ASU Ceramics on the Move
In preparation for its upcoming relocation, the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center’s location on the northwest corner of Tenth Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe permanently closed to the public Feb. 3.
The relocation, expected to be completed by mid-March, will move the existing Ceramics Research Center’s collection, storage, library and gallery space into a newly remodeled space on the ground floor of the Brickyard at Mill, located at Seventh Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe, where it will reopen as the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Center & Brickyard Gallery.
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 located in 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 ASU Art Museum Curator of Ceramics Peter Held. “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 objects, serves as an 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 Tenth 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.
The new ASU Art Museum Ceramics Center & Brickyard Gallery will open its inaugural exhibition on March 21, 2014, with “Librería Donceles,” an installation by artist Pablo Helguera. Grand opening and programming details will be made available by early March.
At top, the new ASU Art Museum Ceramics Center & Brickyard Gallery with a rendering of the potential signage, subject to approval by the City of Tempe
