While most students might not usually associate dance parties and concerts with fine art, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) will combine all three for its fifth annual College Night this Thursday.
Running from 7 p.m. to midnight and admitting students from nearly 50 local colleges for free, College Night features concerts, drawing, dancing and a host of other activities scattered throughout the MFA's galleries.
College Night was created in 2005 in an effort to welcome college students to the museum and introduce them to its collection and programs. "We ... wanted to familiarize [college students] with the MFA, let them know that this is their place, they can come anytime, it's free, [and] we've got a lot of great stuff going on," said Diana O'Donnell, public relations coordinator at the MFA.
Three bands will perform in the museum on Thursday evening. "They're all current students or alumni from Boston schools, so it really shows the talent pool in Boston," O'Donnell said. Love in Stockholm, a funk-rock band comprised of alumni from Berklee College of Music and Boston University, will perform in the Calderwood Courtyard.
Liz Longley, another artist and current Berklee student, will also perform at the museum on Thursday night. The up-and-coming singer-songwriter will be performing in a coffee house in Bravo, a restaurant in the museum. "There'll be free coffee for students, and it will be a little bit more mellow," O'Donnell said.
Finally, DJ Ghostdad will return to the museum this year to create a dance party in the otherwise quiet Lower Galleria. "You [might] think, 'How could the museum have a dance party?' It's not really what you expect, but everyone was really into it [last year]; it was a lot of fun," O'Donnell said.
For students interested in a more traditional artistic experience, all of the museum's galleries and special exhibitions will be open. The halls will also be inhabited by live models so students can try their own hand at sketching, according to O'Donnell.
Nearly 3,000 college students attended the event last year, and the MFA expects a similar number this year.
The Museum of Fine Arts is located on the Avenue of the Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue. To reach the museum, take the Red Line to Park Street, transfer to the Green Line E train, and get off at the MFA stop.
