ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center relocating

In preparation for its upcoming relocation, the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center’s current location – on the northwest corner of 10th Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe – will permanently close to the public on Feb. 3.

The relocation, expected to be completed by mid-March, will move the center's existing collection, storage, library and gallery space into a newly remodeled space on the ground floor of the Brickyard at Mill, located at 7th Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe, where it will reopen as the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Center & Brickyard Gallery.

“The museum is excited to now also be amidst the movement and energy of the Mill Avenue district, and we are planning on a presence that will build on and be enhanced by the already vibrant downtown Tempe scene,” said Gordon Knox, ASU Art Museum director.

The new location, three blocks north of the existing Ceramics Research Center, will provide the museum with additional space, a more flexible floor plan and an opportunity to capture an expanded audience within the heavily trafficked Mill Avenue retail district.

“Given the necessity of relocating the Ceramics Research Center due to the planned development in Tempe Center, I'm extremely pleased that ASU found us such a great location in the heart of downtown Tempe,” said Peter Held, ASU Art Museum curator of ceramics. “The new space allows us to expand our capabilities to serve students and the public, and to grow our audience base. This move will act as a catalyst to propel the center's programming into the future.”

The Ceramics Research Center has been a national and international destination point for the hands-on study and enjoyment of ceramics since its opening in March 2002. The center, which houses and displays the ASU Art Museum’s extensive ceramic collection of close to 4,000 pieces, serves as a key educational component of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts through its teaching and research facilities.

The ASU Art Museum Brickyard will be the museum’s third presence in the Phoenix-metro area, alongside the existing ASU Art Museum at 10th Street and Mill Avenue, on ASU’s Tempe Campus, and the ASU Art Museum International Artist Residency Program, located in downtown Phoenix at Combine Studios.

Construction is currently underway at the new ASU Art Museum Ceramics Center & Brickyard Gallery, which will open its inaugural exhibition on March 21, with “Librería Donceles,” an installation by artist Pablo Helguera. Grand opening and programming details will be made available by early March.