Photos by Shuyue Luo and Sherry Yang
The Pepperdine Weisman Museum donned its own costume of indoor Halloween decorations Monday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m., for the Come As You Art event.
The Art History Student Society, a group of Art History majors and minors, puts on events throughout the year. All the events they host are free and exist for the sole purpose of promoting the study of art and art history.
Art History Student Society President Hannah Fleming said tying the event to Halloween is a fun way to incentivize people to come to the museum.
“Halloween is a time for people to express the art they like,” Fleming said. “It makes sharing our art here more tangible when people get to dress up.”
Come As You Art is their biggest event of the year. Fleming said the intention is to get people in touch with the art in the Los Angeles area and get students to come to the museum.
“This is some students’ first visit to the museum,” Fleming said. “Some even said, ‘We didn’t know we were allowed to come in here.’ We want to let students know of the educational opportunities and exhibits at the museum. While art history classes do make use of the museum and do projects here, people don’t really get exposure to it outside of art history classes.”
Professor Michael Zakian is the Director of the Weisman Museum and Adjunct Professor of Art History. Zakian said the first few Come As You Art events took place at the house of Art History Professor Cynthia Colburn, however, it was more for Art History majors. Since then, he said he pushed for the event to be moved to the Weisman Museum.
“I wanted to open it up to the entire student body because the museum is a public space,” Zakian said. “We usually do exhibitions of professional artists and every April we do the senior’s show called the Studio Art Thesis Exhibition for seniors graduating from the art department. But what’s nice about this event is it gives any student a chance to show off their creativity.”
While the Halloweens decorations added a festive touch to the current art pieces on display, the real art pieces were the students. Students and faculty donned costumes including Leonardo da Vinci, Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh. By the end of the event, there were nine costume entries. Prizes for best costume included a Disneyland tickets for first place, a GoPro for second place, a record player for third and a polaroid for fourth place. Georgiana Gibson and Sarah Parker, who dressed as Pepperdine statues, won the Disneyland tickets.
The Pepperdine Pickups are Pepperdine’s premier all-male a cappella singing group who were the first performance of the night.
Junior Matthew Doughty is a member of the Pepperdine Pickups. Doughty said he loves being a part of the Pepperdine Pickups because it’s a small group of guys that allows them to come together and bond like a family.
“It’s our first performance of the school year, and I love that the audience just comes here to hang out and have fun,” Doughty said. “Plus the acoustics in the building are amazing.”
The Pepperdine Step Team, which performs at events such as Blue and Orange Madness during Waves Weekend, basketball games and the annual step show, was also part of the festivities. Junior Shanelle Wilkins said the choreography they dance to at the Come As You Art event took some material from Blue and Orange Madness, but on a smaller scale.
“I’m a big art fan so it’s fun to be around this form of art,” Wilkins said. “I’m a stepper and dancer so I’m used to that form of art but seeing this form of art is really unique.”
The final performance of the night was by Dance in Flight, Pepperdine’s dance company. Natalie Chan is a member of Dance in Flight and dances yearly at the Come As You Art event since her freshman year.
“It’s always special to share such an intimate space with an audience because movement is vulnerable expression,” Chan said.
The event also provided an array of food and other refreshments, including fresh crepes. With no cost, students are able to attend the Come As You Art event simply as they are, no costume necessary and experience both art on campus and in the world around them.
The Art History Student is partnering with the Pepperdine Board to send students on a trip to The Broad this Saturday, Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission, transportation and lunch will be provided. As space is limited, students can sign up at the following link.
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