museum is divided into four quadrants, a number with special significance to the Navajo. The Heard Museum in Phoenix’s arts district showcases the cultural heritage of Native peoples – it’s a must-see introduction to the founding heritage and art of the Southwest. Indoor and outdoor galleries show innovative programs, festivals, music, dance and world-class Native American fine art. The Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix sits at the 1,500-year-old ruins of a prehistoric Hohokam village. Visitors can walk the ruin trails, see an excavated ball court and view reproductions of Hohokam homes.
The influence of the state’s earliest Native residents is reflected in Arizona’s love for designs that integrate function with the surrounding environment. Some of America’s pre-eminent architects – Frank Lloyd Wright, Mary Jane Coulter – made the Arizona desert their homes, drawn by the inspiration of the landscape and the ancient cultures. Frequently called “the greatest American architect of all time,” Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home, Taliesin West, at the foot of the McDowell
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Built On Native Foundations
Mountains is now headquarters of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Tours allow the public to experience Wright’s craftsmanship and learn about the famous architect’s philosophies and theories of design. Wright influenced the architecture of Phoenix and Scottsdale, leaving his mark on several buildings in the valley area. Along historic Route 66, in Winslow, an architectural treasure described as “the last great railroad hotel” has been rated by Condé Nast Traveler as one of the best places in the world to stay. With its sustainable desert gardens and awardwinning Turquoise Room restaurant, La Posada is the hacienda-style masterpiece of famed American architect Mary Jane Colter. Colter’s design touch also shaped several of the National Park Service landmark hotels and structures along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Considered a work of art, the luminous Mission San Xavier del Bac (“White Dove of the Desert”) is one of the country’s finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture. A National Historic Landmark, it’s distinctive for its two-metre thick walls of adobe brick and interior decorations of paintings, statuary and murals.
800-456-4000 • countryinns.com
Welcome to A Whole New Country. We’ll welcome you with freshly baked cookies, a free hot breakfast and our own Read It & Return Lending LibrarySM. Visit countryinns.com/canada for discounted rates and see why we’ll have you saying, “I love this Country.” Free high-speed Internet • Shuttle service
Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Mesa, AZ 6650 E. Superstition Springs Boulevard • Mesa, AZ 85206 800-456-4000 • 480-641-8000
51 Canadian Traveller
September 2011
Arizona
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