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One might think to find a museum dedicated to African Art in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles or other major cultural center, but in Phoenix, Arizona? Not only is there such a museum, but it is a growing, living entity. Currently the Arizona African Art Museum is housed in the Arizona Center, in the headquarters of its major corporate sponsor, APS. It is planning to move in January 2001 to its new location at nearby Heritage Square. The new venue will offer it twice its current square footage. In fact, this museum may be only the third of its kind in the nation, as only two other museums dedicated to only African Art currently exist.
When you come through the museum's glass doors, you enter a hushed world separate from the bustle of the beautiful downtown Arizona Center, which is busy day and night with business, shopping, and cultural events. Suddenly you cross the threshold into the past, surrounded by artifacts from the 1800s to the mid-1900s that bristle and cajole with life and emotion all their own.
As you look at the pieces, you sense a variety of utility from ceremony to actual utensils and chairs. African Art is not separate from its world like its Western counterpart. The pieces also bespeak of the various cultures and tribes that used them. The pieces on display are labeled with Region and Tribe. As you move through the exhibit you start recognizing similarities between pieces, with the jolt of familiarity like seeing a person you have met before in a new setting. This gives you a sensation of mingling with a culture from another time and place. Paintings and photos accompany the pieces, providing another way of seeing Africa and its peoples, and adding dimension to the experience.
The moods of the pieces range from worshipping the divine, to telling a story, to anger and rage, to humor, to sentimentality, to sexuality. If you are afraid of emotional reactions brought by art, you might avert your eyes from some pieces. If you are courageous, you may experience the recognition of looking into a mirror.
The African Art Museum started nine years ago in Phoenix as a community outreach program. Cofounded by current president George Mack, Valorye Mack and others, it went to schools from primary to university level, introducing students to the variety of cultural artifacts that represent African culture. The community outreach included all ages and walks of life, from schools to senior centers to corporations such as Motorola and Chase. In fact, you can see pictures of these presentations in the current housing of the museum, pictures that demonstrate the interactiveness of the museum experience.
Mr. Mack himself was infected with the collecting bug by his mother, who gave him his first piece around the same time he learned to walk. He felt awed by the idea that those artifacts "had been on earth longer than we had, transcending time itself. We are just caretakers," he asserts, "caring for them for future generations. It became a responsibility which I enjoy."
The museum moved into its current housing as of January of this year, touted as a "museum without walls". The rare collection held in the museum has since been enjoyed since then by a wide variety of visitors, as well as those who benefit from the continued community outreach efforts.
From the maternity figures, to the ornately carved chairs and stools, to the ceremonial representations of gods and spirits, to the expressively carved masks, you can browse to your heart's content free of charge. Mr. Mack hopes the experience is more than a dry, clinical one, but as he puts it, "I want people to experience the art in a way that forces them to engage with the culture. True art forces a spiritual experience. If we do that, we are successful. Art allows the person to come in touch with his or her self. The spiritual experience creates the cultural awareness that all of us are one family."
In January 2001, the museum, whose corporate sponsors include APS, KMJK radio station, Chase Bank, Phoenix Suns, Diamond Back, and Snell and Wilmer, is moving to Heritage Square. In this venue, according to Mr. Mack, they will be "implementing a program already structured that includes a lecture and film series." Mr. Mack states that lectures featuring ancient Africa up into the present, including the art and culture of different societies at large will be presented. Some presentations will include scholars from Africa including the University of Cairo, Egypt, Tombouctoo in Mali, and Dakar in Senegal, as well as scholars from U.S.A. universities. According to Mr. Mack, "That's been a missing component, having scholars of African descent included in the topics -- sometimes their views differ from than Western perspective."
Much like any other museum, in addition to corporate sponsors, the museum encourages individual contributions in the form of memberships. Individual, family, and sponsor memberships are available, and allow contributers to receive a newsletter, special mailings, and invitations to opening exhibitions and receptions.
Whether the museum physically remains a "museum without walls" or not, it continues to transcend other walls: personal, societal, and spiritual. This cultural offering provides much to individuals of all descents and definitely a Phoenix area "must-see".
To find the African Art Museum go to 400 North 5th Street in Phoenix, Building 2, Suite 1, on the ground floor. Housed in glass, you can see artifacts even outside of the museum's visiting hours of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The museum is free of charge. If you are going to visit the museum in 2001, go to Heritage Square, located at 602 East Adams Street (about a block away from the present location.)
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