Camp Verde, AZ – Join us from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm on Saturday, June 14th for the Grand Opening Celebration of the Spark! Places of Innovation Smithsonian Exhibit. Enjoy delicious food from the Old Crow food truck in the parking lot, and live music from Music in the Stacks favorites in the library’s downstairs Terracotta Room starting at 2:00 pm. Bring the whole family to enjoy the interactive portions of not only the main Smithsonian Exhibit, but also the STEM themed complementary exhibit from the Verde Valley Science Vortex.
Camp Verde Community Library and the surrounding community has been chosen by Arizona Humanities to host “Spark!” as part of the Museum on Main Street program—a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The exhibition will tour six communities in Arizona from June 14th, 2025, through March 28th, 2026 and will be at Camp Verde Community Library through July 26th.
“Spark! Places of Innovation” highlights innovation in rural America from the perspective of the people who lived it. The exhibition features stories and images from over 30 communities across the nation gathered through a crowdsourcing initiative. These places of innovation examined their existing assets, characteristics, people, resources and history to tackle the challenges of today with creative solutions and chart new directions for their future.
Through photographs, hands-on interactives, objects and videos, “Spark!” reveals the leaders, challenges, successes and future of innovation in each featured town. The exhibit is organized into four different categories of innovation: social, artistic, technological and cultural. Examples of innovation include the Art & Environment Initiative in Meadville, Pennsylvania, that collaborates with community members through public art projects that revitalize, beautify and help transform shared spaces. And the University of New Mexico-Taos Hub of Internet-based Vocation and Education (HIVE) that brought together educators, environmentalists and local leaders to create coworking space, a small business support center and on-site UMN-Taos classes.
“‘Spark!’ allows us to reflect on Camp Verde’s history, present and future and we are excited to explore what the future may hold for our community,” said Zack Garcia, library specialist, “We want to convene conversations about innovation in our own community and have developed a local exhibition and public programs to complement the Smithsonian exhibition.” For ‘Spark!’, Camp Verde Community Library has partnered with the Verde Valley Science Vortex, whose mission is to positively impact children’s critical-thinking abilities, creativity, and STEM literacy. This partnership allows the library to showcase hands-on, interactive pieces from the Science Vortex to complement the Smithsonian exhibit.
Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, “Spark!” will serve as a community meeting place for conversations about innovation. With the support and guidance of state humanities councils, these towns will develop complementary exhibits, host public programs and facilitate educational initiatives to raise people’s understanding about their own history, the joys and challenges of living rural, how change has impacted their community, and prompt discussion of goals for the future.
Spark! Places of Innovation has been made possible in Camp Verde, AZ by Arizona Humanities. The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host organizations. “Spark!” was inspired by “Places of Invention,” an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. To learn more about “Spark! Places of Innovation” and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org.
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 70 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit www.sites.si.edu.
This project is sponsored in-part by the ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – Humanities Division and the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona
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About Camp Verde Community Library:
At Camp Verde Community Library, we connect people of all ages and walks of life to the expanding world of information, ideas, and creative experiences through free and equitable access to library resources. Camp Verde Community Library is located at 130 N Black Bridge Road just off Montezuma Castle Highway in Camp Verde. The library is open Monday-Thursday 8:00a-7:00p and Friday-Saturday 9:00a-5:00p
AZ Humanities: 1242 N. Central Avenue │ Phoenix, AZ 85004 │T. Christopher Elliot | 602.257.0335