De Saisset exhibit welcomes students

By T. Esperas

Believe it or not, the Hayward Artweek reported in 1972 that de Saisset Museum outdrew athletics, intramural sports, outside speakers, and student clubs as the favorite non-academic venue at Santa Clara. Thirty years later, the museum is making a consorted effort to bring University students back to the museum after a significant decline in their presence. On Friday, Nov. 8, de Saisset will host the very first "College Night."

Let's face it, there are students that barely know how to pronounce de Saisset correctly or do not know where it is located on campus.

"I was shocked at how many students that were not aware that we existed," said the museum's exhibition curator, Karen Kinzle.

College Night is an important event that will begin to bridge the gap between students and the museum. Kinzle views the evening as a liaison to attract more students to regular museum events such as artists and exhibition opening receptions. The goal is for students to visit the museum because they are genuinely interested in the museum as a viable cultural and artistic resource and not because they were forced to as a class requirement.

Erin Tackney, a Santa Clara senior marketing and studio art major and Publicity Assistant at the museum, organized the evening as an opportunity for students to enjoy a night specifically catered to them. The event will provide an opportunity for students to meet an artist, eat and drink and enjoy live music all in one venue. Tackney believes that the museum is an institution for students to be proud of and wants to rejuvenate their enthusiasm for art. She hopes that College Night will lead to similar events as well as an increase in student membership at the museum, which Tackney believes will aid in attracting more well-known artist exhibits to the museum.

The evening's Chinese theme compliments the current exhibition, "Painterly Proofs: Prints by Hung Liu." Liu is scheduled to be at the event during the early part of the evening to speak with students and give an informal gallery walk through. This will be Liu's second appearance at the museum.

The night also includes a hands-on Chinese calligraphy activity and a performance by Chinese dragon dancers. Free Chinese food and a cash bar will be provided throughout the night. The evening will conclude with a performance by Complex Molecules, a hip-hop group comprised of Juniors Santigie Fofana-Dura and Joseph Martinez.

"College Night is an excellent idea because it brings different entertainment on campus that specifically is coming from students, "said Fofana-Dura. "It brings in culture and a different flavor."

The museum has a permanent collection of 9,500 objects, which include fine art, decorative art, and historic, anthropological, archeological artifacts. The museum's collections include Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and 19th century prints by artists such as Albrecht Durer, William Hogarth, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

The collection also includes modern works by Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. There is an extensive inventory of contemporary prints, with a special emphasis on artists from the San Francisco Bay Area, such as Robert Arneson, Robert Bechtle, and Nathan Oliveira. The photography collection includes hundreds of prints by artists such as Ansel Adams, Ruth Bernhard, Edward Curtis, Imogen Cunningham, Judy Dater and Weegee. The museum is also known for its important role in early exhibition of video art.

"Art is the voice to the masses," Tackney said.