Phoenix

ATTRACTIONS

In 1929, the Heard Museum was opened in Phoenix. It was founded by Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard. It is a non-profit museum that was opened to display their own native art and artifact collection. The museum is based around learning as opposed to simply looking at art. Since it's opening in 1929, it has grown to occupy 130,000 square feet, and the exhibits in the museum have grown with its size.

When the now-famous museum first opened it was not very popular, and to get a tour visitors would ring a doorbell that rang at the Heards' personal residence, which was very close to the museum and Mrs. Heard would go to the gate and give the visitors a tour. The museum has changed in just about every aspect since it's opening, except for the personal touch of how tours are given and the broad scope of knowledge that one walks away with after a tour.

The Arizona Science Center is another very popular place to visit in Phoenix. The museum is not only a building, but also a traveling wealth of knowledge for the school children that it goes and visits. There are ever-changing exhibits as well as the permanent ones. One permanent exhibit is that of the human body. It teaches children in ways that they can understand how each part of the body works and what it does. Another exhibit that is very popular is the open laboratory. It allows visitors to experiment with magnets, friction and gravity.

The Phoenix Art Museum has everything from family events to tours that a person can do alone. The family events held are fun for everyone. One activity is when the family is given all kinds of different materials and together they get to create their own work of art. Also there is the opportunity to use Joseph Cornell's works of art to help influence your own shadow box using objects that you find. Also located in the museum are over 17,000 works of art. The exhibitions are based on everything from Contemporary Asian Art to Western American Fashion.

Another permanent exhibition is the Thorne Miniature Rooms. They are miniature rooms created by Narcissa Niblack Thorne. The rooms are exact representations of houses in both Europe and the United States. She was able to create these rooms from her collections on miniatures that she gathered throughout her travels.

The Phoenix Theatre stages are another great place to visit. There are ever-changing shows performed daily. The recently renovated Orpheum Theatre is another simply amazing place to visit in Phoenix. There are 1,364 seats in the theatre. It was originally built to show movies in 1929. J.E. Rickards and Harry Nace paid around $750,000 to build it. The Theatre has had many names and owners throughout the years. In 1985, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Theatre has had all types of shows ranging from small amateur shows to "Hello Dolly", which goes to show that there is a show here for everyone.

Not all of the attractions in Phoenix are educational. There is the Enchanted Island Amusement Park for example. Here you can do everything from ride on the carousel to go out on pedal boats or a canoe. The Encanto Carousel has been in the park for over fifty years. It was moved to Enchanted Island after the closing of Kiddieland in the 1980's. It is the oldest carousel that has been in constant use in all of Arizona. This park hosts everything from family trips to birthday parties.

The Water World Safari is a great place to go and have a good time while you cool down. There is everything from Jungle Jim's Children's' Play Pool to a six story long slide. There are also arcades for those who prefer games to play. As you can see, there is something for everybody in Phoenix. There are even several dog parks that you can even bring the family pet to play.