A portion of the Ansel Adams exhibit

I stopped by the Steele Gallery at the Phoenix Art Museum to catch the new Ansel Adams: Discoveries exhibit earlier this month.

It’s worth a visit if you’re a fan. The exhibit covers six aspects of his career: time (early work), place (American Southwest), medium (color), subject (architecture), theme (environment) and role (teacher).

It’s much more than framed photographs and unless you’ve investigated his biography in depth, I bet you learn something. Either way, if you’re anything like me, you’ll walk away inspired—and yearning to visit his favorite places (especially the National Parks).

The exhibit runs through June 6, 2010, so be sure to check it out while you can. Also take note of the free admission (rather, a voluntary donation) on First Fridays and Wednesday evenings. And if you haven’t already, check out other free museum days in Phoenix.

Location, hours and admission

1625 N. Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Northeast corner of McDowell Road & Central Avenue
Free parking is available in lot north of the building
Info line: 602-257-1222

Wednesday, 10am-9pm
Thursday-Saturday, 10am-5pm
Sunday, 12pm-5pm
First Friday Evenings, 6-10pm

Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and major holidays

General Admission:
$10 adults
$8 senior citizens & fulltime college/university students w/ID
$4 children ages 6-17
Free for Museum members & children under age 6

Voluntary donation on First Friday evenings, 6-10pm
Voluntary donation on Wednesday evenings, 3-9pm [thanks SRP!]

If you haven’t already checked out a Culture Pass, you need to. They’re available for “check-out” from your local Phoenix-area library and will admit four adults for free to one of several museums:

• Arizona Museum of Natural History
• Arizona Museum for Youth
• Arizona Science Center
• The Bead Museum which is now closed
• Cave Creek Museum
• Children’s Museum of Phoenix
• Desert Botanical Garden
• Heard Museum
• Mesa Contemporary Arts
• Phoenix Art Museum
• Phoenix Zoo (only two admissions)
• Pueblo Grande Museum
• Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

It’s a great way to get in your culture fix without spending any extra cash. However, you’ll need to get a bit lucky, as the passes aren’t always easy to come by. In fact, the rack is nearly always bare at the popular libraries, less so if you’re willing to travel to some of the ghetto locations.

But you shouldn’t despair if you can’t snag one of those passes – many of the museums participating in the Culture Pass also have regular free admission days. Here’s the list, which is current as of May 20, 2009. I’ve included links and phone numbers so you can verify a museum is still participating before you show up.

Arizona Museum of Youth
Noon – 5pm first Sunday of each month
35 N Robson St, Mesa – 480-644-2467

Arizona Museum of Natural History
Noon – 5pm first Sunday of each month
53 N MacDonald St, Mesa – 480-644-2230

Children’s Museum of Phoenix
6 – 10pm first Friday of each month
215 N. 7th St, Phoenix – 602-253-0501

Heard Museum
11am – 5pm second Sunday of each month
2301 N Central Ave, Phoenix – 602-252-8848

Heard Museum North
11am – 5pm second Sunday of each month
32633 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale – 480-488-9817

Heard Museum West
10am – 5pm second Saturday of each month
16126 N Civic Center Plaza, Surprise – 623-344-2200

Mesa Contemporary Arts
Noon – 5pm first Sunday of each month &
10am – 8pm Thursdays
1 E Main St, Mesa – 480-644-6560

Phoenix Art Museum
3pm – 9pm Wednesdays &
6pm – 10pm first Friday of each month
1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix – 602-257-1222

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
10am – 8pm Thursdays
7374 E 2nd St, Scottsdale – 480-874-4666

This is a great way to check out some great museums – leave a comment if you really enjoyed a particular place or if you find any other locations with free admission days. Thanks!

Update: As mentioned in the comments, Bank of America customers can now show their cards at the Phoenix Art Museum and The Phoenix Zoo the Musical Instrument Museum on the first full weekend of every month to receive free general admission. Check out more details here.

Photo credit: Rail Life