THE MINI TIME MACHINE MUSEUM OF MINIATURES

By Beverly Medlyn

Patricia Arnell felt the power of miniatures to transport viewers to different places and times through the stories they tell.

Imagine an elegant lady and two dogs in a three-story French Chateau, miniature Civil War military figures on the battleground, and fanciful fairy houses for sprites in the Southwest desert.

These scenes and more are on display at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures — founded by Patricia and Walter Arnell in 2009. Visitors may immerse themselves in amazing new worlds — real or imagined.

“In our current situation, when many people may be feeling weary or anxious, this sort of escape that miniatures offer is even more appealing,” says Gentry Spronken, the museum’s associate director and director of marketing and communications.

The museum at 4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive in Tucson was closed for 18 weeks due to the pandemic, reopening July 29. The revenue loss had a “crushing impact” on the nonprofit’s budget, Spronken says. But the closure gave staff the opportunity to develop programs for an online audience, populate its collection database, perform maintenance on artifacts and adjust the upcoming exhibition schedule.

Now the museum is open with timed-ticket admissions available online allowing the museum to limit the number of people in the galleries and offer ample space for physical distancing.

Over the coming year, the museum will present more than 10 temporary exhibitions offering further opportunity to retreat into worlds of wonder, Spronken says.

This fall, The Whimsical Village of Medow displays more than a dozen hand-crafted, whimsical miniature dwellings designed and created by Sedona-based wood sculptor Mike Medow.

19th Century Ladies’ Fashion depicts the changing shape of women’s gowns, with silhouettes evolving from loose-fitting voluminous fabric to a more structured shape–sometimes mimicking menswear.

A Wee Winter Wonderland features 15 miniatures depicting holidays around the world and through time, including an Edwardian Christmas and a Southwest animals’ motorcycle gang.

In spring 2021, the exhibition In the Eye of a Needle: Micro Miniatures by Flor Carvajal will astonish viewers with its microscopic wonders. And the upcoming Atomic Miniatures will be a blast from the past featuring mid-century modern miniatures made by Chicago-based miniaturist Michael Yurkovic.

Spronken encourages community members to support the museum however they can — purchasing tickets, buying a membership, shopping in the gift shop or making a donation.

For more, visit theminitimemuseum.org.