The first Herberger Institute Day brought together 1,335 students, faculty, staff and alumni from the institute’s five schools and art museum. The day included dozens of creative workshops, and participants were encouraged to experiment outside their disciplines and usual classes.

Workshops ranged from “Musical Trash and Toy Circuits” to “Sing like an opera singer in one easy lesson!” to a librarian-led workshop on “Art and Music: Creativity in Dark Times.” Other activities included Latin dance, laughter yoga, a speed mural, tips on putting on ghoulish makeup, museum vault tours and a workshop on queer expressions in dance, film, theater, music, art and technology, visual art and design.

When the workshops concluded, more than 400 people gathered for #CreaTable, a shared, creatively curated, interactive meal along ASU’s Tempe Campus Forest Mall.

“It’s so much fun,” said Gnyanesh Trivedi, a mechanical engineering graduate student at ASU who took an acting course in the fall and acted in one of the pop-up performances at the meal. “There’s happiness all around. I think this is something that brings joy to people. This is something that should be shared with as many people as possible on as large a scale as possible.”