ARIZONIQUES

ARIZONIQUES MUSEUM SHOPPING

What possibly could be unique about the opening of another museum? For the Old Pueblo Museum, which opened in Tucson last winter, it was the location. The museum was built in the heart of a shopping mall.

The owners of the Foothills Center were looking for ways to increase traffic through the mall, and Don Baker, who manages Foothills, came up with the idea of a museum. He invited David Rupert, former director of the IBM Gallery of Science and Art, to carry out the challenge of bringing art, natural history, and archeology to a setting in which more and more Americans are spending their leisure time the shopping mall.

And the idea has worked phenomenally well-for both mall and museum. In the first 21 weeks, 95,691 people visited the museum, and sales in the mall stores increased more than 20 percent.

Actually it's no wonder. The Old Pueblo Museum is near-irresistible. The architecture of the entrance includes a massive copper wall tinted with a patina of green and gold, a water stair splashing into a pool surrounded by granite slabs, and a ceiling mural depicting a Southwestern sky with colors ranging from those of a clear day to the somber hues of a threatening storm. (You can even push a button and call up lightning!) The overall effect is magnetic, drawing visitors right into the museum itself. Inside, the 5,000 square feet of exhibit space provide for a subterranean mineral display on loan from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as well as emphasis on natural history and archeology. Displays in the Changing Exhibition Gallery upstairs focus on the art, culture, science, and natural history of the Southwest. Other attractions include an audiovisual theater with multi-image slide shows, a guide to cultural activities in the Tucson area, and a cafe.

massive copper wall tinted with a patina of green and gold, a water stair splashing into a pool surrounded by granite slabs, and a ceiling mural depicting a Southwestern sky with colors ranging from those of a clear day to the somber hues of a threatening storm. (You can even push a button and call up lightning!) The overall effect is magnetic, drawing visitors right into the museum itself. Inside, the 5,000 square feet of exhibit space provide for a subterranean mineral display on loan from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as well as emphasis on natural history and archeology. Displays in the Changing Exhibition Gallery upstairs focus on the art, culture, science, and natural history of the Southwest. Other attractions include an audiovisual theater with multi-image slide shows, a guide to cultural activities in the Tucson area, and a cafe.

Admission is free at the the Old Pueblo Museum at Foothills Center, located approximately three miles east of Interstate Route 10 on Ina Road at La Cholla Boulevard. For more information, telephone 742-7191.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

School starts at the end of this month, and Arizona boasts one of the more impressive school districts in the nation: Maricopa Community College District, serving the metropolitan center of the state. As the third largest community college system in the United States (only those of Chicago and Los Angeles are larger), MCCD yearly enrolls 100,000 students in credit courses and an additional 25,000 in noncredit classes. Enrollment has grown by 10,000 in the last six years. The district employs 750 full-time faculty and an additional 2,500 professionals and specialists as part-time instructors.

Enrollment in all of Arizona's colleges and universities amounts to approximately 7.5 percent of the state's population, giving it the second highest college participation (following California) in the country. Nearly 40 percent of Maricopa County high school students go directly to one of the seven Maricopa community colleges.

ARIZONA'S SMALL WORLD

Phoenix is no longer a miniature city; but it is a city of miniatures. Within the metropolitan area, you'll find outstanding examples of smallscale rooms, miniature shops and shows, and a number of nationally known specialists creating their diminutive works of art. All this leads collectors to rate Phoenix with Chicago and Washington, D. C., as one of America's top three centers of "miniature" interest and activity.

