Alan
Have you ever heard of a museum on wheels? I have: It was at my school!
It’s called the Arts Mobile, which is a miniature museum that comes to you instead of you going to it. It features different cultures at every visit. On my most recent visit, I saw Native American art from the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui tribes. The exhibits were separated by a small, adobe room.
I like the Pascua Yaqui side, but I especially liked the Adobe Room, which had a lot of items made of straw – including my favorite, the Man in the Maze.
Throughout the Arts Mobile, I saw a variety of baskets. From tiny baskets to a large wine basket, from burden baskets to a straw bowl, baskets were all over the place.
The first room you go into is the Tohono O’odham side. You will probably smell the odor of the saguaro fruit in the first exhibit. Right before you go into the Adobe Room, you might find a long, black stick with lots of X’s, dots and squares. This is called a calendar stick, which the O’odham used to keep track of their month, day or year.
The Adobe Room is filled with items made of straw. There were animals made of straw, like a cat and a turtle. There are also a few Man in the Mazes in the Adobe Room, which is also where the majority of the baskets are.
Apart from the things made of straw, I saw a sculpture of a witch named Ho’ok from Native American legend. Although it is a great story, I’d rather not tell it, for I do not want to scare you. This sculpture is one of the main examples of how the Native Americans used nature in their art, because the base of the sculpture is really a saguaro rib.
When I went to the Pascua Yaqui side, my eyes had to adjust to the color. It had much brighter colors than the Adobe Room and the Tohono O’odham side combined. There were flowers all over the place. Besides a mannequin (cardboard statue) carving a mask, there was a mannequin band playing real instruments covered with flowers.
I had a wonderful experience looking at art, sculptures and much more. Maybe the Arts Mobile will come to your school, too!
———
PROMOTING LITERACY THROUGH JOURNALISM
The Tucson Citizen is in partnership with Bear Essential News, Domino’s Pizza and KVOA to promote literacy through journalism.