Live music echoes through the maze of the gallery, refreshments neatly line the tables, and students meander through exhibits, stopping here and there to examine works of art hanging on the gallery walls and talk to one another. The BYU Museum of Art commonly celebrates the opening of an exhibit with a free public event held in honor of the exhibit.
The opening event for the new exhibit, “Simpler, Brighter, Stronger,” in the Museum of Art Gallery will take place Friday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. The most recent addition to the museum features early modernism and Southwest American art.
“Many artists that came to the Southwest had been studying in Paris or New York, and when they came to the West they found that the landscape was very different from what they had learned how to paint,” said Paul Anderson, the curator for the exhibit. “The mountains were bigger, the vistas were wider, and the sun was brighter. To try and get those dramatic effects they used techniques inspired by modernism.”
The event offers free food, free art and free music to promote the new exhibit.
“The museum of art is definitely interesting,” said Alex Bennett, a freshman at BYU. “It has some unique exhibits. Some are extremely abstract and I can’t understand them, but whether you’re an art critic or a confused college student, the Museum of Art is worth a visit.”
Students can wander through the gallery and see the new exhibits on display, including the new pieces from Diane and Sam Stewart in the “Simpler, Brighter, Stronger” exhibit that starts Oct. 18 and runs through July 2014. Students can also enter a contest at the door to win a $50 Cafe Rio Gift Card.
