Celebrate International Museum Day at ASU


Every spring, for the past 34 years, museums around the world have celebrated May 18 as International Museum Day.

Museums celebrate on that day, or close to it, with special exhibitions and events, and there’s a theme each year. This year’s is “Museum and Memory.”

Arizona State University’s museums, galleries and collections join in the celebration each year with an open house and special tours sponsored by the Museums, Galleries & Collections Committee.

This year’s event at ASU’s Tempe campus is May 18. The schedule is as follows:

9 a.m. – Information table opens behind Old Main.

10 a.m. – Center for Meteorite Studies, Bateman Physical Sciences Center C wing, Room 139. Host: Michelle Minitti.

11 a.m. – Archaeological Research Center, Tempe Center Room 165. Host:  Kim Savage. (Next door to passport office.)

Noon – ASU Museum of Anthropology, at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. Host: Peter Banko.

1 p.m. – School of Life Sciences Herbarium, Life Sciences Center C-352. Hosts: Leslie Landrum and Elizabeth Makings.

2 p.m. – Mars Space Flight Facility, Moeur Building First Floor. Host: Meg Hufford.

3 p.m.  – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbital Camera Gallery, Interdisciplinary A Building, North wing, first floor. Host: Wendy Taylor.

Many of the campus’s other museums, galleries, and collections will be open to visitors that day.

International Museum Day is sponsored by the International Council of Museums, an international non-governmental associated founded in 1946. ICOM maintains formal relations with UNESCO.

The aim of International Museum Day is to increase public awareness of the role of museums in developing society.

This year’s theme, “Museum and Memory,” was chosen because, according to ICOM, “Museums preserve memories and tell stories. They have in their collections numerous objects that are fundamental to the memory of the communities we live in.

“These objects are the expression of our natural and cultural heritage. Many of them are fragile, some endangered, and they all need special care and conservation. International Museum Day 2011 will be an opportunity to discover and rediscover your individual and collective memory.”

For more information on ASU’s International Museum Day celebration, contact Karrie Porter Brace, Karrie.Porterbrace@asu.edu, or (480) 965-4925.

For parking information at the Tempe campus, go to http://www.asu.edu/map/interactive/.