Children’s Museum Tucson Celebrates 40 Years
By Valerie Vinyard
While wandering through Children’s Museum Tucson on a recent Saturday morning, Benito Gonzalez held his daughter Adriana’s hand. Adriana, 4, wore angel wings on her back as part of her outfit.
“She loves the Children’s Museum,” Gonzalez said. “This is our third time coming this year.”
Opening in 1986, the Children’s Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Its expanding home in the historic Carnegie Library, near South Sixth Avenue, features 17,000 square feet with 10 indoor exhibits and an outdoor courtyard that encourages “kids to play and imagine.” Exhibits and programs are geared toward kids up to 10 years old.
Hilary Van Alsburg has been the museum’s executive director since 2019. The Flagstaff native, who graduated with a law degree from the University of Arizona in 1992, has lived in Tucson for 30 years. To add to her expansive resume, Van Alsburg is a certified elementary school teacher who ran a gallery for 10 years. In 2011, she entered development and nonprofit work.
Now it’s all about the Children’s Museum, which serves more than 200,000 visitors annually.
“The hallmark of everything we do is make sure we are focused on accessibility for everyone in the community,” Van Alsburg said. “We make sure our programs authentically reflect the community that we serve.”
Van Alsburg noted that the museum serves all of Southern Arizona, including Nogales, Douglas and Bisbee.
“It’s an important childhood experience,” she said. “Usually, it’s their first time at a museum.”
To commemorate the 40th anniversary, a Tree of Life mural designed by Jeff Christensen of Maggie Mae Mosaics was installed in the main courtyard. And that’s not all that is new at the museum.
“We are in the middle of an expansion,” Van Alsburg said. “We are working very much on investing in downtown.”
As part of that, the Children’s Museum purchased the 13,000-square-foot building next door for just under $3 million in 2023; it invested an additional $2 million to create spaces for administration, after-school programs and birthday parties. Angel Charity for Children selected the museum as its beneficiary in 2024, contributing a $1 million Impact Grant.
“It created a much wider space for school kids. . .it expanded all of the programming” said Van Alsburg, noting that plans also include a café and gift shop, restroom improvements and updates of all the exhibits.
So far, Van Alsburg said about $5 million of the $15 million needed for the renovations has been raised. The museum’s yearly budget is $3 million.
“We’ve created our home in Downtown Tucson,” she said. “Downtown is booming and thriving; it’s great to be able to be here.”
North Carolina resident Sarah Denoto agrees. She was checking out the exhibits with her daughter and grandchildren, 18-month-old Harper and 4-year-old Harrison.
“I think this is perfect for children,” Denoto said. “Children love to touch everything, and it’s very interactive. They can touch, they can see, and they can explore.”
Van Alsburg touted the variety of exhibits throughout the museum.
“I think what’s special is we’re intentionally screen-free,” she said. “It’s families engaging in play. You get to come in, and it’s not hard to see that kids can come in and touch everything.”
The museum is also a family affair for Sara Platter and her husband, Quinton, and their 2-year-old son, Daniel. The Sahuarita residents returned after a visit several weeks prior when Daniel had especially loved crawling inside the ambulance and fire truck.
Platter noted that she frequently visited the museum herself as a child.
“It was one of my favorite places to come to when I was a kid,” she said. “It’s generations of fun.”
What:
Children’s Museum Tucson
Where:
200 S. Sixth Ave.
Hours:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays;
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays
Cost:
$12.50. Half-price admission after 3 p.m.
every weekday during MyTime;
free from 5-7 p.m. on Thursdays
for Discovery Nights.
Art after Dark is held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month;
admission is pay-what-you-wish.
Other discounts are available for military families and families with SNAP or WIC cards.
Information: (520) 792-9985 or
Photo courtesy Children’s Museum Tucson