Although the miniature furniture, appointed rooms, and entire landscaped buildings look as if they were made for dolls, tiny sizes mean anything but tiny prices. Phoenix artist John Masterman's swirled mahogany and burl-wood miniature furniture brings from $40 to $4,000 per piece. A miniature house designed and built by several area decorators lists for $40,000. For a close-up look at some of the world's finest miniature works of art, visit the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave., and view the Thorne Rooms, sixteen period rooms in miniature, displayed in their own darkened gallery. And if you would like to buy some tiny treasures or the materials to build your own, retail dealers are listed in the Metro Phoenix Yellow Pages directory under "Miniature Items for Collectors." -Mary Durland Fields

SMOKIS HONORED

Two of the better known Smokis (pronounced smoke-eyes)-poet Gail Gardner and former U. S. Senator Barry Goldwater-recently received bronze sculptures modeled after the pair as young Smoki dancers. The 12-inch-tall bronzes, part of a limited edition of 25, were sculptured by Prescott artist Pat Haptonstall.

The Smoki People of Prescott, whose organization is part fraternal lodge, part little theater, and part anthropology club and dates back to 1921, annually perform a repertoire based on dances and rituals of various Native American tribes in a spectacular evening pageant. This year's performance begins at sundown on Saturday, August 8. Telephone 445-2000.

FIRST OF ITS KIND

Don Smith's painting of two serene pintail ducks on a placid pond grace Arizona's "First of State" duck stamp, which sells for $5.50 and must be purchased by the state's waterfowl hunters. Meanwhile, art collectors are expected to snap up the limited-edition prints of the same painting, available for $175 or in special combinations and premium packages at prices up to $750. The quality of the art, an exceptional investment opportunity (the value of Alaska's duck stamp print appreciated 125 percent in one year), and a chance to support wildlife preservation make such editions extremely popular.

And proceeds from sales will help develop and improve waterfowl habitat within the state. For information on purchasing the stamp, call the Arizona Game and Fish Department, (602) 9423000. To order prints (deadline is August 30, 1987), call National Wildlife Galleries, 1-800-382-5768; or Voyageur Art, 1-800328-4132.

CALENDAR

August 1 and 2, Sonoita. Celebrate the year's grape harvest at Sonoita's annual Wine Festival. Telephone 455-5553.

August 1 and 2, Holbrook. The Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest draws the finest performers from Arizona and New Mexico for the regional championship competition. Telephone 524-6407.

August 1 and 2, Flagstaff. The Navajo Craftsmen Exhibition, Museum of Northern Arizona. The finest in Navajo jewelry, weaving, paintings, and sculpture-with demonstrations of the various crafts. Telephone 774-5211.

August 1 through 23, Tucson. Travel, history, and science combine at the Flandrau Planetarium as "Egypt's Eternal Skies" explores 4,000 years of astronomically related religions, myths, and legends. Telephone 621-4515.

August 8 and 9, Flagstaff. The Festival in the Pines includes live entertainment, a wide variety of ethnic foods, children's events, and more than 175 juried arts and crafts booths. Telephone 774-4505.

August 8 and 9, Prescott. The Mountain Artists Guild Art Show displays works of many of the Prescott area's professional artists at the Courthouse Plaza. Telephone 445-2510.

August 14 through 16, Payson. The "World's Oldest Continuous Rodeo," and one of Arizona's friendliest, attracts top cowboys and cowgirls to the cool pines. Don't miss the parade the morning of the 15th. Telephone 474-4515.

August 15, Jerome. The town's Historical Society Symposium includes presentations on many colorful aspects of this former copper-mining boomtown turned arts center. Also featured is a photographic display from the society's archives. Telephone 634-7349.

August 28 and 29, Springerville. Valle Redondo Days enlivens Round Valley with a country fair and lots of live entertainment, including a fiddlers' contest. Telephone 334-4734.

August 30, Tucson. The Arizona Historical Society hosts La Fiesta de San Agustin, commemorating the founding of Tucson in 1775: mariachis, folk dances, rope and horsemanship exhibitions, a street dance, specialty food and beverage booths, and exhibits. Telephone 628-5774.

For a more complete calendar, free of charge, please write the Arizona Office of Tourism, Department CE, 1480 East Bethany Home Road, Phoenix, 85014. Unless otherwise noted, all telephone numbers are within area code 602.