CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat School project coordinator for the Arizona State Museum Beth Dewitt makes sure that everything is in order for the State Museum's new exhibit on Navajo weaving.

UA museums to check out with your parents

Student nudists aren't the only exhibitionists on campus. Museums also create a great venue to see naked people, among other entertaining sights.

Whether you're into photography, historical artifacts or really funky contemporary art, the UA campus has several museums on campus to fit all your mind-expanding needs. Plus, admission is free for all museums.

Center for Creative Photography

With more than 80,000 works, including photographs from some of the most famous photographers in history, the Center for Creative Photography is more than just a building full of pretty photos.

In fact, it holds more archives and individual works by 20th century North American photographers than any other museum nationwide.

Ansel Adams, Harry Callahan, W. Eugene Smith, Edward Weston and Garry Winogrand are just a few of 60 major American photographers whose works grace the confines of the CCP.

The CCP recently opened the first permanent gallery featuring works for its extensive collection.

"The permanent collection gallery is a new development, and it has rotating exhibits of about 30 works of the Center's collection," said Cass Ley, curator of education at the CCP.

Ley said the CCP is world-renowned and has an exceptional collection of both black and white and color photographs.

The CCP frequently holds exhibitions of contemporary art, including "Jo Ann Callis: Cake Hat Pillow," which opened Sept. 4 and runs until Nov. 2.

The exhibit displays a retrospect of Callis' 30-year career.

For parents who want to know what the title means, Ley suggests that they should find out by coming to the CCP.

The CCP is located on campus on North Olive Road, just south of East Speedway Boulevard. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Arizona State Museum

Established in 1893, the Arizona State Museum is the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the Southwest.

Parents are especially in luck this year because the museum will hold its annual open house this Saturday.

This only time of year when storerooms and research labs are open to the public and visitors can speak to the curators and researchers of the multiple historic pieces.

"It's our oldest public program," said Darlene Lizarraga , marketing coordinator for the museum." Because we don't have a lot of exhibit space, many aspects of our collection are unparalleled by any other comparable museum in the world."

The White House has recognized the ASM as having the largest collection of Southwestern Indian pottery in the nation, but Lizarraga said it should be considered the largest collection in the world, because most museums around the world do not extensively collect such pottery.

In addition to the open house, the Arizona State Museum's latest exhibit, "Navajo Weaving at Arizona State Museum: 19th Century Blankets, 20th Century Rugs, 21st Century Views," also opens Saturday.

Dr. Ann Lane Hedlund, one of the country's most highly regarded textile scholars, will curate the exhibit.

Hedlund is also the director of the Gloria F. Ross Center for Tapestry Studies at Arizona State Museum.

The Arizona State Museum is located on campus just east of the Main Gate Square on University Boulevard and Park Avenue.

It is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is free, but generous donations are accepted.

University of Arizona Museum of Art

Founded in 1942, the University of Arizona Museum of Art is home to "an increasingly significant collection of art, from the remarkable 26 panels of the 15th century Retablo of Ciudad Rodrigo to masterpieces by Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrun, Juan Miró and Jackson Pollock," said Alisa Shorr, information specialist for the UAMA.

The works of UA faculty and students have also been displayed at the museum.

"The museum currently showcases over 4,500 works and serves a student body that has reached 40,000, as well as an ever-increasing public audience," Shorr said.

"When you have fantastic art at your fingertips to choose from, as the Museum does like Picassos and Pollocks, Rembrandts and Rothkos, visitors are wowed," Shorr said.

In addition to the old school, the works of six to 10 special guest artists are exhibited at the UAMA each year.

"These exhibits range from never-before-seen blockbuster shows of sculptures by Rodin to challenging exhibits by contemporary artists from all over the world like "Las Invisibles" from Uruguay, "Liberated Voices" from South Africa and "Power of the Word" from China," Shorr said.

The annual "State of the Art: UA School of Art Faculty Exhibition" and sneak preview of the "Party for Art" auction will be held today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The University of Arizona Museum of Art is located on the southeast corner of Speedway Boulevard and Park Avenue.

It is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays.