Phoenix Art Museum bringing back First Fridays in October

We’re currently deep into the dog days of summer, but relief is on the horizon. When temperatures start cooling down, the Valley’s events scene heats up as there are more things to do around town.

Case in point: Phoenix Art Museum’s First Friday festivities are set to return this fall.

Earlier this week, the museum announced it's bringing back the monthly event starting on Oct. 4.

The event coincides with downtown Phoenix’s popular First Friday artwalk at galleries and spaces on Roosevelt Row, Grand Avenue and other locations.

It’s a chance to visit PAM, the largest museum of visual art in the southwest, and view its collection of more than 17,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art for little or no cost. (Pro-tip: The Thorne Rooms and their 1:12-scale painstakingly preserved minatures are always amazing to see.)

General admission on First Fridays will be a voluntary donation with access to special-engagement exhibitions, including the thought-provoking retrospective “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s-1980s," available at discounted rates.

The First Friday festivities will run from 5 to 8 p.m. and include music spun by a local DJ, a cash bar and a selection of art-making activities for patrons.

Phoenix Art Museum previously hosted First Fridays every month for more than a decade before switching to free quarterly events like PhxArt AfterHours and PhxArt Family Fundays in 2023.

The museum also offers its long-running “Pay-What-You-Wish Wednesdays” weekly from 3 to 8 p.m., which also features voluntary general admission and discounted rates for its special engagement exhibitions. More information is available here.