By Jillian Jennett
Contributing Writer
The Museum of Fine Arts hosted a fun-filled college night.
The MFA opened its doors, for free, to all local college students on Oct. 30 for some chilling Halloween fun. The event was met with hundreds, if not thousands, of students over the course of the nearly three-hour event. A line filled with Boston’s best and brightest trailed out the door from the beginning of the night all the way to the end. Truly, it was a night no one would forget.
The museum highlighted some of its most “terrifying” pieces in its collection in a free one-night-only handout to all attendees. The event mainly focused on their newest collection, “Francisco Goya: Order and Disorder,” filled with paintings of witches and zombie-like portraits. The Egyptian mummies were also a popular choice, especially for those donning matching costumes, often made out of toilet paper and Halloween spirit.
All students in attendance were encouraged to dress in their Halloween costumes to show off their creativity. Dressed as famous painters, paintings, and the occasional pop culture icon, hundreds dressed up while just as many went without a costume just to enjoy the event. Some got a little creative and did both.
“My costume is a well-rested college student,” said one attendee. “You’re supposed to dress up as something you’re not, right?”
The night wasn’t all about dressing up or checking out some beautiful and creepy paintings. The museum provided gelato and a photo booth for all attendees who were willing to wait in the lines for both. There was also a live performance by the local band Grey Season playing their signature folk-rock music. Dozens of costumed students took to the atrium floor to dance the night away to their sweet music.
Students could be seen in every exhibit and every wing of the museum, some hurrying from room to room to get the full experience. The event was totally free to all college students, so many of them were there to get their money’s worth.
Art students could be seen sketching some of the most notable pieces while non-art students looked on, both fascinated by the actual pieces themselves and the works of art that were being created in sketch books before them.
The event ended just before 10 p.m. when all the art-loving college students poured out of the Huntington and Fenway entrances of the museum. Some were exhausted, havings reached the limit of their cultural enrichment allowance for the night. Others were excitedly exchanging future late- night plans to visit the museum and see what they may have missed.
At the end of the night, everyone won. The museum got thousands of attendees and a little bit more buzz about its one-of-a-kind Goya exhibit. Students had the opportunity to experience these special events the museum was putting on and experience a night at the museum. One thing everyone agreed on was that they could not wait until there was another event like this in the future.
