I can think of many reasons to visit Tucson, Arizona, warmer weather would be a good reason, but also because they have a fine museum of miniatures, The Mini-Time Machine, and I am always happy to look at miniatures wherever I travel. The museum chose the name of “Time-Machine” and fashioned their displays accordingly, to take visitors on a tour of time periods and places both real and fantastical with 275 structures, room boxes and displays in more than 15,000 square feet of display space.
On January 31, and running through April 15, they are hosting an exhibit entitled ‘Shaping Arizona Statehood: The George Stuart Historical Figures of the Movement West’. The exhibit will feature 14 figures from in 1/4 scale representing 400 years of history as it applies to the discovery and settlement of the American West. This exhibition will be previewed at their fundraising gala, Vergrandis, on January 27. Latin for tiny or diminutive, Vergrandis aims to recreate the atmosphere of Arizona nearly 100 years ago, when it was on the brink of statehood, with authentic flavors and performances to be savored amidst the miniatures.
If you can’t join the festivities next Friday, stop in to visit them any time you find yourself in the area, or plan a trip to Arizona around a visit to The Mini-Time Machine. Its not the only site of miniatures in the state, the Phoenix Art Museum has 20 Thorne rooms!
