SMoCA – Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

Fun museum. I’ve only been here on the free Thursdays. I like that they have exhibits that are quirky, interactive, and just plain interesting to look at. Sometimes they have items for sale in the gift shop that are created by local artists.

Looking for something different to do? Come check out this museum. Although it’s a bit small you will still be amazed with the contemporary arts and different exhibitions.
There is a parking garage next to the museum. A little store with shiny prices awaits you as you come through the entrance. $ 7 adults. $ 5 children. It’s free on Thursdays! Enjoy the creativity and the art in you! :)
Some features for the fall per the email:
Kelly Richardson: Tales on the Horizon
Taking cues from landscape painting, cinema, and scientific research, Richardson offers imagined futures that prompt consideration of the present.
Architecture + Art I Chris Fraser: Looking Back
Inspired by Arizona’s light, Fraser has created a luminous environment and an outdoor installation that reflects the sun.
Bruce Munro: Ferryman’s Crossing
With shimmering rows of compact discs and pulses of light, Munro evokes sunlight bouncing off flowing water.
Young@Art Gallery’s Archilumen
Drawing inspiration from recent developments in architecture, New School for Arts and Academics imagined a fanciful «city of light.»

I received information from a coworker about Free Museum day on ⁹⁄₂₆ and noted several venues that were supposedly free on ⁹⁄₂₇ also. SMoCA was one. However, we were charged the regular $ 5 when we got there. That isn’t much, but we were of course disappointed that it wasn’t free. We were more disappointed that they only had 2 exhibits open. I will give it another try after verifying that it’s «free day,» but it was frankly a pretty lame experience.

Interesting small museum.
I would come here on their free days though.
Parking is free on the building behind them when i was there.

SMoCA? More like «SMoCA Fattie» before you go.
We visited on Thursday, free admission day. They had an interactive exhibit from Canadian artists (Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins: The Collaborationists) that centered around surveillance (government, Google, etc.) that was really interesting and confusing. B on the look out for some big googly eye balls on the wall! I loved the SMS (Shit Must Stop magazine) exhibit, which resembled Andy Warhol’s garage sale. To quote stand-​up comedian BILL BURR: «If drugging people and f’ing them in the a** is art to you, then there are prisons full of artists right now!»
Then there was the Meta Modern exhibit, which had a lot of chairs and their uselessness. Very bizarre. We sat through a hypnotic video exhibit of the New York Opera House’s chandeliers, which resembled the Big Bang theory that had just come into popular discussion in the 60s. We were entranced. My girl almost fell asleep.
My favorite were the James Marshall murals, Knight rise and Radiate (in the SMoCA lounge). The limited use of colors and patterns is beautiful. Would I have paid to go see these exhibits? Sure. I signed up for their e-​mail list to keep tabs on future events and exhibits. Seems like it’s a «happening» museum.
PLUS: hands on exhibits, free poster, and cool Instagram photo ops!

A small museum with rotating exhibitions. Good price for the size, and you can visit for free with the culture pass via the library system.

My sister came into town and we love contemporary art museums, so was excited that we had one here.
Location is FABULOUS. Very near parking (and food, if you’re feeling inclined). They had some fabulous exhibits this weekend. VERY intrigued by the SMS exhibit. I had never heard of the monthly SMS mailings. It was soooo interesting.
I highly recommend a visit — one ever few months, because it does change regularly.
There was also a beautiful Lounge area available to hold events. It was super cool. I want to be there at sunset some time, I hear that it’s spectacular at sunset!

Loved, love, love this museum not too overwhelming but beautiful!!! Plenty of space for some nice selfies & other photo opps. The staff & attendants were pleasant & helpful. I really enjoyed my visit ~ this is definitely a place I’ll keep on my preferred list…

Didn’t really enjoy myself. When I visited, I felt that the gallery attendants were rather rude and ruined the experience.

