International Museum Day
18 May 2012

Valley Museums Celebrate International Museum Day
Celebration Features Special Offers and Admission Discounts Around the Valley.

Central Arizona is home to nearly 100 diverse museums in the Gila, Maricopa, Pinal, and Yavapai county area. Each year, the Central Arizona Museum Association and Valley museums celebrate International Museum Day on Friday, 18 May, with special promotions, programs, and discounts.

International Museum Day aims at raising public awareness about the vital role museums play in their communities. Every year since 1977 museum day is celebrated worldwide with as many as 30,000 museums organizing activities in over 100 countries.

Museums are not just a place to visit when you are on vacation. They are an excellent place to spend time with family and friends, to gain educational experiences and for socializing. Many museums offer programming for adults and children, ranging from lectures, to coffee and tea social hours, free or reduced admission, workshops, demonstrations, hands-on experiences, van trips to other destinations and so much more.

Although International Museum Day is celebrated on 18 May some local museums may choose slightly different dates for their special offers in observance of International Museum Day. Here are a few opportunities from various museums that visitors can take advantage of in celebration of International Museum Day:

• The Archaeological Research Institute at ASU
  The Archaeological Research Institute (ARI) at ASU is offering free behind-the-scenes tours between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday, 18 May 2012. View their collection of prehistoric Southwest ceramics; they may even have an ancient technology you can try. ARI is located at 951 South Mill Avenue in Tempe, on the southeast corner of University Drive and Mill Avenue. Visitor parking is available in Lot 20 directly north of the building. Park in a numbered space and use the pay box. The Archaeological Research Institute is next door to the passport office.
• Arizona State Capitol Museum
  In celebration of International Museum Day, the Arizona Capitol Museum has partnered with the Arizona Memory Project to host an on-line exhibit, “The Images of the Arizona Capitol Museum,” a virtual tour of the permanent exhibits at the Arizona Capitol Museum.
• Arizona State Library
  The Arizona State Library is sponsoring an online exhibit of the institution for International Museum Day. Phone: 602.926.3662
• Arizona Military Museum
  The Arizona Military Museum will celebrate International Museum Day with a three-day event, 18–20 May 2012.  19 May happens to be Armed Forces Day which is consistent with the theme of our museum—the military history of Arizona and Arizonans who served in the military.  The museum will be open to the public 18, 19, and 20 May from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The admission is free.  There are uniforms, weapons, artifacts, and other items on display relating to the Conquistadors to modern times.  There is a large Vietnam Room display with a Huey helicopter in it.
• Arizona Museum for Youth
  Enjoy 2-for-1 on International Museum Day at AMY!  The Arizona Museum for Youth will incorporate fun technology into your little one’s experience using iPads as an art-making activity.  In addition, master artists will be highlighted through creative make-and-take activities. Then families and kids can enjoy the colorful Township of ArtVille and hands-on art experienced in ArtZone. AMY is open 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on International Museum Day. Regular Admission is $7 for those ages 1 and older. AMY Members and those under age 1 are admitted for free. For International Museum Day only, all visitors will enjoy 2-for-1 admission. This offer cannot be combined with other discounts and is not good towards group / tour packages. Other restrictions may apply.
• Arizona Museum of Natural History
  On Friday, 18 May, the Arizona Museum of Natural History will be celebrating its 35th birthday.  We are going to have a free birthday party from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.!  It is our way of thanking everyone for all the support during the last 35 years.  AzMNH will have the block in front of the museum on Macdonald Street closed with all sorts of free fun and entertainment, including a live band, dinosaur bounce houses, crafts, games, and food vendors.  Bookmans is sponsoring the event with great activities and prizes.  Additionally the entire museum will be open and free with cake and ice cream served in the lobby.  Plan to come for the fun!
• Deer Valley Rock Art Center
  The Deer Valley Rock Art Center is pleased to offer two-for-one museum admission to celebrate International Museum Day on Friday, 18 May 2012, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. The Center has the largest concentration of Native American petroglyphs in the Phoenix Valley. Visitors hike a ¼-mile trail to view over 1,500 petroglyphs made between 500 and 7,000 years ago. Our museum aims to promote preservation, connection and respect for the site and we are a destination for families to learn about archaeology in their own backyard.
• Desert Caballeros Western Museum
  The Desert Caballeros Western Museum will be celebrating International Museum Day on 18 May with free admission to the Museum.  Also on 18 May is the opening of 100 Years / 100 Ranchers exhibition, which is a Centennial Legacy Project by photographer Scott Baxter.  The show is currently at the Phoenix Airport Museum.
• The Hasbrouck Insect Collection at Arizona State University
  Hasbrouck Insect Collection Open House: The Hasbrouck Insect Collection at Arizona State University is located in the Life Sciences A Wing, Room LSA 131. We hold approximately 700,000 specimens, representing at least 25 orders, 390 families, 4,000 genera, 10,000 species and 1,240 subspecies of insects. Most insect specimens are from the southwestern United States; however considerable representative material is also available from other North American regions and Mexico. The curatorial staff—Drs. Nico Franz and Sangmi Lee and associated students—are available during the International Museum Day to guide visitors of any age through a series of remarkable display cases and educational stations that illustrate both the variety of insects and research projects carried out in the collection.
• L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum
  The L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum will recognize International Museum Day by offering free admission and free docent tours to the museum that day.
• Pueblo Grande Museum
  Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park will celebrate International Museum Day with a free admission day on Friday, 18 May 2012.
• Phoenix Airport Museum
  The Phoenix Airport Museum is offering a self-guided tour of the public art at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Rental Car Center.   All of the art exhibitions managed by the Phoenix Airport Museum are available 24/7 and are free.
• Arizona State University Museum of Anthropology
  The Museum of Anthropology will celebrate International Museum Day with free admission to its Choosing the Good exhibit. In daily life, we often face tough choices between different ways of being good—between being honest and helping a close friend, between helping family members and fulfilling our duties to work or school. How we make such choices is important for our happiness, for those around us, and for how society runs. Choosing the Good asks how people in different places around the world make tough decisions. Based on ASU research in the United States, Bangladesh, Fiji, Bolivia, China, and Iceland, the exhibit challenges visitors to consider what they would do and to compare their choices with others from their own community and from around the world. The exhibit will engage visitors with a number of interactive features. A virtual quiz will let visitors learn about their own way of thinking in these tough situations, and an informal coffee shop will allow people to discuss important local issues that force Arizonans to choose between two goods.
• Superstition Mountain Museum
  Free Admission to everyone showing the advertisement for International Museum Day. Visit the museum’s exhibit for the Arizona Centennial, 100 Years of Tourism and Commerce Along the Apache Trail.
• Tempe History Museum
  The Tempe History Museum is hosting an event on Thursday, 17 May 2012 at 7 p.m.: Research Matters: The Latest and Greatest from ASU, “Galaxies Beyond the Milky Way,” with Hwihyun Kim. Hwihyun Kim is a graduate student in Astrophysics at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU. Her research is focused on the star formation and star formation histories in nearby galaxies using data from the Hubble Space Telescope.