Arrival: 9:00 AM
Start: 9:30 AM
Finish: 1:00 PM
Act One Seat Count – 75
This number does not reflect the number of available tickets.
1st,2nd,3rd,4th,5th,6th,7th,8th,9th,10th,11th,12th
This specially crafted field trip at Tucson Botanical Gardens offers your students an immersive experience in our newest permanent exhibition: Frida’s Garden. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is considered one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century. Her body of work, consisting of some 250 paintings and drawings, is at once intensely personal and universal in scope and relies heavily on the natural world. La Casa Azul, or the Blue House, was the birthplace, childhood home, marital household, and last place of residence of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Situated in Coyoacán, one of Mexico City’s oldest and most traditional neighborhoods, the house stands out with bright cobalt blue walls surrounding a lush, tropical garden. Here, Kahlo was born to a Mexican mother of Spanish and Native American descent, and a German father, a professional photographer with whom Kahlo was especially close. The garden, filled with a diversity of edible, tropical, culturally significant, and native Mexican plants, along with flowing water and floral scents, was the first thing Kahlo experienced when she woke up and the last thing she saw before going to sleep. The garden was a source of inspiration for her artwork, her sanctuary, an open-air classroom for students, and a studio for some of the most famous photographers of the time. While her colorful paintings and self-portraits took her around the world, Kahlo remained firmly rooted in her home country of Mexico, returning again and again to her iconic blue home in Mexico City. Through this exhibition, discover how La Casa Azul became Kahlo’s creative refuge and personal sanctuary, and immerse yourself in the plants that inspired her life and work. In addition to this re-creation of La Casa Azul, six animal sculptures that represent important influences in Kahlo’s life and work can be found throughout the Garden. For this field trip, you will need to divide your students into small groups of no more than 10 students (please note that we require a ratio of one chaperone per every 5 students). We will provide you with a scheduled timeframe for visiting the exhibition. During this timeframe, one of our education specialists will facilitate a botanical art activity for a hands-on experience with Frida, her artwork aesthetic and cultural history. In addition to the Frida’s Garden exhibit, your students will also receive a scheduled timeframe for visiting our Cox Butterfly and Orchid Pavilion’s Butterfly Magic exhibit. The greenhouse features 30 – 50 different butterfly species every day and around 100 over the course of the whole season. The butterfly species range from Costa Rica, South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Watch butterfly chrysalises hatch all season long in our Chrysalis Exhibit located at the exit of the greenhouse. The remaining time for your field trip will be self-guided and students will be provided with our Young Naturalist’s Field Journal to provide activities for interacting with the rest of our garden spaces. This includes our Great Garden Express Exhibit. Nestled among mature shade trees, and with an eight-foot waterfall cascading into a meandering stream, six G Scale model trains wind their way through an Arizona, high elevation inspired landscape. You’ll find intricate models of familiar structures from National Park favorites from across the country.