Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, universally called SMoCA, is the place in the Valley to see what artists, architects and designers are doing now, and it packs a lot into a manageable visit. The museum occupies a former movie theater on the Scottsdale Civic Center grounds in Old Town, remodeled by the Phoenix architect Will Bruder into a cool, light-filled sequence of galleries. Exhibitions rotate several times a year across contemporary art, architecture and design, often with a focus on artists working in or responding to the desert Southwest, and the museum is unusually good at shows that connect art with landscape, climate and the built environment. The permanent highlight, and a reason to come on its own, is Knight Rise, a skyspace by James Turrell in the sculpture garden: a round, walled room with an oculus open to the sky, where you sit on the bench and watch the color of the sky shift and intensify, best in the late afternoon before closing on a clear day. SMoCA is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 5pm, with Thursdays running until 7pm, and closed Mondays, Tuesdays and select holidays. General admission is modest, with discounts for students, seniors, veterans, military and educators, and free entry for visitors 18 and under. Thursdays and every second Saturday are pay-what-you-wish, a fine excuse to drop in for an hour. Because it is small and central, it slots easily into an Old Town day between gallery-hopping, lunch and a visit to Western Spirit around the corner.

The museum is part of Scottsdale Arts, which also runs the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts next door and a public art program across the city, so it is worth checking whether a performance, talk or public artwork is on during your stay. The Civic Center grounds outside, with lawns, fountains and sculptures, make a pleasant walk between venues, and in November the Canal Convergence festival (November 6 to 15, 2026) brings large-scale light art and installations to the nearby Scottsdale Waterfront. Combined with Thursday's late hours, those evenings make an excellent art night in Old Town.

To get the most from a visit, check the exhibition schedule first, since the experience depends on what is on, and plan around Knight Rise. Turrell's skyspaces reward patience: sit for at least ten or fifteen minutes and let your eyes adjust, and avoid overcast days. The galleries take about an hour; add half an hour for the skyspace and the store. Paid parking and free city garages are within a short walk in Old Town.

Fit: art and architecture travelers (pair it with Taliesin West and Cosanti for a design-focused Scottsdale itinerary), couples on an Old Town evening, and families with teenagers, who enter free and often enjoy contemporary shows more than traditional museums. Travelers who prefer historic art should look to Phoenix Art Museum or Western Spirit instead.