Buckle up for a joyful ride through art history: Phoenix Art Museum’s exhibition Modern Treads: The Discount Tire Poster Collection celebrates the colorful world of vintage tire posters, and it is now on view in the Museum’s Lower Level Katz Wing through January 3, 2027.
The show brings together 15 oversized posters created between approximately 1900 and 1930, a golden age when industry giants like Michelin, Dunlop, Continental, Pirelli, and Goodyear hired talented lithographers to turn advertising into an art form. Drawn exclusively from the Collection of Discount Tire, the works burst with bold graphics, luminous color, and inventive storytelling.
Organized around four playful themes, the exhibition shows how artists helped shape the dreams of a fast-moving new century. Posters frame the tire as a symbol of freedom and exploration, rendered in styles ranging from classical antiquity to Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Impressionism. Along the way, visitors discover the surprising friendship between rubber manufacturing and modern art.
The exhibition grew from the Museum’s own archives and connects beautifully with Arizona’s love affair with the open road, arriving just in time for the Route 66 centennial celebrations. It is a perfect outing for design lovers, car enthusiasts, and families alike.
Happy City News invites readers to visit Phoenix Art Museum at 1625 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix and roll back in time with this delightful celebration of art in motion. Photo: Phoenix Art Museum
