Jerome's Art Galleries — The Ghost Town That Became an Arts Colony

Jerome's art scene is not a tourist amenity that was installed to attract visitors. It is the reason people came to live here when no one else wanted to — and it's still the reason those people stayed. When the United Verde Extension Mine closed in 1953 and the population collapsed, the masonry buildings that the copper era had built stood empty and cheap. Artists found them in the 1960s and 70s. The colony that grew from that accident of history is now one of the most concentrated in the American Southwest.

How a Ghost Town Became an Arts Colony

The UVX Mine closed in 1953. Within five years, Jerome's population had fallen from roughly 5,000 to under 500. The buildings — solid masonry construction from the copper era — were too expensive to demolish and too solid to fall on their own. They stood empty on Cleopatra Hill with their windows dark and their rents near zero.

Starting in the late 1960s, artists and craftspeople began arriving. Painters bought studio space in former saloons. Potters set up kilns in abandoned commercial buildings. The combination of dramatic landscape, historic architecture, available space, and cheap rent created conditions that are nearly impossible to replicate: a working ghost town with room for serious creative practice at a cost that made long-term residence viable.

By the early 1980s, Jerome had a functioning arts colony. By the 1990s, tourism had found it. Today, 40+ working studios and galleries operate within a few walkable blocks — an extraordinary density for a permanent population of 450.

Named Galleries — Where to Go

Jerome Artists Co-op Gallery

Main Street. The anchor of Jerome's gallery scene — a group exhibition space showing rotating work from local member artists. The Co-op is typically open daily and covers the widest range of media: painting, ceramics, photography, jewelry, and mixed media. This is the best single stop for seeing the breadth of Jerome's artistic output. Gallery staff are often working artists themselves. Browsing without buying is welcomed and expected.

Pura Vida Gallery

Ceramics, glass, and sculpture. Pura Vida focuses on three-dimensional work — thrown and hand-built ceramics, blown glass, and sculptural pieces. The quality is consistently high, and the selection covers both functional ware and exhibition pieces. One of the better stops for visitors interested in craft-based studio art rather than painting.

Landscape and Western-Themed Work

Beyond the named spaces, several small galleries and studios along Main Street show work rooted in the landscape and Western tradition — desert paintings, Arizona photography, and representational pieces that engage the region's visual history. Because the roster of open studios shifts seasonally, the best approach is to walk the district and step into whatever is open; it's a good route for visitors looking for work tied specifically to the Southwest landscape.

Marg's Drawing Room

Original prints and drawings. Marg's is one of Jerome's more intimate gallery spaces — focused on works on paper, original prints, and drawings rather than framed paintings or large-scale work. For collectors interested in works on paper, this is a specific and worthwhile stop.

The Aurum Gallery

Jewelry, silversmithing, and metalwork. The Aurum specializes in wearable art — hand-fabricated jewelry using silver, gold, and semi-precious stones. The work is made by local and regional artists; copper and turquoise feature prominently, fitting Jerome's mining heritage. For visitors interested in handmade jewelry rather than gallery prints, this is the first stop.

Ghost City Gallery

Works by local Jerome artists, mixed media. Ghost City has a deliberately eclectic aesthetic — mixed media, assemblage, and work that engages Jerome's industrial history and ghost town character directly. One of the more distinctive galleries in town for visitors who want work that is specifically about Jerome rather than work that happens to be located in Jerome.

Relative Arts

Functional furniture and art objects. Relative Arts occupies the intersection of studio craft and functional design — handmade furniture, vessels, and objects that are made to be used as well as looked at. A different category from most Jerome galleries and worth a stop for visitors interested in craft-based design.

What You'll Find — Media Diversity

Jerome's galleries do not have a single aesthetic. The town's art scene accumulated organically over 50+ years as artists in different disciplines arrived independently. The range is genuine: oil painting and watercolor, ceramics and glass blowing, weaving and fiber arts, sculpture and assemblage, photography, silversmithing, and printmaking all have active practitioners. No single Southwest kitsch aesthetic dominates — Jerome's galleries are more varied than most tourist towns of comparable size.

Hours, Timing, and How to Browse

Jerome's compact geography is a genuine asset for gallery browsing. All 40+ galleries and studios are within a 3–4 block walkable radius centered on Main Street and Jerome Avenue. There is no driving from gallery to gallery, no parking problem between stops, and no dead zones where the concentration thins out. The entire scene is walkable in an afternoon.

The browsing culture in Jerome is relaxed. Most galleries welcome visitors without purchase pressure — the Jerome Artists Co-op in particular encourages browse-only visits as a matter of policy. If you want to talk to the artist, arrive in the late morning or early afternoon on weekdays; on weekend afternoons, the galleries are staffed but often busy with other visitors.

Frequently Asked Questions

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