Galleries display ‘solstice’ art for event

Every year, the summer sostice takes place on June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. Commonly referred to as the middle of the summer, the summer solstice refers to the axial tilt of the Earth toward the sun.

On June 22, the IU Art Museum will celebrate the longest day and shortest night of the year — the summer solstice — with select works that evoke the spirit of the Midsummer Night from 7 to 9 p.m.

During the event, all three of the museum’s permanent collection galleries will be open, in addition to a self-guided tour available for visitors.

“Each curator chose pieces that they felt spoke to the theme of the evening,” said Diane Pelrine, curator of African, Oceanic and Pre-Colombian Art.

In making her selections, Pelrine opted for a variety of themes, including one particularly straightforward: pieces that are used during nighttime.

“I chose a mask made by the Baining peoples of New Britain for one of my pieces,” she said. “This mask is specifically worn at night during bonfires and ceremonies, and it holds a lot of cultural importance.”

Visitors to the third-floor gallery will also see a West Mexican jar in the shape of a pumpkin with three frogs supporting it and a face mask from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Other featured pieces for the evening include Rockwell Kent’s “Twilight of Man” and Walter Sigmund Hampel’s “The Vision” in the first-floor Art of the Western World Gallery.

The evening will also include free food, drinks and entertainment. Local acoustic jazz musician Curtis Cantwell Jackson is scheduled to perform. A cash bar will also be available.

— Caitlin Ryan