The Campus Art Museum - Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Engaging Through Social Events
Social events as used here refer to organized occasions hosted at the museum with
the hope of linking an event with a visit to the galleries. Some social events, such
as lectures and artist demonstrations are commonly free. Other social events are
organized as fund-raisers. Campus and community groups can also rent museum
spaces for closed receptions. A political science professor, for example, arranged a
wine and cheese reception at the campus art museum for faculty in his department,
including a short talk by the museum director. At another institution, a group of
students planned a Fancy Night with a chocolate fountain to be held in the cast
gallery of the museum.
Events for Campus and Community
Social events for both the campus and the larger community include exhibition
openings, talks and performances (often music), art demonstrations, and money-raising
events such as art auctions or banquets. 5 Although money-raising events are more
directed toward the larger community than students, students often partake in them
by ushering or serving food to attendees, guiding tours, or even modeling “wearable
art” for an art auction. Allen After Hours is popular in Oberlin where once a month
the Allen Memorial Art Museum (Allen or AMAM) opens its doors in the evening to
students and community members. Music (often played by students from the Oberlin
College Conservatory) and food accompany an event, such as an artist demonstration
or a talk. Docent-guided museum tours are available. The Snite Museum of Art (Snite)
at the University of Notre Dame creates special programs on football Saturdays, making
the museum part of the tailgate parties by welcoming students, parents, and alumni
coming to the games. As one interviewee said, “Our biggest exhibit season is fall and
it’s no coincidence that our exhibits tend to open with the first football game and close
with the last football game.” The College of Arts and Letters collaborates with the Snite
and provides a Saturday Scholars lecture in the museum at noon on football Saturdays.
Again, docents are at the ready to give tours.
At the University of Chicago, Sketching at the Smart is an-going program
coordinated by the David and Alfred Smart Museum (Smart) in conjunction with
the studio and visual arts departments. Once a quarter, the museum hires a model
to pose in the lobby of the museum and invites students, staff, and community
members to come and sketch. The museum provides paper and other art-making
supplies and graduate students in the Department of Visual Art provide instruction
if desired. The University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology (MU
Museum of Art and Archaeology) attracts people from the community and the
university through events such as a Crawfish Boil on the green outside the museum,
a Slow Art Day promising “slow food, slow conversation, and slow art” (Museum of
Art and Archaeology, 2011), and Art in Bloom, an annual event where local florists
and garden club members create flower arrangements inspired by and paired with
a work of art in the museum.
5. The museums host various kinds of fund-raising events, such as Fresh Paint at the University of Arizona Museum of
Art where works of local artists are auctioned or the Paintbrush Ball at the University of Missouri Museum of Art and
Archaeology where a $70 ticket treats one to a cheese and wine reception, dinner, a silent auction, and dancing.
How to Get Them in the Door: Interacting with the Art Museum Outside of Classes
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