Long-fourth dimension residents recall Phoenix equally a Western town in the desert where the closest matter to culture was a visit from traveling shows. The city came a long way since so, and today is home to world-class museums, performance venues, ballet companies, a peachy symphony, and recognized architectural features. But the new developments are not solely responsible for the city's vibrant cultural scene. Thousands of years ago, ethnic tribes made this desert their home, and their heritage helped to shape the cultural scene in the urban center as much as the new additions.

Musical instrument Museum — The just global musical musical instrument museum in the globe, the MIM displays about 68,000 instruments and related artifacts. Paying tribute to these instruments, fifty-fifty the building evokes their shape. A behemothic double bass greets visitors in the Orientation Gallery, among other instruments. From there, guests head upstairs to the Geographic Galleries where the displayed instruments, related costumes, recordings, and videos take them on a trip around the earth. A highlight of whatever visit, the Hands-On Gallery offers them the run a risk to play the instruments. Besides the galleries, the museum hosts world-class artists and concerts in its theater.

Heard Museum — Recognized for the quality of its permanent collections and temporary exhibits, the Heard Museum is an amazing museum of Native American art and culture. Its highlight is the permanent showroom called "Domicile," presenting everything that defines the abode for the ethnic people of the Southwest. Here, visitors can walk through a full-size Navajo hogan and a Hopi piki room, visit a Yaqui ramada, and examine a Pueblo oven. There are also over 400 Hopi katsina dolls, Navajo textiles, and Zuni jewelry pieces to enhance the experience for every type of visitor. Hands-on activities in the "Information technology's Your Plough" exhibit deepen the visitor'due south understanding of these cultures. Expanding beyond the Southwest, the "Effectually the World" collection displays works of Native people from other parts of the world. The museum also hosts temporary exhibits and indigenous festivals and dances.

Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park — The Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park digs deep into the history of the surface area and the people who used to telephone call it home thousands of years agone. The Hohokam, known as the culvert makers, were some of the best engineers of the aboriginal world, bringing h2o to an arid desert and making information technology habitable. Guest can start their visit with the Indoor Gallery, to learn nearly the world of the ancient culvert makers through dioramas, ancient jewelry, and pottery exhibits. Exterior the building, the archaeological site offers a walk through the remains of an ancient city, including a pit house filled with artifacts. One canal these ancient people built, visible from the terminate of the trail, is still in use today, bringing water to the metropolis.

Desert Botanical Garden — Opened in 1939, the Desert Botanical Garden showcases the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert, while providing insight into the lives and culture of the people who take chosen this arid area domicile for thousands of years. Walking the Plants and People of the Desert Trail, guests can visit aboriginal homes of Tohono O'odham, Western Apache, and Hispanic households, as well as learn about the plants locals used for food, medicine, and building cloth. Other trails include the Desert Wildflower Trail, bursting with color in leap and featuring a butterfly and hummingbird garden, and the Middle for Desert Living Trail, showing ideas for efficient and sustainable living in the desert. Likewise the outdoor trails, where the garden occasionally hosts bully exhibits, information technology is where the Schilling Library is constitute, the home of over 9,000 books focusing on the desert's native plants.

Roosevelt Row — Home to impressive murals and art galleries, Roosevelt Row is known for its fine art and cultural events. This street has been effectually even before Arizona became a country, but information technology was a seedy, dangerous neighborhood until the late 1990s when artists institute the former dilapidated buildings bonny for affordable studio space. The arts became the forcefulness behind the revitalization of the neighborhood, and today Roosevelt Row is ane of the well-nigh vibrant cultural centers of the entire land. Roosevelt Row is best-known every bit the host for ane of the nation's largest self-guided art walks every commencement Friday, where local artists showcase their piece of work.

Orpheum Theatre — Congenital in 1929, the historic Orpheum Theatre was the pride of the small town of Phoenix, every bit the only venue between Los Angeles and Denver able to host the traveling vaudeville shows. Designed in the ornate Castilian Baroque style, the intricate murals and moldings of the theatre enhanced the shows that changed weekly. Over the years, it has hosted Hollywood and Broadway celebrities, only by the early 1980s, worn and outdated, it was fix to be demolished. The metropolis of Phoenix saved it from turning into a parking lot past purchasing and renovating it in 1984. Now, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Orpheum is dorsum to being a beautiful building, hosting cracking shows. The Orpheum offers gratis tours on Tuesdays, where visitors can learn about its history and check out its stunning architecture.

Taliesin West in Phoenix, Arizona

Photograph: EQRoy/Shutterstock

Taliesin W — In the foothills of the McDowell Mountains, Taliesin West houses the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the School of Architecture at Taliesin. Building it as his winter residence, the famous builder tested structural ideas and building details here, and used them to showcase the desert environment. Wright designed the structures because environmental factors in an historic period when no one else did, and used sand from the desert washes and stone from the premises, integrating the buildings in their setting. A National Historic Landmark, Taliesin West is open up for visitors and offers tours.

Arizona Science Center — Five stories high, the Arizona Science Center features a planetarium, displays permanent and temporary science exhibits, and hosts shows in its large IMAX theater. Kids and adults alike accept fun in this museum, from exploring the human being body and mind through interactive exhibits to experiencing the world of science past playing with mechanical, electric, and electromagnetic displays. Standing in a fake hurricane, tornado, or an erupting volcano, or playing with sand, water, and current of air, guests understand the forces of nature and explore the possibilities of renewable energy around the world.

Mesa Arts Center — Arizona'southward largest multicultural art complex, the Mesa Arts Center is dwelling house to four theaters, five art galleries, and 14 fine art studios. Housed in an architecturally unique facility in Downtown Mesa, the Fine art Middle hosts major cultural events and fine art festivals throughout the year. You'll find a show at that place for all ages, from classical and jazz concerts to all types of dance, live theater, and comedy. The art galleries are domicile to the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, showcasing internationally recognized and emerging artists, while also hosting art workshops and lectures.