Museum sights in Southwest
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Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
The state's best introduction to the wonder of the desert is here, at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. A cross between a zoo and an interpretive park, Tucson's must-see attraction deserves a full day of exploration and has a nice café. Javelinas (wild boars), coyotes, bobcats, snakes and just about every other local desert animal are displayed in a natural-looking outdoor setting. During summer there's a Saturday-night program where you can see the creepy crawlies who live on the night shift.
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Clark County Museum
On the valley outskirts, this humble but jam-packed museum merits a stop en route to Hoover Dam. Inside you’ll find exhibits on the history of Las Vegas as an ancient sea, Native American camp and Western frontier town. Step outside the museum onto Heritage St and walk through beautifully restored historic houses.
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Georgia O'keeffe Museum
Possessing the world's largest collection of her work, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum features the artist's paintings of flowers, bleached skulls and adobe architecture. Tours of O'Keeffe's house require advance reservations.
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Bataan Memorial Military Museum & Library
A labor of both love and war, the Bataan Memorial Military Museum & Library exhibits an unusual collection of military mementoes. It began in 1947 as a display in the state capitol honoring the 'Battling Bastards of Bataan.' Today the museum occupies the former home base of the NM 200th Coast Artillery, captured when the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942, and the very last unit to surrender.
Some 70,000 POWs, most Filipino, were forced to walk the brutal, 75-mile Bataan Death March. Of 1800 mostly Hispanic New Mexicans stationed in Bataan, only 900 returned. In addition to exhibits that tell their story, interesting examples of psychological-warfare leaflets from …
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University of Utah
The university contains two interesting museums and an arboretum. The fine Utah Museum of Natural History features gems and stones, dinosaur bones, a butterfly collection and more. The new, architecturally-intriguing Utah Museum of Fine Arts has a broad permanent collection and hosts changing exhibits in the Great Hall.
For a dose of fresh air, the Arboretum spreads beyond campus to the Red Butte Garden which is full of walking trails, water features, plant collections and outdoor sculpture.
Self-guided trail brochures are available from the Museum of Natural History. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the campus was the Olympic Village, while the Rice-Eccles Stadium held t…
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Historic Line Camp Gallery & Huichol Indian Museum
About 15 miles north of Santa Fe, the one-of-a-kind Historic Line Camp Gallery & Huichol Indian Museum is a gift shop and museum that claims the largest collection of Huichol Indian art in North America: Nearika, unbroken strands of colorful yarn coiled into tales of life and death, and chaquira, sculptures of animals covered in tiny, obsessively patterned beads, are said to depict the understandably wild dreams of the 'People of Peyote.'
Westerners didn't encounter the tribe, which lives in a remote region of the Sierra Madre, until the 1930s. The small museum has a video as well as artifacts, including clothing, musical instruments, old photos and art, but the most impr…
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UNLV Special Collections
Lots of memorabilia gets cast off in this ahistorical town. Thankfully, some of it ends up here, where it’s closely guarded and housed by the university. The Lied Library holds a pit boss’ ransom of books, photos, maps, posters, manuscripts and much more from the city’s early, hurly-burly days. The best way to pay a visit, though, is from the comfort of your own hotel room: online exhibits are free. While you’re online, also visit the virtual museum of the UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research for a photographic survey of neon on the Strip, a World Series of Poker retrospective, Rat Pack memorabilia and more.
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Taos Art Museum & Fechin Institute
This museum was home to Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, who emigrated to New York City in 1922 at age 42 and moved to Taos in 1926. Today his paintings, drawings and sculptures are in museums and collections worldwide. Between 1927 and 1933, Fechin completely reconstructed the interior of his adobe home, adding his own distinctly Russian woodcarvings. The Fechin house exhibits the artist’s private collection, including much Asian art, and hosts occasional chamber music events. Five-day watercolor, sculpture and other arts workshops are offered from May to October at the nearby ranch.
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Neonopolis
Plaques tell the story of each sign at these al-fresco galleries of restored vintage neon signs. Look for the flashy 40ft-tall chap on horseback, along with sparkling genie lamps, glowing martini glasses, 1940s motel marquees and more. For now, the biggest assemblages are found at the Neonopolis, on the 3rd St cul-de-sac just north of Fremont St and at the old fort. The permanent museum (www.neonmuseum.org) is a work in progress, although tours of its neon-sign boneyard, usually at noon and 2pm Tuesday through Friday, are available by advance reservation.
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Museum of International Folk Art
Part of a collection of four very different museums. On Museum Hill, the Museum of International Folk Art houses more than 100,000 objects from more than 100 countries and is arguably the best museum in Santa Fe. The exhibits aren’t simplistically arranged behind glass cases; the historical and cultural information is concise and thorough; and a festive feel permeates the rooms. The Hispanic wing displays religious art, tin work, jewelry and textiles from northern New Mexico and throughout the Spanish colonial empire, dating from the 1600s to the present.
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Thanksgiving Point
Fifty-five acres of gardens, a petting farm, a golf course, a giant movie theater, dining and shopping: what doesn’t the Thanksgiving Point infotainment complex have? The on-site Museum of Ancient Life (adult/child $10/8) is the highest-tech and kid-friendliest dinosaur museum in the state. Little ones can dig for their own bones, dress up a dinosaur, play in a watery Silurian reef… Interactive exhibits teach about fossils found all over the world. Take exit 287 off I-15; Lehi is 28 miles south of downtown SLC.
