Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit SPARK! Comes to the Curley School

November 8 – December 20, 2025

Curley School Creative Campus

The Curley School Creative Campus is proud to host SPARK! Places of Innovation, a Smithsonian traveling exhibition exploring how small towns across rural America have used creativity, imagination and community collaboration to revitalize the places they call home.

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Presented through the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program in partnership with Arizona Humanities, the exhibit is designed to do exactly what its name suggests: spark new ideas about what is possible when communities work together.

For Ajo, that story feels especially familiar.

Throughout the exhibit, visitors are invited to explore examples of innovation from communities across the country while also discovering stories, art and creative projects rooted right here in the Sonoran Desert region.

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Celebrating Our Tri-Cultural Region

Alongside the Smithsonian exhibit, the Curley School will showcase work and programming that reflects the creativity and cultural connections of Ajo and the surrounding borderlands.

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Highlights include:

• Artwork by the T-Makig Collective

• A community wheat-paste art project coordinated by Buck Sandoval

• A screening of the short documentary Beyond Borders

• The larger-than-life puppets created by communities in Ajo, Pisinemo District and Sonoyta for the Beyond Borders Puppet Procession at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

• Guest speakers representing regional organizations and cultural initiatives

• Music and performances from members of the Curley and Ajo communities

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Opening-day programming included performances by the Pisinemo Traditional Singers, Hia-Ced Basket Dancers and Ballet Folklórico, along with presentations and opportunities to learn more about organizations working throughout the region.

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Curley resident artist Sharyl Williams will also share original compositions on the Curley School’s baby grand piano during select exhibit hours.

Community Art & Conversation

SPARK! is more than an exhibit to walk through. It is an invitation to think about the future of our own community.

Special activities throughout the run of the exhibition will give residents and visitors opportunities to make art, meet local creatives and exchange ideas about the ways art, culture, history and community-led projects can help shape Ajo’s future.

A community wheat-paste art activity will take place on Saturday, November 15, giving participants an opportunity to contribute to a collaborative project and share in the creative process.

Exhibit Hours

November 8 – December 20

Wednesday – Friday | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Saturday | 2 – 6 p.m.

The exhibition concludes on Saturday, December 20, with a special closing-day gathering featuring food in the Curley Courtyard, guest speakers, regional organizations and a performance by Ajo’s Ballet Folklórico.

Come explore the exhibit, discover stories from rural communities across the country and see how Ajo’s own creativity, culture and community spirit fit into a much larger story of innovation.

Let’s get creative. Let’s share ideas. Let’s SPARK! what comes next.