ASU Art Museum — Attraction in Tempe

@asuartmuseum as my 10th visit to university museums in The United States 🇺🇸 during my Fulbright research of audience engagement in US university museums. And as always - I am amazed! There are several elements which I really appreciate, starting with very welcoming staff at the front desk and the question ,,Have you been here before” - this is something I have never heard in the Czech/ European university museums and it is such a pity. Just from the reactions of the visitors you can say they really appreciate saying it’s their first time so they need a proper navigation to truly enjoy the museum. The quality of exhibition design invites you to become part of it by using different media and interactive elements. Except of the participative stations within exhibitions, you can wrap up and reflect on your experience in a workshop room, where you can either just relax and read some books or follow workshop activities connected to the content of the museum exhibitions and collection. Last but not least you can find a meditation iPads with different exercises to calm your mind and become more aware of your emotions. The museum offers plenty of places to sit down, relax and reflect on what you just saw - indoors but also outdoors as they invite you to the terrace filled with sculptures and seating places! What an experience! Thank you Check out my research and findings at the instagram account...

There's a small parking lot on 10th and Mill with about 10-ish spots and there's accessible parking too. From there, you can take the stairs or elevator down to the museum entrance. The museum itself also has accessible elevators. Admission is free and as others have notes just note your license plate number so they can vouch you for 2 hours- you'll most likely just spend about 2 hours here anyways.

There's 3 stories of exhibits and the exhibits are a bit sparse- interpreted with the occasional interpretive signs to read. On the first floor, there was a section showcasing one artist's work, and there were some sofas to lounge on. Another room had some other works of art dedicated to another theme. From the first floor- there are two stairs. Note- depending on which stair-side you take- you'll see a different exhibit room on the second floor- so don't miss out. I really liked their rodeo exhibit and contemporary "spiral art" room both separately on the 2nd floor areas. Then on the 3rd floor, there's an exhibit on Japanese art and bowls/cups. They also had an outdoor area you could walk but not much to see.

For a free museum, it's decent. Though not much to see, the architecture and cleanliness of this building, and the variety of artwork made it fun to...

The perfect introduction I needed to art. It was my first art museum visit ever and I didn't know what to expect but I went in with an open mind.

After pushing back the nerves I would get talked down to by someone who knows about a high brow topic, I ended up speaking at length with Kevin about art because I didn't understand why some of the pieces were good. After a crash course, he gave me a tour and was able to explain everything so incredibly well in a way I could understand why what I saw as just a strange drawing was up on a wall and the process it took to get there after the museum decided to put it there.

Kevin made it into one of the most unique, informative, and interesting...