The Phoenix Art Museum now offers free admission daily to all Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) students with an active student ID. Made possible through the generosity of Men’s Arts Council (MAC), a non-profit member organization dedicated to supporting the museum’s community-outreach programs, the free-access program, colloquially known as MC3@PAM, provides an affordable way for the Valley’s community-college students to experience the museum’s robust exhibition schedule of American, Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern and contemporary art and fashion design.
“Phoenix Art Museum is thrilled to announce this access program in partnership with Men’s Arts Council,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the museum’s Sybil Harrington director and CEO. “Free-admission programs like MC3@PAM eliminate economic barriers and further our commitment to opening doors and expanding access to the arts for our audiences in Arizona. Many community-college students are among the first in their families to have the option to attend college, and with more than 75% of MCCCD students attending on a part-time basis, balancing work and family with their educational studies, we did not want anything to stand in the way of these students enjoying arts and culture. We are deeply grateful to MAC for their outstanding generosity, for stepping up to meet this need in our community, and for helping create new generations of Museum visitors for years to come.”
Through MC3@PAM, all Maricopa Community Colleges students who attend any of the 10 colleges or affiliated skill centers will enjoy free general admission to the Phoenix Art Museum, including admission into special-engagement exhibitions. The program, which has been funded through 2025, also creates opportunities to integrate visual arts into college-classroom curricula. Support for the program is drawn from a transformative $1 million grant the museum received from Men’s Arts Council in September 2022. In addition to MC3@PAM, the major gift will support quarterly Family Days, featuring free general admission, art-making workshops, guided tours and other exciting events like the museum’s new associate curator of education position, a role responsible for developing enriching arts-education programs for the public; PhxArt Amplified, the museum’s popular weekend music and art experience featuring musicians performing throughout museum galleries and public gathering spaces; and key technology upgrades.
“At our core, our mission is to support the community we serve through the work of Phoenix Art Museum,” said Joel Coen, president of Men’s Arts Council. “This program will allow families and students the opportunity to experience the museum once again and hopefully be a part of the resurgence of the Phoenix arts scene.”
Maricopa Community Colleges, one of the largest community-college districts in the nation, serves more than 100,000 students annually and provides affordable, high-quality education for degree and skill-seeking students in nearly every area of the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Students enrolled for any number of credits and with an active ID from Chandler-Gilbert, Estrella Mountain, GateWay, Glendale, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Rio Salado, Scottsdale, and South Mountain community colleges qualify for the free admission program.
“We would like to thank the Men’s Arts Council and Phoenix Art Museum for their generous donation allowing access to the Maricopa Community Colleges’ population of approximately 100,000 students,” said Chancellor Steven Gonzales. “Partnerships like these create even additional value, cultural experiences and learning opportunities for our students.”
