Harn, Florida Museum to host Museum Nights

October 5, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — From vicious fishes to a student celebration of art by University of Florida faculty members, there will be plenty to experience from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Museum Nights. The event will be at the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Harn Museum of Art.

Visitors to the Florida Museum of Natural History will experience “Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes and Other Riches.” This exhibit educates visitors about the diversity of life found in and around the Amazon River with a fascinating journey that includes information about the animals and people who live there.

The Florida Museum is offering free admission to “Vicious Fishes” and the Butterfly Rainforest for students showing their Gator 1 card.

At the Harn Museum, enjoy a reception and activities celebrating the opening of the “45th Annual UF Art Faculty Exhibition.” Once every five years, the Harn hosts the UF School of Art and Art History studio faculty exhibition, which features art from faculty members who work in an impressive range of media, including drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, multi-media, performance and video. Docents will be available throughout the galleries to answer questions about the works on display.

Sean Miller, senior lecturer at the School of Art and Art History, and several of his students will present “Annex.” During the performance, students will create a physical museum gallery space through interpretive poses and gestures, sewing themselves together. An autonomous museum annex will be created using people and string.

Museum University Student Educators (MUSEs) will be leading activities in the galleries from 7 to 9 p.m. Participants will receive a “passport” that presents clues leading to art created in different regions of the world. The MUSEs will also be helping visitors with art activities such as watercolor resist paintings.

At 6 p.m. in the Chandler Auditorium, Christopher M.S. Johns, Norman and Roselea Goldberg professor of History of Art and chair at the department of History of Art at Vanderbilt University, will present a lecture titled “The Grand Tour and the Rediscovery of Antiquity in the 18th Century.” The lecture is co-sponsored by the Harn Museum of Art and the UF School of Art and Art History and organized by Barbara Barletta, UF professor of art history.

Museum Nights is made possible by UF Student Government. Admission is free.

For more information about Museum Nights, visit www.sg.ufl.edu or www.harn.ufl.edu.