If you're searching for something new and original to do this Friday afternoon between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., the University of Virginia Art Museum might be the place to look.
For those who have never ventured to this location ("U.Va. has an art museum?"), it can be found on Rugby Road, right across from Madison Bowl. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. This Friday, however, the museum is open an additional two hours for Final Fridays.
This special event, which occurs the final Friday of every month, is the perfect opportunity for museum aficionados and novices alike to see what the museum has to offer. One can peruse exhibits, watch an artistic video in the media gallery, meet an artist or member of the executive board or partake in refreshments.
Free art and free food sounds like a pretty good deal -- so what's the catch? There actually isn't one. Although Final Fridays is only open to museum members, membership is free to University students. Museum officials encourage students to visit the Final Friday event, during which time they can sign up for an account simply by providing an e-mail address.
"Coming to Final Fridays really gives students the chance to see the museum and art they've never been exposed to before," museum security Crystal Pecoe explained. "It's the best time to see what the art community has to offer."
So what exactly can you expect? Some of the highlights include the Arshile Gorky exhibit titled "Drawings, The Early Years," and an entire room devoted to 10 years' worth of the museum's active accumulation of art, called "A Decade of Collecting." Other exhibits include "Sculpture from the Collection," "Photography from the Collection" and new media gallery programs featuring the films of Peter Whitehead.
The Gorky exhibit has been at the museum since Aug. 24 and will remain through Oct. 28. Museum-goers can enjoy 15 drawings and one painting from Gorky's private collection. Previously displayed at the CDS Gallery in New York and Jack Rutberg Fine Arts gallery in Los Angeles, the items presented in Charlottesville focus primarily on works from the early part of Gorky's career in the 1920s. Strong influences such as Picasso are evident in Gorky's work; his drawings feature cubist and surrealist styles.
"A Decade of Collecting" displays just a sampling of more than 1,500 works the museum has acquired since 1997. The exhibition offers a varied, eclectic smattering of all the pieces the museum has to offer, but is concentrated in the artistic styles of painting and sculpture from Jefferson's era, American art in a range of media, Old Master prints and drawings and contemporary art. Everything from landscape paintings to portraits, watercolors to sculptures and contemporary to impressionistic styles can be found in this exhibit. It offers a little of something for everyone. The "Decade" collection is scheduled to be displayed only until next Wednesday.
Museum security guard Ed Roseberry is eager for students to join in the festivities on Friday.
"It's an invitational party for students and the townspeople and is designed to be intriguing enough to bring a good crowd in to the museum," he said. "[Our hope] is to accustom the many who haven't been here before by providing an introduction with a party theme. Plus, it's an opportunity for free food and libation, so why not?"
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