This small contemporary art museum has only 3 galleries, but the exhibits are usually interesting. James Turrell’s Knight Rise sky space is a permanent exhibit, and that is a cool, meditative space. Sometimes they have film screenings, and the Spring and Fall openings are fun to attend and wonderful people-​watching. There are often docent-​led tours which are really helpful and insightful, too. Check the website to find out about these events.
There is also a gallery in the Performing Arts Center next door, that I think is devoted to student artwork. I also like the gift shop. And the Scottsdale Civic Center Park that it is situated in, with the green lawns, LOVE sculpture and many fountains is a nice place to visit too.
If you enjoy modern art and design, it’s worth checking out. This museum is free on Thursdays.

I took my Father, who is an art aficionado, to check out
the Beauty exhibit for father’s day. We really enjoyed it. The museum itself is beautiful, the staff was very knowledgable and helpful. Only downside, I wasn’t expecting it to be so small. it only took about 30 min to explore the entire museum.

Two exhibits ending 5÷4÷14, Leslie Shows: Surfacing and The Five Senses– check them out before it’s too late!
Leslie Shows: Surfacing
I am all about textures, so these «paintings» of hers, which incorporate metal shavings, plastics, glass, injected rubber, and glue, among other things, kept my interest for quite awhile. It took a bit of time for me to «turn off» the world I left outside and appreciate these pieces, especially with music and scents wafting in from the museum’s second exhibit. (If you go, you’ll know what I mean.) I’d say I went around the room a few times– gazed here and there; read some captions; noted a few textures; appreciated the colors used; wished I could touch; read a few more captions, and then re-​visited those I was more interested in and studied them more thoroughly.

The Five Senses
Janet Cardiff: The Forty Part Motet
Forty voices, recorded individually and presented via eight sets, with five speakers per set, in an oval pattern; designed to be appreciated as a whole and also as separate entities. Brilliant!
Ernesto Neto: Cai Cai Marrom
The source of the tantalizing scents that captivated me while I perused and ruminated through Leslie Shows’ exhibit. First thought that came to mind when I saw it? Olfactory receptors. The «globular» forms held turmeric, clove, and pepper.
Roelof Louw: Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges)
Loved the injection of orange this display provided. It surprised me that people were helping themselves to the oranges, until I read the caption. So go ahead, make mini-​pyramids and pillars, if you wish, as you search for an orange to snack on while you check out James Turrell’s Knight Rise at sunset.
Spencer Finch: 2 hours, 2 minutes, 2 seconds (Wind at Walden Pond, March 12, 2007)
Another brilliant installation! I was able to relive my vacays in Oahu, Myrtle Beach, and St. Augustine– well, almost. I will cherish the carefree moments I experienced standing inside the semicircle. Try it for yourself!
Olafur Eliasson
With a quick glance at the caption and study of a diagram before entering the hallway, I did not know what to expect. I went from standing in front of the fans to walking through a blacked-​out hallway not knowing why I needed to «be careful of the corners.» And then I gasped and saw. And felt.
Finally experiencing James Turrell’s Knight Rise, after all of these years, was the «night cap» to a very fun afternoon. I thought I was going to see light travel down the room’s walls, but I was wrong. And boy, it felt great to be wrong! :)
FYI, admission is free on Thursdays!

We went yesterday to see the 5 senses exhibition. We entered for free because we got there after 5 pm. That was nice. The exhibition was neat. But I really loved the gift shop. We also stopped by the gift shop of The Center for Performing Arts too, they have kind of the same stuff. But I think this two are the best gift shops I have ever been too. So interesting and so many fun things and not useless like gift shops usually sell. Loved it!

There are a number of reasons to visit SMoCA. I’m not a big contemporary art fan but I find it interesting and it’s worth a trip every so often to see new exhibits at the museum.
My #1 reason for visiting SMoCA is to hang out in Knight Rise, a skyspace by James Turrell. It’s an elliptical room with a 10’x15’ eye like opening in the ceiling. As you look up you feel like you can touch the sky; it’s an experience that can’t be missed.
Tip: Go about 15 – 20 minutes before sunset and stay until 15 – 20 minutes after sunset.

