Arizona Arts presents a 2025 fall semester of arts experiences to engage audiences on campus at the University of Arizona and in the community.
Arizona Arts and its units produce over 700 events each year, most of them free. The division integrates the arts throughout the university experience; gives all students – regardless of major – access to meaningful experiences in the arts; and ensures that the arts play an essential role in realizing the university’s mission of community engagement.
- Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. Jones, the unlikely indie heroes, DeVotchKa, and the desert rockers, XIXA take the stage at La Rosa, a monastery converted into Tucson’s newest music venue.
- Mexico City artist Yoshua Okón will kick off the School of Art’s VASE Lecture Series.
- The Center for Creative Photography celebrates 50 years of collecting images, objects and archives of history’s greatest photographers in “Picture Party: Celebrating the Collection at 50.”
- Arizona Arts Live has partnered with Film Fest Tucson to present several films at the newly renovated Marroney Theatre, including “The Legend of the Happy Worker” and “Capturing Kennedy.”
- School of Theatre, Film & Television presents “Vanities: The Musical,” a life-affirming journey of three best friends.
- Lila Downs celebrates Día de los Muertos at Centennial Hall, honoring those who have passed.
- Plus, performing artists from Egypt, Indonesia, and Ukraine on tour as part of the State Department’s Center Stage program.
EXPERIENCES
Papermoon Puppet Theatre
Arizona Arts Live (Center Stage)
Oct. 8-11, 2025 | Tornabene Theatre
How do we remember those we’ve lost? “Puno, Sewing Memories”tells the touching story of Tala, a young girl learning to cope with the loss of her father. Through this beautiful puppetry performance, Tala discovers the meaning of life, death, and the memories we carry with us. Based in Indonesia, Papermoon Puppet Theatre creates unforgettable stories through puppets, art, and imagination. This world-traveled company blends traditional puppetry with modern storytelling. Their performances remind us that everything around us holds a little bit of life and magic. MORE.
Disney’s Moana Live-To-Film Concert
Arizona Arts Live
Nov. 9, 2025 | Centennial Hall
Watch a full-length screening of the Oscar-nominated musical adventure, featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, accompanied by live performances of a unique on-stage musical ensemble of top Hollywood studio musicians, Polynesian rhythm masters and vocalists, celebrating the music and songs from this award-winning Walt Disney Animation. Audiences will sing along to favorites like “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” in this one-of-a-kind concert experience for the whole family. Moana was the most-streamed movie in the U.S. from 2020 to 2024. MORE.
DANCE
Dance Visions: Dance on Film
School of Dance
Sept. 3, 2025 | Stevie Eller Dance Theatre
Screened dance films, engaging conversation, and behind-the-scenes insight. Curated by Duane Cyrus, Robin Gee, and Jingjing Guan. Free admission.
Jazz ‘n’ AZ
School of Dance
Sept. 16-18, 2025 | Stevie Eller Dance Theatre
A one-hour celebration of jazz dance, Jazz ‘n’ AZ features high-energy performances by faculty, students, and guest artists. An annual favorite.
Season Preview
School of Dance
Oct. 19, 2025 | Stevie Eller Dance Theatre
A first look at the year ahead. “Season Preview” offers a curated selection of in-process works from our faculty. A night of insight, inspiration, and anticipation.
Ballet BC
Arizona Arts Live
Nov. 20, 2025 | Centennial Hall
Canada’s preeminent contemporary dance company creating visceral, thought-provoking, and transformative pieces. Feature three bold and distinctive pieces, including an exclusive world premiere. MORE.
Fall for Dance
School of Dance
Nov. 13-23, 2025 | Stevie Eller Dance Theatre
Our mainstage, signature fall concert brings together thrilling new work and world-class talent. With choreography by award-winning guests (Peter Chu, Darrell Grand Moultrie) and esteemed faculty.
Student Spotlight: Challenge
School of Dance
Dec. 5-7 | Stevie Eller Dance Theatre
Showcasing original works choreographed by our BFA & MFA students, the next generation of choreographers. It’s a vibrant platform where emerging artists develop and share their unique voices through movement. Bold, fresh, and imaginative.
