Micaela Basilici on the steps of the Marjorie Petty Harper Sculpture Court.

The museum was dressed up in holiday style for the Friday with Friends event on December 5^th. There was food and music as members of the Friends of the Museum and presenters mingled around the Marjorie Petty Harper Sculpture Court. To start off the program, Micaela Basilici sang the aria Quando M’en Vo’ from La Bohème, an opera that Ball State will be putting on in the Spring. The performance dates are March 27 at 7:30pm and March 29 at 2:00pm in Sursa Hall. I talked to Micaela after her performance about La Bohème. She explained the story, which takes place around Christmas time in Paris and follows the lives of four bohemians as they experience life, love, and tragic ends. She also told me that the Broadway musical Rent is based on the story of La Bohème. Jerome Herron, who had sung in La Bohème in the past, said “her aria was beautiful.” Another guest, Marcia Wade, said, “to think of this talent in Muncie, Indiana.”

After the magnificent performance by Micaela Basilici, members of The Infinite Museum presented their interactive website which brings a new dimension to the museum experience. They spoke about wanting to take a different approach to museums and produce something that will allow visitors to think about art in new ways and be transformed by art. Their website give the viewer prompts that relate to an artwork on display in the David Owsley Museum of Art. The visitor can then answer the prompt and see others’ responses. The prompts take the viewer away from traditional ways of thinking about art and allow them to think about connections, moral codes, an alternative meaning for the artwork, or the feelings of those in the artwork. The students told me that their intended audience for their website is Ball State students as they come individually to the museum for research. Although students are the Infinite Museum’s target audience anyone can use the website, which can be found at www.theinfinitemuseum.com.

Marjorie Petty Harper Sculpture Court during Friday with Friends.

I’d like to invite everyone to visit the museum during winter break. The museum will be open regular business hours, 9 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday and 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm Saturday and Sunday, for most of the break. However, the museum will close at 3 pm December 24 and December 31. All campus offices will be closed on December 25, 26, and January 1.