Why 2026 is a landmark year for Memphis arts and culture
John Beifuss | Commercial Appeal
This is a milestone year for Memphis.
Close to two dozen of the city’s arts and culture organizations and institutions celebrate significant anniversaries in 2026.
Even as it recognizes the past, Memphis is looking ahead. Downtown's Memphis Art Museum — certainly one of the more remarkable additions to the landscape in city history — is just one of several major community gathering places set to debut before the end of the year.
“All these anniversaries and openings are providing opportunities for us to weave this all together and mobilize the whole arts sector,” said Elizabeth Rouse, president and chief executive officer of ArtsMemphis. “This really isn’t so much about all the singular moments but about a movement.”
Memphians aren’t the only ones taking note. The New York Times in January listed Memphis as No. 19 on a list of “52 Places to Go in 2026,” writing that the opening of the Memphis Art Museum, the expansion of the National Civil Rights Museum and other trends signified a “cultural turning point” for the city.
DeMarcus Suggs, who since October 2024 has headed a new city office as Mayor Paul Young’s Director of Creative & Cultural Economy, said the celebration of “hallmark years,” for all the reflection the anniversaries inspire, is an opportunity for action — to “amplify” and “leverage” the missions of local artists and art organizations.
He said his office is charged with “looking at the arts-and-culture ecosystem at large.” After all, “none of this happens in a vacuum” — a new museum or even public community garden, for example, may require new access roads or other types of city infrastructure improvement, in addition to financial or promotional support.
Rouse said ArtsMemphis — which last year distributed $3.5 million in grants to 90 different nonprofits and individual artists — has provided anniversary-year assistance and other types of grants for a number of organizations, including the Hattiloo Theatre and the Metal Museum. The arts, she said, represent “a core driver for Memphis’ identity and future growth.”
Suggs said his office is seeking to innovate “cultural policy” that can make Memphis “safer, stronger, and more equitable through innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to our creative culture.” In other words: “How do we leverage the arts not only for its economic value but for what it does for Memphians — for every Memphian?”
Some organizations have a head start in the search for answers to that question. In fact, some have been thinking about it for more than a century.
So here is a list of some of the significant arts-and-culture programs and attractions that have reason to celebrate this year, listed by milestone anniversary, from quasquicentennial (125th anniversary) to bidecennial (20th). It ends with a look into the future: the year’s newcomers.
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