FILM
The Pantone Guy | Cathy & Harry
Arizona Art Live / Film Fest Tucson
Sept. 7, 2025 | Marroney Theatre
A double feature of compelling documentaries. Larry Herbert, 96, is the subject of “The Pantone Guy,” reflecting on his life and his work creating the Pantone Matching System. “Cathy & Harry” is a look at the everyday realities behind creating meaningful art by artists Catherine Murphy and Harry Roseman. MORE.
Capturing Kennedy
Arizona Arts Live / Film Fest Tucson
Sept. 28, 2025 | Marroney Theatre
“Capturing Kennedy” tells the story of Jacques Lowe, John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer who captured many iconic photographs of the Kennedy era. Based on 10 hours of newly discovered footage. MORE.
The Legend of the Happy Worker
Arizona Arts Live / Film Fest Tucson
Oct. 26, 2025 | Marroney Theatre
From producer David Lynch, follow the story of Joe (Thomas Hayden Church), who lives in a utopian community and is unexpectedly thrust into a position of power. An Arizona premiere of “Legend of the Happy Worker,” a human comedy about a simple man who is thrust into power, falls, and finds redemption. MORE.
Moana: Live-to-Film Concert
Arizona Arts Live
Nov. 9, 2025 | Centennial Hall
Watch “Moana” on the big screen while a group of musicians, drummers, and singers bring the film’s award-winning music to life right in front of you. MORE.
Fantasy Life
Arizona Arts Live / Film Fest Tucson
Nov. 23, 2025 | Marroney Theatre
Step into a chaotic Martha’s Vineyard summer where an unlikely babysitter navigates love, family drama, and eccentric grandparents in “Fantasy Life,” winner of the ‘Narrative Feature Competition Audience Award’ at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival. MORE.
LECTURES
VASE Lecture Series
School of Art
Oct. 16, 2025 | CCP Auditorium
Yoshua Okón, a Mexico City artist who blends video, installation and performance to engage viewers in a dialogue concerning the complexity of contemporary society. Okón, a Fulbright Scholar, received an MFA from UCLA and co-founded SOMA, an artist-run school in Mexico City dedicated to cultural exchange and the teaching of the arts. His work questions perceptions of reality and truth, selfhood and morality. MORE.
MUSIC
Mohammed Abozekry Sextet
Arizona Arts Live (Center Stage)
Sept. 20, 2025 | The Century Room
Step into the warmth of an Egyptian night without leaving Tucson. Let Mohamed Abozekry’s oud weave you into melodies that dance between Arabic tradition and the free spirit of jazz.
Lila Downs
Arizona Arts Live
Oct. 19, 2025 | Centennial Hall
An evening of music, memory, and tradition with Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning singer Lila Down, celebrating Día de los Muertos with music from her latest release along with classic favorites. MORE.
Booker T. Jones
Arizona Arts Live
Oct. 21, 2025 | La Rosa
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement recipient Booker T. Jones, best known from Booker T. & the MGs, provides a magical evening of melody, rhythm, and harmony. MORE.
Trester Festival for Latin American Music
School of Music
Oct. 22, 2025 | Holsclaw Hall
This festival celebrates and explores piano music from across Latin America, including lecture recitals, masterclasses and a student piano competition. MORE.
Celloween
School of Music
Oct. 29, 2025 | Holsclaw Hall
A Halloween concert featuring the cello studio at the School of Music, featuring creative costumes, spooky atmosphere and lively performances. MORE.
DaVotchKa
Arizona Arts Live
Oct. 21, 2025 | La Rosa
Beloved for their lush blend of gypsy melodies, indie rock energy, and cinematic soundscapes, Grammy-nominated band, DeVotchKa celebrates the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album “How It Ends,” recorded in part at Tucson’s Wavelab Studio. MORE.
MUSIC
University of Arizona Band Day
Pride of Arizona
Nov. 1, 2025 | Arizona Stadium
High school marching bands from across Arizona compete in Arizona Stadium. The Pride of Arizona Marching Band also performs exhibition shows. MORE.
Steve Dyer: Freedom Melody
Arizona Arts Live
Nov. 2, 2025 | La Rosa
South African Steve Dyer presents a musical homage to the historic Freedom Melody Festival, commemorating the brave artists who fought to end Apartheid. MORE.
