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Tinkertown

My kids are on Spring break this week, my husband is at a fancy art conference and so I have taken off work to hang out with the kids.
I said that we would have some "cultural literacy' activities. In our family this can mean a trip to the ballet, a play, a visit to the feed store, lunch at the Salvadoran restaurant or the Vietnamese restaurant or watching a movie that we think they should know about.
Yesterday's activity was Tinkertown . Tinkertown is a wonderful place in Sandia Park. It is the life's work of Ross Ward, sign painter, artist, collector and philosopher. Tinkertown contains his collection of carvings and folk art all set up in different displays. My description does not capture the coolnest of the place.
Ross died in 2002, but his family continues to run Tinkertown. It is an ABQ treasure.
The kids admire a wall made from bottles and an old wagon wheel.

This was my son's favorite thing, Esmeralda the Fortune Teller

My Youngest daughter liked the glow in the dark fairies in the gift shop, my oldest liked everthing.
It was a great day.

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Comment by psychomom on March 27, 2008 at 8:07pm: Esmeralda reminds me of the movie "Big". I wish I was a child again.

Comment by Adelita on March 27, 2008 at 9:28pm: When my daughter was little she used to tell me that she wanted to live in Tinkertown! It's just plain cool!

Comment by Donny Ozmund on March 27, 2008 at 9:29pm: Exactly Psychomom. Tom Hanks are you out there?

Comment by Dianne P. on March 28, 2008 at 1:43pm: we went to the maxwell museum of anthropology today. cultural literacy, indeed!

Comment by Pat O. on March 28, 2008 at 6:34pm: Ross's motto:"I did all this while you were watching TV." Great place, well worth the admission. I've visited there three times. My favorite thing there is the nickelodeon back near the sailboat (at least that's where it was the last time I visited Tinkertown with my teenish and 20ish daughters).