I’ll start with disclaimers: it was free to wander through this past Sunday, and the museum is quite small.
That said, the exhibits they had were really something special! They were small but remarkable and unexpected. I won’t spoil them by descirbing them and ruining the surprise, but they were all relating to 5 senses. Sight and sound were my favorite. I’m not a huge fan of modern art, as a rule, but my husband and I were both super impressed.

Wonderful art museum! I had honestly resisted for several years (My parents live in Paradise Valley, and I visit a few times a year) because I didn’t know what to expect. This December, I finally went on a thursday, when they have free admissions, and it was incredible!
The James Turrell piece was very meditative, particularly the subtle color and light shifts that happen over minutes and the dramatic shifts that happen over hours. I found myself in that space with at least 20 people in inspired silence for at least half an hour during one of my visits, and in many ways, it felt more raw and magical than the exhibit at the Guggenheim.
There was also an exhibit dedicated to Julianne Swartz entitled «How Deep Is Your», that was amazing — delicate, vulnerable, strong, weak, frail, love-​filled, love-​lorn, nostalgic… a beautiful experience of human emotion.
And lastly, an exhibit of contemporary Japanese art exploring water, elements, and scale, that left you with a new sense of wonder and possibility.
I am an artist myself, and I feel like contemporary art museums are hit-​or-​miss situations. This one was one of the best I’ve been to, so well curated and thoughtfully presented, with emphasis on quality rather than quantity, and I will definitely be going back every time I am in town.

The museum isn’t large to begin with and unfortunately, one of the main galleries was closed so it didn’t take us long to explore everything.
While modern art can be questionable, SMoCA usually has at least one thought provoking exhibit and this visit was no exception. The gift shop has some unique items and shouldn’t be missed.

What a pile.
I will admit to not being an «artiste» and maybe being too pragmatic to «understand» what I saw when I went here about a month back, but sorry; like other reviewers, I am suspicious as what passes as «art» in a contemporary sense.
When I went, only a few small rooms were accessible (and from other reviewers’ musings, this seems to usually be the case). The biggest of the rooms had two thin wood walls erected in the center. The «art» inside these walls consisted of a bunch of TV screens which would show a picture, then say what the picture was i.e. a picture of a dog, then say in white letters on a black screen «dog.» Somebody got paid to exhibit that? The other exhibit in that piece was hands-​on, where you could write an answer to a posited question, i.e. «What would you miss most if you left this planet?» Kind of nice they let you participate, but also kind of like something you’d see at some workshop for kids or something.
Anyway, I didn’t feel too unsophisticated when my wife, an arty-​farty type, also disapproved of this place. With all the sponsors and this-​and-​that they proudly display on some fancy plaque in the middle of one of the rooms, you’d think they could come up with better (or at least more) of this so-​called «art.»
I will say the red room with everything made out of pallets was neat. Still, not worth it unless you’re getting in for free with a culture pass.

It looks big but it’s very small inside.
Admission is $ 5.
It took me about 30 – 40 minutes to finish looking at everything.
Some things are neat.
One of the exhibits I did not like… it had a creepy feel to it. Another exhibit was interactive so that was cool.
There was also an exhibit outside but you could easily miss that if you weren’t paying attention.
There’s also free wi-​fi. The password is located in the front where you purchased.
BOTTOM LINE: This place is just okay. If you’re bored and in Scottsdale and you have an hour to spare, come and check it out. I don’t think it’s anything you need to get too excited about though.

i love art so i was excited to go check this place out, and it just was not what i expected. Don’t get me wrong, i can appreciate the art that is there, but i was just expecting a «Museum» and when i think of museum i think of a big place with lots to see. Not the case here. it is very small, what they do have is great but just wish there was more.
It’s really cheap… two people for $ 10. The day we went there was a wall of ribbons with wishes on them. you pick one and wrap it around your wrist and fill the hole you took it from with your written wish. They saw when it falls of your wish will come true.(I’m a sucker for cute little things like this)
check it out if you’re in the area and can spare a few minutes for a quick walk through.