Fourth Wall Ensemble
Arizona Arts Live
Nov. 4, 2025 | La Rosa
Rapidly gaining recognition as one of New York’s most innovative new vocal ensembles. MORE.
Stretch-Marked Hearts
University Community Chorus
Nov. 15, 2025 | Crowder Hall
A concert inspired by the life and legacy of poet Andrea Gibson. Featuring Considering Matthew Shepard: A Choral Suite, the program reflects on love’s power to expand, transform, and call us to courage. MORE.
Kurbasy: Songs of the Ukrainian Forest
Arizona Arts Live (Center Stage)
Nov. 15, 2025 | La Rosa
From Lviv, Ukraine, Kurbasy’s folk-based multimedia performances vibrate in vocal harmonies, distinctive instrumentation, and dreamlike visual imagery. MORE.
XIXA
Arizona Arts Live
Nov. 26, 2025 | La Rosa
Channeling the spirit of the Southwest into a sound that’s both gritty and otherworldly, XIXA returns with their third album, “XOLO,” a hypnotic fusion of dark psychedelia, Latin rhythms, and desert blues. MORE.
Holiday Card to Tucson
School of Music
Dec. 7, 2025 | Catalina United Methodist Church
A community holiday tradition continues. Featuring audience sing-alongs as well as seasonal music performed by Arizona Symphonic Choir, Tucson Girls Chorus, University Community Chorus, Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus and University Singers. MORE.
La Santa Cecila
Arizona Arts Live
Dec. 11, 2025 | La Rosa
Grammy-winning La Santa Cecilia brings their vibrant fusion of bolero, cumbia, ranchero, jazz, and folk to Tucson. With the powerhouse vocals of La Marisoul and a sound rooted in both Mexican heritage and modern American culture, the band has become the voice of a new bicultural generation. MORE.
PODCAST
Race/Remix
Racial Justice Studio
Professors Sama Alshaibi and Jennifer Saracino speak with acclaimed contemporary artist Hank Willis Thomas about his socially engaged art practice inviting audiences to look more carefully and act more collectively. Thomas explains why he believes all art is political. Episode one of the second season of the Race/Remix podcast. MORE.
VISUAL ARTS
Picture Party: Celebrating the Collection at 50
Center for Creative Photographer
Through Dec. 20 | Baker Gallery
The exhibition brings together works and archival object from the CCP Collection. Includes Ansel Adams, Roy DeCarava, Graciela Iturbide, Carrie Mae Weems, alongside emerging artists, creating unexpected juxtapositions that spark fresh perspectives. MORE.
Funny Business: Photography and Humor
Center for Creative Photography
Through Jan. 4 | Phoenix Art Museum
Presents 70 photographs, drawn primarily from the CCP Collection, examines the reasons why artists throughout time have employed humor as a strategy in their work. Featuring Reynier Leyva Novo, Liz Cohen, Steffi Faircloth, Jeff Mermelstein, and Bucky Miller. MORE.
Kelli Connell, Betsy, Lake Ediza, 2015, © Kelli Connell, Courtesy of artist
Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis
Center for Creative Photography
Opens Aug. 23 | Center Galleries
American photographer Kelli Connell reconsiders the relationship between writer Charis Wilson and photographer Edward Weston through a close examination of Wilson’s prose and Weston’s iconic photographs. Co-organized by CCP, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Cleveland Museum of Art. MORE.
Surface Tension
School of Art
Open Aug. 26 | Lionel Rombach Gallery
New work by eight School of Art graduate students that explores the shifting boundaries between what is seen on the surface and what lies beneath. MORE.
Future Tense 2025
School of Art
Through Nov. 21 | Joseph Gross Gallery
“Future Tense 2025” will celebrate the work of student artists, designers and makers working with or inspired by fiber and textile materials or techniques. The national juried exhibition offers a glimpse into the future of contemporary fibers by presenting the very best work being made by students in the field today. MORE.
>> Please Note <<
University of Arizona Museum of Art
The University of Arizona Museum of Art is closed to the public while receiving a major HVAC upgrade and will welcome visitors back with “Bailey Doogan: Ways of Seeing” in January 2026. MORE.