College Night for the arts

The Getty looms over the UCLA Campus with a majestic presence. Its beauty, combined with the free admission, would make the Getty Center seem like an obvious choice for students looking for something to add a little culture to their weekends, but many students have yet to experience all that the museum has to offer. With Getty College Night perhaps this will change.

College Night at the Getty Center is tonight from 6:30-9:30 p.m. This is a great opportunity to get a unique look at many of the permanent collections and current exhibitions and mingle with students from colleges across the Los Angeles area while enjoying free food, drink and a variety of performances.

“Sometimes art museums can be intimidating to those who don’t study art history. Don’t be intimidated. There is something for everyone,” said John Giurini, the assistant director for public affairs at the Getty.

College Night is a good excuse to explore the Getty, especially because the evening was planned with the college student in mind.

The museum worked closely with the students from California State University, Channel Islands to customize the Getty experience.

“It is not going to be a classic Getty. We have some cool photo booths and live music. This is not the experience you would get if you went to the Getty during the day,” said Sarah Mahon, a Cal State Channel Islands Getty Center intern.

“We sit and are lectured to all day. We don’t want that at night” Mahon said.

That is why College Night features speakers who relate to the work in different ways. For example, the exhibit “In Focus: Tasteful Pictures” will be accompanied by a discussion with chef Joseph Mahon of the restaurant Bastide. The exhibit also includes a photogram of a dining table layout ““ an image made by placing objects on photosensitive paper which is later exposed to light,

“Urban Panoramas: Opie, Liao, Kim” consists of panoramic photos of Los Angeles, New York and Reykjavik. Soo Kim, who photographed Reykjavik at midnight during the continuously light summer, will be available to talk with students. Her work features the layering of two different photos, which lends an inviting dimension to each piece.

“When you hear her explanation, it becomes a game to see if you can spot her process,” Giurini said.

Kim will answer questions informally to suit the relaxed atmosphere.

Students will also get the opportunity to take tours from the curators themselves.

“No one has greater insight. Lots of people can provide information, but curators give a different background,” said Peter Tokofsky, the Getty education specialist.

This is also a special opportunity because curators typically do two tours a month but on College Night there will be three curator-led tours in one evening. This includes a tour of “A Record of Emotion: The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans” with curator Anne Lyden.

Instead of reading the tiny placards next to paintings students will be treated to live readings of letters written by artists, including Vincent Van Gogh and Francisco Goya in front of some of their most famous works, Mahon said.

The goal of Getty College Night is to encourage college students to enjoy themselves and return over and over again, bringing friends and family.

“I think college students have so many things going on. There is so much to do in the L.A. area. But the Getty is really one of the jewels of Los Angeles,” Mahon said.

The evening will also include contortionists from Kinetic Theory Circus, the surf music of Marc b., DJ OldBoy and harpist Ricky Rasura, along with free food and drink. The galleries with 19th century pieces (the Getty’s most popular collection) will also stay open late.

“We hope students discover things about art that they didn’t know before. We hope that they develop an interest that wasn’t there before,” Tokofsky said.