Shemer Art Center Continues Its Legacy of Nurturing Creativity and Community
This Phoenix art center has shared its legacy for decades—yet some people still don’t know it’s there.
By Robrt L. Pela | Photography by Carl Schultz
“I talk a lot about how one person made such a huge difference in our community,” says Shonna James of the late Martha Shemer, who founded Shemer Art Center, one of the Valley’s most respected (and often one of its least-known) arts spaces.
“Martha had a vision of a place where people could come see and make art,” says James, who is Shemer’s executive director. “And today 12,000 people visit every year for our art history lectures, to take an art class or to shop in our gift shop.”
The tiny, Mission-style house that sparked Martha Shemer’s vision was built in 1919 as part of an Arcadia Water Company-owned housing development. One of the first houses erected in the Arcadia neighborhood, it was home to two different families before Mrs. Shemer stumbled upon it in 1984. The story goes that she called Mayor Terry Goddard’s office and asked, “If I buy this building and donate it to the city, will you maintain and operate an arts facility there?”
The answer was “yes,” and Shemer Art Center opened its doors the following year. The place has become a cultural hub that offers year-round visual arts classes by professional teachers, as well as exhibitions of work by local contemporary artists. Its outdoor sculpture garden is that rarest of things: an alfresco gallery where nearly every objet is for sale. Shemer’s monthly professional development lectures are aimed at both artists and lovers of art.
“We all want to be part of Shemer,” says Sandy Blain, a former professor of ceramics at University of Tennessee who teaches adult classes and workshops at the facility. “We’re here for the feedback and enthusiasm we get from students. I’ve taught for many years, and this is the only place where I’ve seen this level of pure enjoyment from students.”
And yet, so many locals have no idea that Shemer is even there. “I lived in Arcadia and drove right by it for years,” James admits. “It was fate that I ended up here.”
It wasn’t fate, but financial issues, that nearly shuttered Shemer in 2010. “The budget thing happened,” recalls longtime Shemer board member Betty Wagner, whose son was a Shemer art student. “It was horrible. I was a volunteer then, taking classes, and the board was saying we should just close. And we said, ‘You can’t do that. We won’t allow it.’ There were enough of us who said ‘no’ that we were able to make a difference.”
The board created the Shemer Art Center and Museum Association that year to manage the facility in partnership with the City of Phoenix and stepped up its fundraising efforts. Its annual springtime Art in the Garden event and animal-themed Furry Friends festival have kept Shemer’s coffers filled—and its doors open.
“Last summer we had 78 kids in our summer camp program,” James says. “This year we had a waiting list of 145 children.”
To accommodate the demand for more, the Shemer folks plan to add another 5,000 square feet of classroom and art-making space in the next several years.
“We need to nurture our future leaders,” James says. “More people are finding us, and we need to be ready for them. It’s what Martha Shemer always intended for this place.”
Moments in Time
1919
The small, mission-style house that would one day become Shemer Art Center is built as a home for workmen drilling wells for an Arcadia Water Company development. It’s one of the first homes built in the neighborhood known as Arcadia.
1984
The art center is founded by Martha Shemer, who purchases the home and three adjacent acres and donates them to the City of Phoenix to be used for art education and exhibition.
1988
The center’s first-ever arts festival, Sunday at Shemer, debuts. Later renamed the Shemer Arizona Arts Festival, it becomes the center’s signature fundraising event, showcasing more than 40 Arizona artists.
1992
Shemer Art Center becomes one of the city’s first Phoenix Points of Pride.
2010
Financial troubles nearly shutter the center, but locals found the Shemer Art Center and Museum Association to manage the facility and drum up enough ongoing revenue to keep Shemer afloat.
2017
Shemer launches its annual animal-themed event, the Furry Friends Fine Arts Festival.