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Palace of the Governors
Part of a collection of four very different museum. The Palace of the Governors is one of the oldest public buildings in the country. Built in 1610 by Spanish officials, it housed thousands of villagers when the Indians revolted in 1680 and was home to the territorial governors after 1846. Since 1909 the building has been a museum, with more than 17,000 historical objects reflecting Santa Fe’s Indian, Spanish, Mexican and American heritage. Volunteers lead free, highly recommended palace tours throughout the day; call for exact times.
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Museum of Fine Arts
Part of a collection of four very different museums. The Museum of Fine Arts features works by regional artists and sponsors regular gallery talks and slide lectures. It was built in 1918, and the architecture is an excellent example of the original Santa Fe–style adobe. With more than 20,000 pieces – including collections of the Taos Society of Artists, Santa Fe Society of Artists and other legendary collectives – it’s a who’s who of the geniuses who put this dusty town on par with Paris and New York.
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Las Vegas Natural History Museum
If you’ve ever been to a really good natural-history museum in a big city, you certainly won’t be wowed by this one, but youngsters still might. A couple dozen or so stuffed exotic animals are rather weakly displayed, including in the Wild Nevada au naturel room. The junior scientist club is an interactive weekend activity workshop that’s popular with kids, as is the ginormous dinosaur gallery. Check online for upcoming events schedules and possibly two-for-one discount admission coupons for adults.
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Pueblo Grande Museum & Archaeological Park
Excavations at the Hohokam village of Pueblo Grande have yielded many clues about the daily lives of these ancient people famous for building such a well-engineered 1000-mile network of irrigation canals that some modern canals simply follow their paths. Study this fascinating culture at the small museum, then use your new knowledge to make sense of the park’s excavations, which include a ball court, a ceremonial platform and a section of the original canals.
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Pioneer Museum
A 1929 steam locomotive welcomes visitors to the Pioneer Museum, which illustrates Flagstaff’s pioneer history in photographs and an eclectic mix of memorabilia ranging from vintage farm equipment to early medical instruments to toys and dolls. Exhibits sprawl inside the old 1908 county hospital for the indigent (known as the ‘poor farm’) and a 1910 barn. Craft demonstrations take place at a 1908 cabin moved here in 1967.
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Tinkertown Museum
Located to the northeast of Albuquerque, on the eastern side of the Sandia mountains, and just a bit up Sandia Crest Rd (NM 165) from Cedar Crest, the Tinkertown Museum is an inspiring assortment of detailed towns, circuses and other scenes that come alive with a quarter. Woodcarver and wisdom collector Ross J Ward built it and surrounded it with antique toys, junque (aka fancy junk) and suggestions that you eat more mangoes naked.
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This Is the Place Heritage Park
Dedicated to the 1847 arrival of the Mor mons, This Is the Place Heritage Park covers 450 acres and marks the spot where Brigham Young uttered the fateful words, 'This is the place.' The centerpiece is Heritage Village, a living-history museum where, June through August, costumed docents depict life in the mid-19th century. Guests can wander the village at a cheaper price (adult/child $5/3) the rest of the year.
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Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
Part of a collection of four very different museums. The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture opened in 1987 to display artifacts unearthed by the Laboratory of Anthropology, which must confirm that any proposed building site in New Mexico is not historically significant. Since 1931 it has collected over 50,000 artifacts. Rotating exhibits explore the historical and contemporary lives of the Pueblo, Navajo and Apache cultures.
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Western Mining & Railroad Museum
The Wild Bunch’s only heist in Utah took place in April 1897, when the gang (which included Butch Cassidy) stole more than $8000 from Pleasant Valley Coal Company in Castle Gate, 4 miles north of Helper on Hwy 191. The little Western Mining & Railroad Museum, 8 miles north of Price, has exhibits on the outlaws, including photos, in the basement. For more, check out The Outlaw Trail, by Charles Kelly.
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Nevada State Museum
Unless you’ve got a hankering to see a stuffed Columbian mammoth or the Nevada state fossil (psst, it’s an ichthyosaur), you can skip this small historical museum. It does have one intriguing room dedicated to the modern history of Las Vegas, replete with casino memorabilia and exhibits about the Hoover Dam project and 1950s atomic testing. Look for the museum’s new-and-improved location at the Springs Preserve in 2009.
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Legends of New Mexico Museum
This independent museum spotlights the state’s most famous visitors and residents – from Billy the Kid to Bill Gates, and the Roswell aliens to Smokey Bear. When they say it’s a tribute to multiculturalism, they mean it. The marketplace on the same grounds features shops, galleries and a restaurant at which everything is either made in New Mexico or historically sold in the state.
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Arizona Museum of Natural History
Founded by Mormons in 1877, Mesa is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation and the third-largest city in Arizona with a population of around 500,000. Its main cultural attraction is the Arizona Museum of Natural History, which counts animated dinosaurs, an eight-cell territorial jail, a prehistoric Hohokam village and a replica Spanish mission among its many displays and interactive exhibits.
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New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
The teen-friendly New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science features an Evolator (evolution elevator), which transports visitors through 38 million years of New Mexico's geologic and evolutionary history. The new Space Frontiers exhibit highlights the state's contribution to space exploration, from ancient Chaco observatories to an impressive, full-scale replica of the Mars Rover.
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Site Santa Fe
An enormous, whitewashed space, the 8000-sq-ft SITE Santa Fe is a nonprofit art museum dedicated to presenting world-class contemporary art to the community. From radical installation pieces to cutting-edge multimedia exhibitions, this hybrid museum-gallery takes art to the next level. It also hosts wine-splashed openings, artist talks, movie screenings and performances of all kinds.
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