Live music, photography and art came together for College Night at the Phoenix Art Museum Wednesday evening.
Students were able to take part in different activities hosted by the museum. The attractions included food trucks and creative art-making workshops held by the Creative Fellows from ASU’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts.
“I thought a night where art-making and other activities that bring college students to the museum in a non-academic way would be a way to reach this demographic,” said Jennifer Adams, the Higher Education Program Coordinator at Phoenix Art Museum.
The Phoenix Art Museum launched the event in the spring of 2017 and continued to put it on for each semester.
“We keep having them because each successive college night has drawn a larger crowd,” said Adams. “We’re surrounded by college students and we want them to feel welcome here. The museum offers one more choice of location to relax and recharge and be social.”
In this College Night event, artwork and photography submitted by ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College students was also displayed outside the museum.
“This student show was the type of event that is student driven,” Adams said. “It showcases students’ work and connects them to the art community.”
ASU student Jaimie Sanchez De La Vega attended college night to support his brother, who had contributed paintings to the exhibit.
“It makes them feel a part of [art],” said De La Vega. “By being a part of [art] you’re more willing to contribute to support it and increase the [meaning] it has in our lives.”
Another ASU Barrett student, Christian Sulit, submitted some of his photography pieces from his recent trip to San Francisco.
“I found out about the art exhibit from Honors Digest,” Sulit said. “I like being able to make contact with people and showcase my stuff. From the student’s perspective it’s nice to put your stuff out there for everybody else to see.”
The art scene is a huge contributor to the downtown Phoenix atmosphere. Student Rachel Fletcher feels having events that expose students the the art scenes are a vital in regards of education as well as remembering the impacts that art can have on the community.
“With the rise of technology, I feel it’s so easy to get caught up in your own present-tense, so to speak,” Fletcher said. “Art opens your eyes… it can be so many different things.”
Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu.
Sara Edwards was the executive editor of Downtown Devil. She is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sara has additional bylines in Phoenix New Times, West Valley View, L.A. Downtown News and Boardwalk Times.
Sara is also the co-secretary for the Multicultural Student Journalists Coalition.
