TRIPS participants in front of Old Main before architectural tour of UA west campus after AZ State Museum visit.
Bonnie Hyra
Eighteen Quail Creek residents journeyed to University of Arizona campus to the Arizona State Museum for a docent-led tour of the Native American exhibits. There was so much to see and learn from each of the 10 hallways of peoples. Participants were also interested in the Pottery Project which has catalogued and displayed hundreds of hand crafted pots created by the Native American tribes living in the greater Southwest over hundreds of years. The museum is the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the region and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and home to the world’s largest collections of Southwest pottery and basketry. This visit could only serve as a brief overview and will require a return trip to see it all.
After lunch at a nearby cafe the participants met inside Old Main, the newly remodeled Administrative Building. Divided into two groups, docents led the adventurers on an architectural tour of the west end of campus learning about the different architectural styles and naming of the buildings. The groups returned to Old Main, built in 1883, and its museum displays including the mineral exhibit downstairs.
Everyone felt it was a successful day filled with much learning and making new friends. TRIPS events are planned by a small committee of residents who like to explore Tucson and beyond. Trips are announced in What’s Happening and the X-tra and are open to all residents. Signups are always at the Concierge Desk.