As the sun sets over Los Angeles and the city lights flicker on, most museums are closing their doors for the night.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will do just the opposite, as it invites 1,800 students after hours to what education coordinator Amber Smith describes as the buzzing atmosphere of College Night.
For one night from 7 to 10 p.m., college students from across the L.A. area will be able to skip the $10 student admission. Students with tickets and their university ID will receive free admission to select exhibitions at LACMA and free food as well as an art workshop, dance performance and informal discussions with educators.
Although this is the 12th annual College Night that LACMA has hosted, Smith said that every year has a new focus, either on a temporary exhibition or one of the museum’s permanent collections. This year, the focus is on “Samurai: Japanese Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection.”
“I thought it would be something that students would really respond to,” Smith said. “Samurai culture kind of has this mythic and legendary quality about it and after I saw what the exhibition layout was going to be I thought, well that will be a really dramatic and dynamic exhibition to feature for College Night.”
To complement the theme of this year’s College Night, an art workshop led by artist Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca, will allow students to dabble in printmaking as they design their own samurai warrior, taking inspiration from the five elements – fire, water, earth, wind and void. In addition, Smith said dance troupe Lightning Shadow will perform their own interpretation of the samurai exhibit.
“That really is what College Night is all about – we chose an area of the collection or an exhibition and try to create multiple entry points for students to make a connection with that artwork on view,” Smith said.
Recognizable by their red LACMA T-shirts, educators will be scattered around each exhibit, available to make informal conversation or answer students’ questions about the artwork, Smith said.
In addition to the samurai collection, LACMA will also showcase three other exhibitions. These include a collection from French contemporary artist Pierre Huyghe, whose work contains living elements as well as static, 19th century American landscape paintings from “Nature and American Vision: The Hudson River School” and a monumental sculpture by Christine Corday.
For many students, Smith said, this will be their first time visiting the museum.
Second-year sociology student Lizz Perez said College Night will be her first time at the museum. She said she appreciates museums like LACMA providing free events for students, and she is looking forward to getting out of Westwood and seeing the art.
“It creates a very inclusive environment where anyone can go and anyone can attend as long as you’re a college student,” Perez said.
This year, College Night is completely sold out; however, for those without tickets still looking to attend, a standby line will begin at 6 p.m., one hour before the event starts.
Fourth-year Italian student Sherina Guimmond said she was unable to get tickets, but she said last year’s event was a great way to experience one of the largest landmarks of L.A.
“I enjoyed the atmosphere the most,” Guimmond said. “I’d say with college students everywhere, just the excitement that was in the air for College Night was what made it the most memorable.”
UCLA Residential Life will be providing a shuttle service running from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Bradley turnaround; however, Residential Life assistant director for programming and arts engagement Jenny Byrd said that students looking to wait in the standby line may prefer to take public transportation in order arrive at the museum early.
Smith said her main goal for the event is to create an avenue for students to engage with the art on display, especially with the interactive elements of the workshop and dance performance.
“Art doesn’t have enough presence, and I think that you can connect and engage with art on so many different levels,” Smith said. “I think having that connection is something that maybe is often overlooked and hopefully by coming to College Night they can view it in a different way.”