Arizona native Mitch Menchaca returns as Phoenix Arts and Culture chief

Arizona native Mitch Menchaca returned to Phoenix this past December as the new City of Phoenix Arts and Culture executive director.

Prior to this position, Menchaca was the executive director of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras in Los Angeles, where he was tasked with planning organizational growth and donations from third-party groups.

“I started to reach this thought process that I wanted to return to Phoenix,” Menchaca said. “I wanted to get back into the local arts agencies.”

Menchaca took over for Gail Browne, who held the position for four years until she retired in December.

“I was on a work trip and someone said ‘Do you know Gail Browne is retiring from the City of Phoenix?’” he said. “I talked to a few people to make sure it was truly open and applied and was accepted.”

Menchaca’s passion for advocacy wasn’t always about art grants and financing.

His journey started at Central Arizona College where he earned an associate degree in theatre with dreams of rising from Casa Grande to become the next big Broadway star.

Menchaca balanced work as a waiter at Denny’s and auditions, hoping to earn one role that would take him higher. But after playing side roles and getting nowhere close to his dream, Menchaca decided to head back to school and earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree from Arizona State University.

While in school, Menchaca took jobs with different historical societies and organizations, coordinating events and exhibits for small groups.

It wasn’t until he became the senior director of programs with the Arizona Commission on the Arts that he got a taste of government funding for the arts. He reviewed portfolios and distributed grants and funding to bring arts programs to the community but also ensured that people who wanted to be involved with the arts could access the right resources.

“One thing Mitch really excelled in was being able to go into rural communities and help those individuals imagine their future,” said Bob Booker, former executive director on the Arizona Commission on the Arts. “He has the ability to work with a wide variety of individuals and communities.”

As the executive director for the Office of Arts and Culture, Menchaca works with city governments to ensure the arts can partner with other agencies like City Council. He also wants to use his job as a way to integrate himself into the arts community.

“I have colleagues in other cities who spend their entire time just at city hall and I don’t want to do that,” Menchaca said. “I look forward to getting out in the community and balancing both the day-to-day work that I have to do at city hall with the nights and weekends that I’ll do with the community.”

Teniqua Broughton has been a friend and colleague of Menchaca since 2005 and started getting to know him when they worked in establishing a Phoenix leaders council that modeled Americans for the Arts.

“Mitch creates an energy of fun,” Broughton said. “He’s serious about the work but he definitely wants to bring people together where they are enjoying what they are doing.”

Broughton said that energy is necessary for arts and culture because it’s supposed to be something that is fun, moves spirits and changes lives.

Though he has only held his new position for a couple of weeks, Menchaca has already begun to carry out his plans for the Office of Arts and Culture.

To sustain the city’s arts and culture community, Menchaca wants to work on investing more grant money into cultural institutions, working closely with individual artists and creating other services for the industry besides grant funding.

“I’m so excited,” he said. “I think that Phoenix is a destination city, and I want to see the arts play a more visible role for those that are visiting our community and for our residents to enjoy.”

Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu.