ASU Art Museum reopens Aug. 20, launches new experimental initiative

ASU Art Museum will reopen to the public on Thursday, Aug. 20. During the temporary hiatus, staff has been working diligently to plan for the safe return of visitors to the museum, which closed to the public in March.

To ensure well-being, new guidelines based on ASU and city policy have been created for everyone’s health and safety. New procedures include free, timed-entry tickets via Eventbrite, face coverings required for entry, social distancing measures and enhanced cleaning procedures. Visit the museum website for free tickets and details on what you need to know before visiting.

The opening will begin with a Limpia y Bendición (Cleansing and Blessing) with Phoenix-based curandera (healer) Patricia Federico at 10:30 a.m. This is a 45-minute, outdoor program honoring our students’ return to campus and is also open to the public.

Attend: Reserve your free tickets for the Limpia y Bendición event online. 

Afterward, book your entry ticket to the museum for a special one-day screening of “Border Brujo'' (1990), by Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Isaac Artenstein. In this classic three-hour performance captured on film, Gómez-Peña explores the spaces of collision between Mexican and American cultures alongside concepts of hybridity, spirituality and resistance.

Visit: Reserve your free timed-entry ticket to the museum online.

Both the Limpia y Bendición and the screening are part of the museum’s new initiative, Pilot Projects — a museumwide initiative comprising adaptive and responsive strategies for the “new normal.” Arising from the pandemic along with a nationwide call for museums to address racial and social justice within their walls, Pilot Projects serves as a vehicle that lets art and artists represent the issues of our time. 

Image courtesy of Patricia Federico

“While our museum has already had a long-standing commitment to social justice, this particular moment urges us to think and pilot a series of tactics that can lead to innovative solutions,” said ASU Art Museum Director Miki Garcia. “From the beginning of our hiatus, we quickly pivoted and asked ourselves: How do we embrace new methodologies within the digital world, and make authentic connections through art and storytelling in the cultural climate in which we find ourselves?”

Exhibitions on view at the museum include the Michael Sherrill Retrospective, For the Animals: Tania Candiani, Part II  and Look to Nature: Toshiko Takaezu, as well as Pilot Projects: Art.Response.Now. Visit asuartmuseum.asu.edu/programs-and-events to learn more about upcoming virtual exhibition opening receptions and more. 

In 2020-21, watch out for digital programming through our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Spotify; learn more about upcoming educational events, such as Masterpieces at Midday, Get Weird and Couch. Coffee. Culture.; and attend artist interventions and performances.

For more information on the museum, visit asuartmuseum.asu.edu.