On Thursday, October 29^th, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts hosted “College Night: Throwback Thursday” from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event was free for all college students with a valid student ID. Once in attendance, one could see multiple pieces that correlated to Throwback Thursday.
As students wandered, a live performance commenced throughout the space. The band, Groovin’ You, played in the Shapiro Family Courtyard. There was a filtered photo booth sponsored by the museum as well.
Upon entry, one of the first things students did was take advantage of the free gelato served at the Taste Café in the Linde Family Wing. Unfortunately, there were no options for those with dietary needs.
Usually filled with tourists and art lovers during the day, the museum tends to have people brushing shoulders. Due to College Night, the museum was on the quiet side. Fortunately, students were able to browse without being bothered by other museum goers.
The newest feature of the museum opened up to the public this evening. In this new feature, multiple bronze sculptures scattered the room. They depicted a young goddess named Diana, along with other sculptures of a grinning nude woman holding grapes and a young child. It looked as though the sculpture was taking a selfie with the grapes.
Something else to take note of was the ridiculous amount of artists who portrayed baby Jesus in their work as having sculpted abs. In case one was not familiar with the anatomy of children, they do not have abs.
Another interesting section of the museum was the Art of the Ancient World wing. In the Mediterranean area, viewers were able to see many marble sculptures of men, women, and mythological creatures.
There was also a display dedicated to Khaled al-Asaad, an archeologist who was recently beheaded by the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS) after refusing to share the location of the treasures of Palmyra, a city in Syria. There was a notebook present for students to pen a tribute to the fallen archeologist, where the languages represented were wide and varied.
All in all, the MFA’s College Night was a great time. Every University of Massachusetts Boston student can attend the museum free of charge with their current student ID, regardless of College Night.
If students reading this have a chance to attend: go.