IU Art Museum Introduces Art to Students with Mixer

Freshman Emmaline Terry, left, and sophomore Alex Miller, right, look at a display on the second floor of the IU Art Museum during the MIX at the Museum event on Friday. Photo: Ben Mikesell

By Camille Sarabia Published Sep 7, 2014 1:43 pmLast updated Sep 7, 2014 11:59 pm

The IU Art Museum presented “MIX at the Museum” on Friday evening to welcome new students and introduce them to art and the museum itself.

They accompanied their cultural and historical fine art galleries with in-gallery musical performances, a culinary experience from Bivis Tamales and a scavenger hunt for attendees.

The MIX was an introductory fall kickoff for the art museum to introduce the IU campus and Bloomington residents to art in a fun and engaging way, said IU Art Museum Manager of Events Anita DeCastro.

“It exposes some of the new things we have at the gallery,” DeCastro said. “It says, ‘Welcome back campus, here we are.’”

The event displayed the three permanent exhibits at the ?museum, including Art of the Western World, Asia and the Ancient Western World, and Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas.

“MIX is a new series of events at the art museum,” DeCastro said. “The first one is a welcome back event. It’s really an opportunity for the campus community, as well as the greater Bloomington community, to welcome everyone back and introduce them to the museum if they’re not familiar with it.”

Other artistic events put on by the museum throughout September include a thematic tour of “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words,” “Midwest Printmaking in Focus” and a noon talk about “The Politics of Painting in the Divided Germany,” among a variety of lectures, art displays and exhibits to take part in.

The MIX focused on ?supplying its guests with a ?well-rounded art experience and is the only event where music can be enjoyed from inside the ?galleries.

“It’s an opportunity for people to once again engage with the museum in a fun way,” DeCastro said. “While people are browsing around and experiencing the artwork, they also get to hear music from the related ?culture.”

The evening replaced the usual hushed tones and concentrated expressions from art admirers with a food-filled, lively and engaging energy.

Apart from the smell of chicken, beef and pork tamales filling the second floor, the guests sat enjoying their pick of four types of coffee and an assortment of cookies and brownies.

Kim Crane, a CrossFit Bloomington coach, sat with her daughter “testing out the cookies,” she said.

As a previous student of IU and a musician, art has always been a part of Crane’s life, and now she is eager to share that with her daughter, she said.

“I haven’t been to the museum for a while, and I thought, ‘This is a perfect opportunity to come back,’” Crane said. “I’m not expecting to see anything in particular. I always end up having a really good time with my daughter, whatever we do.”

Crane said she and her daughter live in the moment and that IU Art Museum helps because it always has something to see.

She said they figure that no matter what, they’ll find something that they are amazed by or something they want to have a conversation about.

For Crane, art at the museum provides the opportunity to get in touch with other world cultures through an artistic viewpoint while exposing her passion for multiple forms of art.

“If we can’t go and travel to these places, this is a really good way to talk about other parts of the world and to expose to her that art exists everywhere, that there’s art in every ancient culture,” she said.

Another guest, Ying Feng, said she visits the art museum regularly.

She said she comes to take part in the artistic atmosphere and to engage in the various lecture series and the concerts.

“I also like to come here for the jazz concerts, the jazz in July,” she said. “In the past, they’ve had music over the terrace.”

Although she visits often, she can’t choose a ?favorite exhibit.

“I like all of the permanent exhibits and the most recent ones,” Fang said.

As a native of China, Feng appreciates the culture that the art museum’s exhibits bring to life.

“I think the culture is quite diversified. I’ve seen exhibits with artists from China and other Asian countries, as well,” she said.

Although this event is only the beginning of what’s to come for the 2014-15 school year, DeCastro said she hopes it attracts and allows its viewers to become part of the creative atmosphere that the museum provides.

“This is an opportunity for people to engage with the space and collection in a different way,” she said. “It’s not a lecture. It’s more of a way to appreciate the art through a different lens.

We have such an expansive collection from different angles of the world, so this is a way to engage the historical stories that these collections tell.”