Innovation Gallery
ASU Museum of the Human Story
A part of ASU's Museum of the Human Story, the Innovation Gallery is housed on the ASU Tempe campus in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change building. Innovation Gallery is a public space to enjoy free, informative exhibits and programming related to our research. Faculty and graduate students frequently use the gallery as a laboratory to interpret, design and develop unique and interactive exhibitions. We also draw from the vast archaeological, ethnographic and scientific collections maintained by the university or provided by community partners.
Innovation Gallery hours of operation: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., excluding university holidays
Now on display
Finding Lucy: A celebration of 50 years
November 7 - February 27
Fifty years ago — on Nov. 24, 1974 — a young paleoanthropologist named Donald Johanson was walking in the dusty landscape of the Afar Rift Valley of Ethiopia when he discovered the first human ancestor fossil who reliably walked upright on two feet — “Lucy.”
The 3.2-million-year-old fossilized 'Australopithecus afarensis' skeleton remains the most complete representative of human ancestors who were adapting to life on a changing landscape. This discovery is known to be one of the most significant anthropological findings of our time, which ushered in a new era of science-based human origins discoveries.
The Institute of Human Origins and the School of Human Evolution and Social Change have partnered to create an exhibit to mark this milestone in human origins. Through photographs, specimens, casts, and lifelike reproductions, this exhibit tells the story of Lucy's discovery, explores how she fits into the human family tree, and reveals how she continues to inform our understanding of what makes us human.
Past exhibits
Hand Made: Continuances in Traditional and Contemporary Art
October - December 2022
The exhibition highlighted continuances in techniques and designs emanating from pre-colonial to contemporary times for Latin American and Latina/o/x artists. Specifically, art making techniques and designs made throughout the various regions of Latin American and the U.S./Arizona.
What is artesania or craft art? It is a system of communal values and aesthetics, that has been passed down through generations of people who possess local or akin knowledge of materials, techniques and customs. The objects created many times embody the everyday lives or experiences of the people who crafted them – as beliefs, dreams, childhood, relationships, livelihood, among others.
During the summer of 2007, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change acquired this collection from the Arizona State University’s Center for Latin American Studies through Jerry Ladman Ph.D. Ladman an economist who directed the center and started this collection in 1976, acquired it from his research-related travels throughout Latin America. While the collection began about 46 years ago, its entrance into SHESC’s collections invited new opportunities for research, education and exhibitions.
3,000 Years of Mexican and Central American Culture: The Deep Roots of Domestic Life in Mesoamerica
February - May 2022
Indigenous cultures in Mexico and Central America have experienced many transformations over time. However, long-lasting cultural continuities can still be seen in native societies in this region called Mesoamerica. These continuities, including maize foods, pottery making, textile weaving, and rituals for healing and community cohesion, remain because of their connections to domestic life. Some of these traditions are even found today in societies in New Mexico and Arizona. This exhibit introduced Mesoamerican cultural features that have continued in some form over 3,000 years or more –the deep cultural roots of household traditions. The clothing, domestic pottery, household utensils, foods, ritual items, and art in this exhibit speak to these continuities. Through the objects and themes on display, we engaged with local communities on interesting and important topics that unite us: households, everyday living, human creativity and cultural identity.
Revealing Artifacts: New Research with the Roosevelt Archaeological Collections at ASU
February - June 2020
Artifacts and records from massive excavation projects around Theodore Roosevelt Lake in central Arizona’s Tonto Basin make up some of the largest archaeological collections at Arizona State University. This material is an invaluable resource for new research. This exhibition features artifacts and images from the Roosevelt collections, specifically highlighting new research with Roosevelt Red Ware pottery as an example of the research potential of the collection.
Metzilocan Extension
March - September 2019
Contemplate the "Monolith of Tlaloc" in the gallery. This display is an extension of the new "Metzilocan" exhibit at the nearby ASU Art Museum, which chronicles artist Claudia Peña Salinas’ research on the Aztec deities of water, relating ancestral symbolism and knowledge to modernist and contemporary structures. The gallery will also feaure items from the school's Latin American collection that were hand-selected by Salinas to accompany her artwork.
Revisiting the Latin American Folk-Art Collection
September 2018 - February 2019
This exhibit is curated by students of the museum studies program at SHESC. It features 104 items from the school’s Latin American folk-art collection of over 400 pieces. Arranged around the themes of daily life, spiritual beliefs, animals and nature, the exhibition speaks to the diversity of Latin American culture. The collection came to the school in 2008 and, a decade later, provides a new opportunity to appreciate these works in the recently renovated Innovation Gallery.