"We Love ASU Collections" Open House

Open House 2008
Monday, February 18th

Kids of all ages are invited to come to ASU and enjoy a day of exploration and discovery at our annual Open House. Our collections are from all around the world, and some are even from outer space! Come experience our beautiful campus, and you'll see why we LOVE our ASU collections!

A variety of presentations will be offered throughout the day. Visitors are encouraged to begin their day at the Welcome table location at the Old Main building, to pick up a map and tour guide and enjoy lite refreshments. Parking is available in the Fulton Center parking structure located on the northeast corner of University Dr. and Forest Avenue (fees apply). This event is free and open to the public.

See Map for Fulton Center Parking Structure, just North of the Old Main building, Tempe campus

Download event flyer

This event has been generously sponsored by the ASU Alumni Association and the Arizona State Credit Union.

May Museum Day 2009
Date will be announced soon!

Next Tour:

Mars Space Flight Facility
Apr 22, Noon - 1pm

Exhibit Openings

Artist Exhibition Openings
ASU Art Museum
Spring 2009

More openings >>

Center for Meteorite Studies

9:30 - 10:30 am

See meteorites from one of the world’s largest and best collections. Home to specimens from over 1,500 separate meteorite falls, the Center’s collection is actively used for geological and space-oriented research by scientists at ASU and throughout the world.

Planetarium

10:00 - 11:00 am

The Planetarium focuses on what role the sky plays in societies and the individual. Along with general sky identification programs, there are specialized presentations about the Titanic, Moby Dick and the top 10 photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Harry Wood Gallery

10:30 - 11:30 am

Will feature the exhibit field notes. by Mary C. Lyverse, Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition in Drawing.

Museum of Anthropology

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Will present a small exhibit of ASU Museum of Anthropology collection artifacts, including a variety of textiles. Visitors will be encouraged to interact with the objects to discover the connections created with particular objects that bring meaning to their visitor experience.

Graduate Student Center Gallery

11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Will feature the exhibit Three Years, which includes a series of digitally manipulated drawings by Marco Rosichelli, a graduate student in the ASU sculpture program.

Luhrs Gallery

12:00 - 1:00 pm

Will feature the exhibit, "Desert Diamonds: Arizona's Favorite Pastime," about the history of baseball in the Southwest, and includes photographs, sports ephemera, uniforms, equipment and artifacts related to baseball from Territorial times through last year's ASU participation in the College World Series.

Arizona Historical Foundation

12:30 - 1:30 pm

“Murder & Mayhem: The Strange Saga of Winnie Ruth Judd”

Was Arizona’s famous “Trunk Murderess” Winnie Ruth Judd guilty, or insane, or did she shoot in self-defense? This exhibit includes more than 100 original photos of the Winnie Ruth Judd saga that began on Oct. 16, 1931, when Judd shot her two friends and former roommates, Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson, and ended up taking their bodies in trunks on the train to Los Angeles. One trunk had Samuelson’s cut-up body. The trunks leaked blood, and the police were called when the train got to Union Station. Arizona Historical Foundation photo preservationist Rebekah Tabah discovered the photos from Judd’s trial in a dusty box in the Foundation’s storage room. There were no notes, so the donor, as well as the truth about what really happened on Oct. 16, remain a mystery.

Step Gallery

1:00 - 2:00 pm

An exhibition of School of Art student work curated by Herberger College MFA student, Maria Michails-Posidis, concerning the concept of sustainability.

Mars Space Flight Facility

1:30 - 2:30 pm

The Mars Space Flight Facility supports the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) Experiment on the Mars Global Surveyor Spacecraft and the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) Experiment on the Mars Odyssey Spacecraft. Additionally, the Mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) is on each of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The facility also houses the ASU Mars Education Program, which provides opportunities for teachers and students to join in the excitement of Mars exploration.

Gallery 100

2:00 - 3:00 pm

BFA Group exhibition featuring students who will be graduating with a degree in Sculpture in the ASU Herberger College School of Art.

Archeaological Research Institute

2:30 - 3:30 pm

The Archaeological Research Institute was established in 1995 as a unit of Arizona State University to undertake the preservation of archaeological materials and related data, to pursue research activities associated with the archaeological record, and to conduct educational programs to disseminate knowledge of the past to Arizona’s citizens. ARI encourages and facilitates Native American involvement and training in curation management and museum operation.

Plant Herbarium

3:00 - 4:00 pm

The Vascular Plant Herbarium houses over 250,000 dried, pressed plant specimens collected from the 1800s to the present. Visitors will see the collections and learn how the plants are preserved, curated and used in research today.

Self-Guided Tours available for these Museums & Collections

Life Sciences Living Collection

Self-Guided Tour anytime
between 9:00am - 5:00 pm

See a variety of reptile displays, including the only complete living collection of all eighteen sub-species of Arizona native rattlesnakes. Located in the halls of the A wing, take a self-guided tour of the many living snakes and reptiles housed within.

Old Main

Self-Guided Tour anytime between 9am - 5pm

Completed in 1898, Old Main holds rich tradition for ASU and the state. Through a $5.7 million campaign, the Alumni Association refurbished the landmark to the period of its construction. Today it serves as a place where alumni can always return. ASU memorabilia and archives are on display for viewing throughout the building.

R. S. Dietz Museum of Geology

Self-Guided Tour anytime
between 9:00am - 12:30 pm

Minerals, gems, fossils from around the world, the only active seismograph in central Arizona, six-story Foucault pendulum, Columbian mammoth bones from Chandler, Arizona.

Space Photography Lab

Self-Guided Tour anytime
between 9:00am - 4:30 pm
Public talks on Space Science 10am & 2pm

One of a network of eighteen Regional Planetary Image Facility data centers established by NASA to archive planetary images for use by the scientific and educational communities. SPL houses images and maps from all U.S. space missions, an extensive library of mission documentation, scientific journals and Earth and planetary publications.

See Open House 2007