Some galleries attract visitors who want to examine the art of another person, but exhibits in the ASU Art Museum pose the task of examining yourself.
Current exhibits in the museum are "Seeing Ourselves" and "Art Inspires Music."
"Seeing Ourselves" explores the areas of self-awareness and self-definition.
The exhibition features about 30 works of art, ranging from ceramic sculpture to traditional paintings from the museum's permanent collection.
The international, national and local images impart ideas of identity and what makes us who we are.
"These pieces show the perception of the artist and the sitter," said exhibit curator Jean Makin. "They show how the artists look at the subjects and how the subjects perceive themselves.
"Culture, family, society and other factors contribute to a person's identity. And the pieces on display show those factors."
Curator of education Laura Stewart said, "We used a lot of nontraditional pieces that people don't often get to see. They have a lot of physical identity indicators such as social status and family."
Small quotes by people such as the Dalai Lama and Woody Allen are next to some of the pieces to inspire personal awareness.
Visitors to the family-friendly gallery can participate in self-awareness activities: children can dress up in costumes or draw life-sized self-portraits that show how they see themselves, on a piece of paper on the gallery wall.
Steward said feedback on the exhibit has been very positive.
Guests can also interact with the pieces in the "Art Inspires Music" exhibition.
Listening stations set up in the museum's Americas Gallery allow visitors to participate in both visual and musical art.
"The unique setup gets a lot of attention," museum spokesperson Denise Tanguay said.
Four local musicians, including senior Steven Reker and ASU alumna Yolanda Bejerano, were asked to choose a piece that was part of the museum's permanent collection, then compose a song inspired by the artwork.
Reker chose John Allen Dawson's "Untitled (woman with lips)" and Bejerano chose Ron Wagner's "Ben Goo."
The two other local musicians, Aaron Gerwien and Robin Vining, chose respectively Leonard Baskin's "Worchester" and Russell Crotty's "Towers and Dishes."
"Seeing Ourselves" will run through Sept. 23 and "Art Inspires Music" is an ongoing exhibition through this fall.
The ASU Art Museum is located in the Nelson Fine Arts Center on Mill Avenue and 10th Street. It is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Admission is free.
Reach the reporter at Jennifer.Oconnor.1.
