Arizona State University

Arizona State University Review

What began as the Tempe Normal School for Teachers—in 1886 a four-room redbrick building and 20-acre cow pasture—is now the 750-acre Tempe campus of ASU, the largest university in the Southwest. The university now has four campuses located across the Valley. The ASU Memorial Union (1290 S. Normal Ave. 480/965-5728) has maps of a self-guided walking tour of the Tempe campus—it's a long walk from Mill Avenue, so you might opt for the short version suggested here. You'll wind past public art and innovative architecture—including a music building that bears a strong resemblance to a wedding cake, designed by Taliesin students to echo Frank Lloyd Wright's Gammage Auditorium, and a law library shaped like an open book—and end up at the 71,706-seat Sun Devil Stadium (ASU Campus, 5th St. 480/965-9011), home to the school's Sun Devils. One of the most outstanding stadiums in the country, it has a spectacular setting. It's literally carved out of a mountain and cradled between the Tempe buttes.

Arizona State University Art Museum. While touring the west end of campus, stop into the Arizona State University Art Museum. It's in the gray-purple stucco Nelson Fine Arts Center, just north of Gammage Auditorium. For a relatively small museum, it has an extensive collection, including 19th- and 20th-century painting and sculpture by masters such as Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Rockwell Kent. Works by faculty and student artists are also on display, and there's a gift shop. Mill Ave. and 10th St., Tempe, AZ, 85287. 480/965-2787. asuartmuseum.asu.edu. Free. No credit cards. Tues. 11-8, Wed.-Sat. 11-5. Closed Sun. and Mon.

Northlight Gallery. In Matthews Hall, the Northlight Gallery exhibits works by both renowned and emerging photographers. Matthews Hall, Mill Ave. and 10th St., Tempe, AZ, 85287. 480/965-6517. art.asu.edu/gallery/northlight. Free. No credit cards. Tues. 12:30-8:30, Wed.-Sat. 12:30-4:30. Closed Sun. and Mon.