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James Graham (born December 1961 - Brooklyn, NY) is the founding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA Tucson), in Tucson, Arizona.

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+'''James Graham''' (born December 1961 - Brooklyn, NY) is the founding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA Tucson), in [[Tucson, Arizona]].
-'''James Graham''' (born December 1961 - Brooklyn, NY) is best known as the founding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA Tucson), in [[Tucson, Arizona]]. While attending the University of Arizona in 1992, Graham and two other artists founded the [[Toole Shed Studios]], a non-profit artists’ collective, also in Tucson, Arizona. The co-operative is in a large warehouse owned by the state and was slated for demolition. With the artist Dave Lewis and Julia Latané, Graham successfully lobbied for possession of the building, and brought it up to meet city code. In the co-operative, there are 14 private artist studios, a color darkroom and facilities for [[welding]], [[glasswork]], [[ceramics]], [[carpentry]] and [[painting]]. The Toole Shed studios was host to the Endicott Studios, Tucson Holography workshop, Science industries, the BoneWorks design group and more.
-In 1997, Graham and now wife, Latané, expanded on the success of the Toole Shed Studios and formed the Museum of Contemporary Art with gallerist and Arts Advocate David Wright. The mission of the Museum was to show the work of Tucson’s contemporary artists to the art world; to show the work of outside artists to Tucson; and to provide artists with access to tools and studio space to facilitate their work.
-The first exhibition space of MOCA was the Haz-Mat gallery also on Toole Ave. The first exhibition, Ignition, which opened on November 1997, was a phenomenal success and set attendance records for [[contemporary art]] in Tucson. The show featured the work of [[Fabric Gygi]] and [[Olivier Mosset]], among others. In its first three years, MOCA hosted ten [[visual arts]] exhibitions, which featured over 100 artists  and expanded to several nearby buildings. In 1998, the board grew to seven people to aid with the goal of acquiring a permanent home for the Museum. This finally happened in 2009 when MOCA was granted the massive structure built for the Fire Department.
-In 1994, Graham and Latané opened “Grill”, a restaurant they designed in an antique [[coffee shop]] that was renovated on Congress Street in Tucson. Graham designed a nouvelle [[New England]] menu similar to the food he served in [[Manhattan]] in the 1980s. The restaurant was open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It was an immediate success as it became the center of the literary and art scene of that college town.
-Graham began working in restaurants while still in high school in [[New York]]. First he washed dishes at the Sazerach house in [[Greenwich Village]], then he was an apprentice to Chef [[Jean-Pierre Zagou]], before he was recruited by [[Anthony Bourdain]] to be Sous Chef at [[Nikki and Kelly's]] on Columbus Ave. The two worked together for several years as they operated three restaurants.
-Graham attended the [[High School of the Performing Arts]] near [[Times Square]]. His classmates included [[Steven Webber]], [[Isaac Mizrahi]], [[Esai Morales]] and [[Ving Rhames]], among others.
-Graham is the son of James Graham, a Law Professor and Welfare Activist, and Nancy Graham, an attorney. He is the brother of [[Bernard Graham|Bernard]], a Judge in [[New York Circuit Court]], and [[Justin Graham|Justin]], an artist working for [[Industrial Light and Magic]].
-[[File:New_MOCA_Building.jpg|thumb|center|alt=Example alt text|New MOCA Building]]
-==References==
-{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
 * [http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/bot97/nonframed/people06.html Tucson Weekly]