DESTINATION Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block

destination TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART and HISTORIC BLOCK Frames Area Culture

THE PERFECT FRAME FOR A PAINTING CAN make the difference in a viewer's responsewhether a momentary appreciation of a welldefined scene or a pondering of beads of sweat hanging like crystals on a stallion's flank. the Gadsden Purchase of 1854 made the town part of the United States. The museum entrance on Main brings visitors to the Edward Fish and Hiram Stevens houses, built between 1865 and 1868, possibly on the footings of the presidio wall. The front doors of each house still face the street, but the original porches and patios adorning the rear of the houses, with the necessary corrals and feed stalls beyond, were removed long ago as styles and needs changed.

The lots along Main Avenue, bordering the block on the west, became prime real estate for Tucson's most influential pioneer families after Edward and Maria Fish raised three children while working to establish Tucson's educational system and its first Protestant church. Fish helped found the Arizona Historical Society and served on the City Council. As the Goodman Pavilion of Western Art, the Fish House-which once welcomed Tucson's society and entertained prominent BELOW The youngest of five historic properties leased to the Tucson Museum of Art by the City of Tucson, the J. Knox Corbett House, completed in 1907, was the scene of activity for generations of the city's finest society guests like President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes and General George Crook and his officers-now hosts the museum's Western American art collection and exhibitions. Indians and cowboys in ancient and modern perspectives and landscapes of yellow grasslands and blue mountains grace the Fish House's thick adobe walls. High ceilings of vigas and ocotillo ribs harken to the days when the paintings' subjects would more likely be passing by than adorning the walls as pictures.

The Fishes' neighbors, Hiram Stevens and his wife, Petra Santa Cruz Stevens, built their home on an empty lot they purchased for $50 in 1865. Three generations of the Santa Cruz family had watched their Mexican village grow into a town, now part of Arizona Territory. Petra's sister, Atanacia, married Sam Hughes, another prominent Tucson pioneer. Elected twice to the U.S. Congress, Stevens entertained government officials in his home, furnished handsomely through his trips to Washington, D.C.

Known as the museum's Palice Pavilion, the Stevens House displays pre-Columbian art produced by Indians of the Americas before the Spanish conquest and a Spanish Colonial and Latin American folk art collection with works dating from 1492. The diverse exhibits range from obscure pieces, created to accompany the dead in their tombs, to meticulously embroidered fabric stitched into fine clothing, as well as utilitarian vessels and furniture made into art through brilliant coloring and fine sculpting. The rooms of the house, however, remain basically the same as when Hiram and Petra called them home.

Just north of these Territorial adobe homes, J. Knox Corbett and his wife Elizabeth Hughes Corbett built on the lot given to them by Elizabeth's aunt, Petra Stevens, after Hiram's death. Completed in 1907, the home's sophisticated Mission Revival style reflects the changes Tucson saw with the 1880 arrival of the railroad and the greater availability of goods and materials from far away. Craftsman-style wood trims line the interior of the spacious brick house designed for lavish dinner parties Corbett served as postmaster for 23 years and mayor for one term. During his term, he initiated the city manager form of government that directs Tucson today. His son, Hiram, known as “Hi,” served six terms as a state senator. The home's furnishings represent the generations of Corbetts who lived there while contributing to the growth of Tucson and Arizona.

Across the Plaza of Pioneers, with shade trees and a splashing fountain, the restored La Casa Cordova flanks the west side of the block. Perhaps the oldest remaining Tucson residence, La Casa and its authentic furnishings replicate a Mexican home from Tucson's early history, complete with a patio that generally served as

THINGS TO DO NEAR THE HISTORIC BLOCK

Area codes are 520.

ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM Organized by the pioneers of Tucson, the society preserves and shares state history from ancient Indian villages to early statehood. The museum exhibits intrigue visitors of all ages; 628-5774.

ARIZONA STATE MUSEUM The museum bills itself as "the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the Southwest." Founded in 1893, exhibits explore the cultures of prehistoric, historic and contemporary Indian tribes of Arizona; 621-6302.

CAFE POCA COSA Come here to savor food inspired by southof-the-border flavors. The unusual and diverse menu changes every day; 622-6400.

EL CHARRO Tucsonans have flocked to El Charro for Mexican cuisine since it opened in 1922; 622-1922.

GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE On a battlefield during World War I, wounded Felix Zucero vowed to dedicate his life to the creation of religious statues. His lifesize sculptures of The Last Supper occupy a tiny park at the northeast corner of West Congress Street and Bonita Avenue, just west of downtown.

LA COCINA The tree-shaded patio offers a cool spot for a restful lunch of Southwestern inspired cuisine; 622-0351.

OLD TOWN ARTISANS Shops clustered inside adobe buildings dating from the 1800s offer Southwestern arts and crafts and a unique shopping environment; 623-6024.

SOSA-CARILLO-FREMONT HOUSE MUSEUM The restored home where Arizona's fifth governor, John C. Fremont, resided briefly in 1881 represents the life of a wealthy Tucson family in the 1880s; 622-0956.

TUCSON CHILDREN'S MUSEUM Games, experiments and discoveries, especially for children 2-11 years old, fill the 1901 Carnegie library building; 792-9985.

corral, chicken coop, laundry and garden. In the oldest rooms, built in about 1850, hand-forged nails hold mesquite lintels over the doors. Laundry bluing, an upgrade added during later years, colors the walls of the 1879 room additions.

Adjacent to La Casa Cordova stands the modern building that houses the museum's main galleries. Its placement on the property was designed to "enhance the historic buildings on the block but not to copy them," according to board meeting minutes of 1974. Visitors stroll through the several exhibit areas on a circular walkway, gradually descending the building's three floors. The state-of-the-art galleries host many diverse traveling exhibitions each year and display pieces from the museum's permanent contemporary art collection.

After a leisurely walk through a wealth of history and art, visitors browse the Museum Shop, as fascinating as any exhibit with its colorful stock of regional craft items and fine art available for purchase. Plan to be hungry and dine at the sunlit Cafe a' la C'Art on the Plaza of the Pioneers, which serves luscious weekday lunches. At the information desk, pick up a map for a self-guided walking tour of the historic neighborhood surrounding the museum block, where the evolution of residential architecture in Tucson, so closely linked to history and culture, lines the streets. Plan to spend a whole day enjoying the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block. It offers a fine blend of old and new, of Old Pueblo history and art embracing. AH LOCATION: 111 miles from Phoenix. Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, 140 N. Main Ave., Tucson.

HOURS: Monday-Saturday, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Sunday, noon to 4 P.M.

FEES: General admission $5; seniors $4; students $2; free, children under 12. Sundays are free family days.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (520) 624-2333; www.tucsonarts.com.