About

On view is a selection of works acquired for the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) collection in the past year. With a growing permanent collection of artworks – 1,917 in number by 1,400 artists – SMoCA has recently focused its collecting efforts on equity and diversity. SMoCA aims to grow its collection and, in the process, continue to develop a strong holding of Arizona-based artists, alongside national and international artists. In many ways, the collection reflects the programmatic focus and encompasses many of the exciting artists we have had the chance to work with over the years.

Responding to a national survey of art museum collections that revealed women artists comprise less than 15% of total collection artists, SMoCA began a series of self-reflective exhibitions to investigate its own collection. In 2020, Unapologetic: All Women, All Year featured all women artists from the SMoCA Collection. Earlier this year, Division of Labor: Women Shifting a Transnational Gaze, featured Arizona-based artists M. Jenea Sanchez and Gabriela Muñoz, who participated in a critical engagement with the SMoCA Collection, a first in the museum’s history. Together with eight other female artists, they offered a unique perspective on labor in connection to feminisms, identity, equity and the gaze that reached across the United States/Mexico border. Both exhibitions leading to more expansive and introspective dialogue on the museum’s collection, and further shining light on the importance of equity and accountability in collection practices.

SMoCA Collection / Recent Acquisitions is now a chance for the curatorial team to draw some surprising and novel juxtapositions and showcase the wide range of media collected as the museum builds a strong collection of art for future generations to enjoy and discover. Included in the exhibition are works by Miya Ando, Roland Bernier, Judy Glantzman, Marlyne Jones, Rebecca Rothman, Forrest Solis, Kaori Takamura and Ellen Wagener. Five of the eight artists on view are based in Arizona, and seven of the eight artists are women. They reference a diverse range of topics, such as memory, time, the environment, femininity, language and portraiture. While all are two-dimensional, they are made in a variety of mediums that include acrylic, pastels, ink on aluminum, mixed media and collage.

“The work to diversify and expand the SMoCA collection is ongoing and an important reflection of the current social and political moment in which we live, but we also see the collection as a way to share inspiration and provide escape through the art of our time,” says director and chief curator Jennifer McCabe.

SMoCA Collection / Recent Acquisitions is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.