Athens, Ga. – The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia will present Museum Mix, its free late-night art party, July 24 from 8 p.m. to midnight. Museum Mix is held three times yearly and includes a DJ, snacks and refreshments, with all of the museum’s galleries open until midnight.
The summer Museum Mix is inspired by the exhibition “Shapes That Talk to Me: The Athens Scene, 1975-85.” The DJ will be Michael Lachowski, co-founder of and bass player for the seminal Athens band Pylon. Lachowski will play records that Pylon members and others listened to during the early years of the Athens music scene, including music by Pere Ubu, The Ramones, Public Image Ltd, Talking Heads, Cabaret Voltaire, Elvis Costello, Suicide, Kraftwerk and many more.
Lachowski, who also handles public relations for the museum and helped organize “Shapes That Talk to Me,” said, “The social scene that the early Athens music scene came out of was based around art students, art faculty and visual art itself-but our parties were also fueled by new music from outside Athens. Because access to new music was always a challenge, the communal sharing of new acquisitions in social contexts was taken seriously. While we were dancing and cavorting, we were absorbing an education in music-the influences that shaped Pylon and other bands-and that’s the music I want to revisit at this hot summer Museum Mix.”
Betty Alice Fowler, grants writer for the museum and also a co-curator of “Shapes That Talk to Me,” added, “Definitely check out Museum Mix to find out how all the dancing here in Athens really got started.”
“Shapes That Talk to Me” and this event are held in conjunction with Art Rocks Athens, a festival exploring and documenting the works of art and music that established Athens as a cultural center in the 1970s and 1980s. From May 1 through Dec. 31, venues across Athens are taking part in the collaborative celebration through exhibitions, films, lectures and other events.
Other participating Art Rocks Athens locations with exhibitions still on view are the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries and the Lyndon House Arts Center.
Sponsors for Museum Mix include Earth Fare, The National, Northeast Sales Distributing and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art. For more information, call 706-542-4662 or search #museummix.
Georgia Museum of Art
Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is located in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex on the East Campus of the University of Georgia. The address is 90 Carlton St., University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30602-6719. For more information, including hours, see http://georgiamuseum.org or call 706-542-4662.
