Tucson muralist Jessica Gonzales is featured in a new collection at Bisbee’s Artemizia Foundation, showcasing her vibrant style and expanding the museum’s mission of highlighting underrepresented artists.

The foundation, founded in 2019 by artist Sloane Bouchever, is a contemporary art museum, commercial gallery and sculpture garden.

An immersive art experience, the Artemizia Foundation celebrates graffiti and street art and houses a large collection of work by international artists intended to provoke, educate and inspire.

Bouchever learned about Gonzales after another Tucson muralist recommended her work. He initially commissioned her to create a mural outside the foundation, and ultimately decided to showcase her art inside the museum.

Since the museum focuses specifically on street art and murals, Bouchever said Gonzales was a natural fit.

A multicultural artist of Mexican heritage, Gonzales draws from her experiences of living between worlds. She is known for her vibrant color palettes, geometric patterns and bold portraiture, with work that blends realism, abstraction and design.

Some of her most notable pieces include “Sonoran Skylines,” the state’s largest outdoor mural on the back of Park Place Mall, among many others throughout Tucson.

In addition to Gonzales’ work, the museum features 42 murals on the property created by artists from around the world, with rotating collections in its upstairs space, Gallery 818.

Bouchever said the exhibit, “Parallax Perspective,” features about 20 original pieces from Gonzales.

First-time visitors should expect to discover artists they may have never encountered before. A primary goal of the foundation is to connect art with people who may not otherwise experience it and to uplift creators who are often excluded from major museum collections.

“You're going to see hundreds upon hundreds of works of art by many artists that probably the average person has never heard of before, but we do have pieces by Warhol, Ai Weiwei, Kusama and Banksy,” Bouchever said.

The museum’s collection is split roughly 50/50 between male and female artists, with about 40% of works created by artists of color and LGBTQ+ artists.

“Most museum collections are 85 to 90% male,” Bouchever said. “We're changing the paradigm on that, so we're trying to be much more egalitarian.”

Bouchever said the foundation aims to make the art world — which he described as deeply inequitable — a more accessible and accepting place.

“We're buying art directly from the artists and helping them to make a living, but we're also showcasing their work,” he said. “People come into the museum and they're discovering artists they've never heard of and start following them on Instagram, and possibly collect or go to their other shows. We think it's really important to highlight artists whose voices are often not heard and give them an opportunity.”

He said muralists and street artists rarely get to have their work showcased in museum collections, making opportunities like this especially meaningful.

“So many of our artists have never had shows before, which is super exciting,” Bouchever said. “And we love giving an opportunity to living artists. One of our goals here at Artemizia Foundation is to really help living artists make a living.”

Visitors often comment on the diversity of the creators and mediums represented and on the emotional impact of the work.

He said it is not unusual for people to walk through the museum in tears.

“People say, ‘I just wasn't an art person before. And I guess I am, because I was so moved by the collection and so many women artists telling their stories in not just imagery but also text,’” Bouchever said. “I think both for folks who come to Artemizia and also the artists whose work is shown here, it's very impactful.”

Bouchever selects work based on emotional resonance.

“A lot of my collection is figurative work, but we do have some abstract,” he said.

Only a small portion of the museum’s artists are from Arizona — Bouchever estimates about 10 of the 150 pieces in the collection.

But recent tariffs have forced him to cancel nearly all upcoming exhibitions featuring global artists. He said he attempted to order art from Germany and DHL refused to ship it unless he paid a 30% tariff.

“These international artists rely on American collectors to make a living,” Bouchever said.

Despite that challenge, the museum’s collections are booked through 2027, with much more on the way.

Gonzales’ exhibit runs through Jan. 4.

Emma LaPointe is a journalism, political science and German Studies major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at emma.m.lapointe@gmail.com.

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