MAC museum space luring more visitors than almost anyone expected

Feb. 13--It's been 10 months since the Mesa Arts Center opened the doors of its five-gallery museum space, Mesa Contemporary Arts.

Montana sculptor Deborah Butterfield's breathtaking "Horses" sculptures -- the centerpiece of the April 22 grand opening -- have come and gone. So have exhibitions by renowned artists Joyce J. Scott, Anna Skibska, Luis Jimenez and the East Valley's own Rudy Turk.

What's remained constant, though, is a steady flow of visitors through the galleries -- even after an admission charge was implemented in the fall.

A total of 9,081 people passed through MCA in April -- about 1,300 on opening night -- and 3,830 visited in May. By summer's end, the monthly average had settled at a steady 1,200 people.

In September, a $3.50 admission charge was implemented -- with free admission continuing on Thursdays and the second Sunday of each month -- but attendance has not dropped off. In fact, 2,956 people visited in September, and an average of 1,340 visited each month through the end of the year.

"It's pretty staggering when you look at what we did in the old facility," says MCA curator Patty Haberman, referring to the single gallery space at the old center.

The total number of visitors there for fiscal 2003-04 was 4,688 -- a paltry average of 391 per month.

COMPARING

E.V. MUSEUMS

Mesa Contemporary Arts planned 13 exhibits for fiscal 2005-06, which may be scaled back slightly for the next fiscal year, Haberman says.

By comparison, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art -- which also has five gallery spaces, not including its Young at Art Gallery housed in the Scottsdale Center for the Arts -- has hosted 11 exhibits annually since the 2002-03 season.

SMoCA has an average monthly attendance of about 3,000 visitors, says museum spokeswoman Lesley Oliver. Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for students.

The ASU Art Museum features four galleries and a multipurpose room. It hosts about 15 major exhibitions a year, says spokeswoman Denise Tanguay. The museum does not charge admission.

As MCA's staff plans for 2006-07, Haberman says, "we've decided that we would like to keep shows up a little bit longer and focus on education," including more educational programming throughout the exhibits. That will include shows for children, slide talks and lecture/ discussions by artists.

WORKING WITH ITS PEERS

Taking its place in the Valley's artistic community, Mesa Contemporary Arts has begun working with other local arts entities.

For example, "Contemporary American and Laos Weavings," an exhibit by American weaver Carol Cassidy, will open March 7 at MCA. Cassidy, who moved to Laos to help native weavers start a coop, has worked with the United Nations in starting such projects in war-ravaged and developing countries.

Cassidy's exhibit is a collaborative effort with the Center for Asian Studies at ASU, which approached MCA with the idea, Haberman says.

On Feb. 21, a solo show by Navajo weaver and Tempe resident D.Y. Begay called "Interpretive Landscapes" will open. The exhibit will be guest-curated by Joe Baker and Wendy Westin of the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

Baker says Haberman approached the Heard curators with the idea to host an exhibit.

"We, in many ways, are all partners in this process of bringing the arts to the Phoenix community,'' he says. ''We serve different populations and we have different areas of expertise and different focus areas. But the bottom line is we're all in the larger community of the arts, and we share that in common."

-

CONTACT WRITER: (480) 898-5634

or econcors@aztrib.com

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.