tucson Turquoise
  • ​Viir Fine Jewelry & Art
Framers
  • Aaron Brothers
  • ​Arizona Picture & Frame Gallery
  • Hall of Frames
  • Pima Frame
  • The Poster Warehouse
Blacksmith & Metal 
  • Metal Arts Village
  • The Painted Gecko 
  • The Village Black Smith ​
Ceramics & Glass
  • Clay Art Center
  • Ochoa Stained Glass
  • Tucson Clap Co-op​ 
  • Tucson Stained Glass
  • Tucson Clay Art Center
Photography
  • Jones Photo Lab
  • Photographic Works
Art Schools & Classes
  • Art Verve Academy
  • ​Blue Raven Art School
  • Creative Juice
  • di Mosaico
  • The Drawing Studio 
  • Southwest Visual Arts University (SUVA) ​
  • Tucson Clay Art Center
Museums & Gardens
  • Arizona Historical Society Museum
  • Arizona State Museum
  • Center for Creative Photography
  • Fort Lowell Museum
  • Franklin Auto Museum
  • Mini Time Machine Museum
  • Tucson Auto Museum
  • Tucson Botanical Gardens
  • Tucson Desert Art Museum
  • University of Arizona Museum of Art 
  • Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson
Art Supply Stores
  • Sarnoff Art & Writing
  • Posner's Art Store
  • di Mosaico

About the Tucson Arts District

Tucson, a city located in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert is surrounded by mountain ranges, including the Rincon and Santa Catalinas and spans nearly 500 square miles with a metro area population of roughly around 1 million.​

The Tucson Arts District, centrally located within the city is brimming with residential artists, artisans and art collectors. 

This area has a rich artistic culture and background that is unique to it's urban landscape. There are also many fine art galleries,  artists cooperatives, prestigious art guilds, art services and major art schools.​
The Tucson Arts District, evolved from the previous 'Tucson's Fort Lowell Arts and Furniture District'. This area in the 85712 was booming economically prior to the national collapse of the housing marketing in 2008. Many businesses were closed including most of the prestigious furniture stores. This permanently changed the urban landscape.

As the economy slowly recovered, the Tucson Botanical Gardens  launched a juried exhibition for the general public in August of 2013 in its prestigious Porter Hall Gallery. It was called "85712" and focused on the residential artists with studios in the 85712 zip code area.
85712 Zip Code Exhibition at Porter Hall Gallery
85712 Zip Code Exhibition at Porter Hall Gallery in 2013
They discovered that just within this unique 6.8 square mile area of the city center, there were over 31, 720 residents at the time! ​​So many pieces of art were entered from this zip code alone that the  jurors of the show found it overwhelming & hard to make decisions on which pieces to pick for their limited space. The final show was wildly successful and included all types of artistic styles from traditional to modern. 

Take an Art Class in Central Tucson

We maintain a network of teaching artists, who live and work here in the Heart of Tucson. To learn more...

Our teaching artists are capable of coaching someone to learn new skill through lecture, studio art practice or by sharing their own unique experiences.  ​
Art Classes & Teaching Artists
Art Schools in Tucson Arts District
  • Art Verve Academy
  • ​Blue Raven Art School
  • ​di Mosaico
  • SUVA
  • The Drawing Studio
  • Tucson Clay Art Center
  • Tucson Clay Coop
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Thank You! 
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A Very Special THANKS to Our Sponsors, Volunteers & Contributors that donated or helped the HoTA organization make the 2018 Spring Tour happen! 

​We appreciate you consistent dedication and support of the visual arts by helping the artists & artisans of Tucson thrive!

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Back to Home Page

​© 2017 All Rights Reserved. Original Artwork Images on this site belong to the Artists of the Heart of Tucson Art (HOTA) organization.
All HOTA logo & banners were designed by our own centrally located artist Lynne East-Itkin.
  • Home
  • Spring 2020 Registration
  • 2020 Spring Tour Artists
    • Angela Red Heart Woman Flanagan
    • Arlene Eisen
    • Barbara Peabody
    • Blue Raven Art School
    • Casa Kira - Kira Geddes
    • Catherine Pearson
    • Chris Bishop
    • Christel Brumann
    • Diane C. Taylor
    • Diane Wittman-Punteri
    • Ellen Sidor
    • HeARTworks - Cindy Robertson
    • Heart of Nature Photography
    • Janet Burner
    • Jennifer Suhm
    • Joan Lisi
    • Judy Koziana
    • Judith Mariner
    • Katrina Lasko
    • Karen Barge Dykema
    • Kyle Johnston
    • Liam Wallace
    • Linda Chappel
    • Lynne East-Itkin
    • Maria Katz
    • Maureen Brusa Zappellini
    • Meridith Little
    • Patricia Ackor
    • Richard Zelens
    • Sherrie Posternak
    • Tucson Clay Art Center
    • Tucson Clay Coop
  • Post Registration Steps
  • Tucson Arts District
  • Art Classes
    • Lynne East-Ikin Bio
  • Contact
  • About
  • Sponsor Us
  • Past HoT Art Studio Tours