The Men’s Art Council (MAC), a nonprofit member organization of Valley philanthropists devoted to supporting the community outreach initiatives of the Phoenix Art Museum, recently surprised the museum with a $175,000 check that will fund future exhibitions, including the highly-anticipated Mr.: You Can Hear the Song of This Town.

“This gift to Phoenix Art Museum is the latest instance of the long- standing relationship between our organizations and will empower the museum to provide the community with unique, high-quality exhibitions,” says MAC President Joel Coen. 

Mr.: You Can Hear the Song of This Town explores the vivid, chaotic and manga-inspired world of one of today’s most popular Japanese artists, Mr., and is the first U.S. solo exhibition in more than five years to exclusively showcase his imaginative and visually complex works. 

Mr. is a self-described member of the otaku subculture and is characterized by his passionate interests in anime, manga and reclusion into virtual fantasy worlds. He creates feverish, graffiti-inspired paintings, cartoon-like sculptures, installations and video works that combine high and low culture to examine themes of desire, fantasy and trauma within Japanese society and among a global audience. 

Mr.: You Can Hear the Song of This Town premiers Friday, November 4 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.​​ and will run until March 2023. The premier will take place during the museum’s November First Friday celebration, which will include free entry, drinks and food trucks, live music, arts-engagement activities, and more. 

“We are very grateful to Men’s Arts Council for their ongoing support of the Museum’s exhibitions,” says Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “For more than 55 years, MAC’s generosity has helped bring art from around the world to engage audiences in Arizona. With their support of Mr.: You Can Hear the Song of This Town and the exhibition’s admission-free First Friday opening celebration, MAC is ensuring community members and visitors are exposed to artworks by one of Japan’s most popular living artists.” 

Click here to learn more about the exhibition.