Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix

Entryway

The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona left me wishing every city had its own version.  If I lived within driving distance, I would be visiting once or twice a month.  The museum, opened in 2010,  serves as a cultural center for music and music education in the area. If you can only visit once, plan for several hours. Bring a camera (non-flash photography is allowed) and comfortable shoes, and take a break for a meal in the middle of your visit.

Air Guitar!

Like many grand museum projects, the MIM is really too large to experience fully in one visit.  The sheer expanse of instruments and accessories is mind-boggling.  The primary principle of organization is geographic, with wings devoted to different continents and countries.  There is some attention paid to showcasing music by era--turn of the 19th-20th century America in one room, the rock era next door, for example.  There are also some displays that illustrate similar instruments across cultures and time periods.  Visitors can compare bowed strings or percussion instruments, for example.  Near the entrance, an extensive guitar exhibit showcases lutes and guitars from the Middle Ages through modern times, and even includes the ever-popular Air Guitar. 

The museum also displays a few particularly famous instruments, including the piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine" and one of the giant drums used in the opening ceremonies of the Bejing Olympics.  Using the combination of technology and artifact that informs almost all the museum's displays, the Lennon exhibit provides a looping video of different artists covering "Imagine."

John Lennon wrote "Imagine" working on this piano

Drum from Bejing Olympics

Since sound is even more important here than in other museums, the MIM has pioneered a helpful and relatively easy-to-use listening mechanism.  Visitors don headgear and wear a transmitter that automatically picks up signals from the exhibits themselves. The system works well.  It's easy to forget that the music you're hearing is area-specific;  I found myself startled to lose the music I was enjoying at one station as I drifted towards another.  I also had the strange experience of picking up a strain of music while walking between exhibits, then having to search nearby stations to determine which was producing the music I just heard.


The stations themselves are, for the most part, inventive and interesting. Many rely on recent videos of native musicians playing instruments and seem to have been commissioned for this project.  There are, however, other inventive resources.  The station for Austria, for instance, illustrates traditional Austrian folk dance with a classic clip from The Sound of Music featuring Julie Andrews and Chrisopher Plummer teaching the Laendler to the Von Trapp children.  The Sousa/Band exhibit played an original newsreel of Sousa conducting a military band .

Octobasse

 The Octobasse is a popular spot for pictures.  A full octave lower than a string bass, this instrument was featured in the soundtrack for The Hunger Games.

As intriguing and crucial as the sounds are, the visual elements are also stunning.  The artistry of instrumental design pervades the museum, with intricately carved harps, magnificent bells, and even a Buck Owens flag-design guitar illustrating how artistically beautiful many instruments are to the eye as well as the ear.

Buck Owens' guitar

The Museum also includes an auditorium which is large enough for a decent crowd, yet small enough to foster a sense of intimacy between the audience and the musicians.  We attended a performance of the Stan Kenton Alumni Band here the night before our full museum visit and enjoyed a very pleasant evening and performance.  Visitors from out of town should definitely check the museum's calendar for performances or events of interest before coming to town.  You can also add their page on Facebook to receive updates and information.


The cafe was a bit crowded at lunch, but worth the wait.  Food is served cafeteria-style, but the selection is definitely more high-end than standard cafeteria fare.  The seating area overlooks the courtyard, providing a beautiful view.   I would definitely recommend a stop here as part of a full day at the museum.


The gift shop offered a collection of books about music, educational materials, and Christmas/holiday ornaments, along with a generous collection of CDs and DVDs of artists featured in MIM performances.


Finally, if you play piano and want to show off a bit, step up and play the open piano at one end of the entrance!

From the Museum Website:

 

Location
4725 E. Mayo Boulevard
Phoenix, AZ 85050

Phone: 480.478.6000 

Hours
Mon., Tue., Wed., and Sat.: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Thu. and Fri.: 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Sun.: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

MIM is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas days.  

Admission
Adults 18–64: $15.00
Seniors 65+: $13.00
Youths 6–17: $10.00
Children 5 and under: Free

Grand Canyon Museums

We visited 3 of the museums located at the Grand Canyon.  Kolb's Photography Studio, perched on the edge of the rim, chronicles the work of the Kolb brothers, pioneer photographers of the Grand Canyon.  The entrance to this museum brings visitors straight to the gift shop; in the back of the shop, a large picture window opens up a perfect view of the canyon.  Small alcoves also feature photographic equipment from the Kolb brothers' era, along with some of their prints and photos of their customers.

View of basement floor from top of stairs

Downstairs, visitors find a more comprehensive archeological and natural history museum.  Pottery, photos of archeological sites, and information about the early inhabitants of the canyon cover the robin's-egg-blue walls.  In one corner, a small screen can be started to play video footage of the Grand Canyon

The room seems to double as a sort of community center; when the wind made it impossible for  for the rangers to present their informative talk on condor re-introduction in the Grand Canyon, they moved it to this room.

From the National Park Service website:

Visit the free art exhibits in the auditorium, and shop in the bookstore. 
 Kolb Studio is located in the Village Historic District at the Bright Angel trailhead.
Open daily 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Tusayan Museum

Artifact display inside museum

The Tusayan Museum building was small, but the most interesting part of the collection was outside.  The inside was fairly dark and intimate, and had exhibits featuring artifacts and timelines, but several trails on the grounds of the museum provided a first-hand look at the types of habitats, food, and activities of the early inhabitants.  The trail makes a pleasant walk, and the posted signs explain the significance of the surroundings and the reconstructed gathering places for the early inhabitants.

From the National Park Service Website:

The Tusayan Museum  is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and is located 3 miles (5 km) west of Desert View.

Free admission.

 

Yavapai Geology Museum

 The Yavapai Geology Museum is the largest of the museums we visited here.Originally an observation station, it still features a back wall devoted to views of the Grand Canyon.  In 2007, the building was opened as a museum dedicated to geology.  Visual and interactive exhibits explain geological formations and the concept of "deep time" to help visitors understand the magnitude of the time it takes for geological formations to develop and change.

Cutaway view of the South Rim wall

Another exhibit covers the contributions of scientists and naturalists who explored and studied the geology of the area.  The central exhibit, the geological wall, seems to be featured in all the news stories and reviews of the museum.  Visitors can look at the cutaway representation of the geological layers from several different angles to get a clearer understanding of how the walls of the canyon were formed.  

One of the observation windows features a quotation from President Theodore Roosevelt etched in the glass:

"Do nothing to mar its grandeur, for the ages have been at work upon it.  Keep it for your children, your children's children, and all who come after you."

The Yavapai Geology museum is open daily 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.