'Embracing Nature' opens at IU Art Museum

Comedian Lily Tomlin and philosopher Aristotle shared the spotlight last Friday night.

Michael Metzger, professor emeritus in the Kelley School of Business, lectured at the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts prior to the opening reception for “Embracing Nature,” an exhibit by former fine arts professor Barry Gealt.

He featured Tomlin and Aristotle in his PowerPoint presentation.

Metzger’s talk mainly focused on the psychology behind virtue, though he balanced the information with frequent wisecracks, receiving chuckles from the audience.

“Good art in the service of bad ideas is a terrible thing,” he said.

Metzger explained concepts such as confirmation bias and the false uniqueness effect among others.

He used quotes by Tomlin, Aristotle, Socrates, Yogi Berra and more to support his
arguments.

He said people acquire virtue by doing virtuous things until they have acquired the height of virtuous action.

“How should we live and think and teach?” Metzger asked the audience. “Who, what should we be?”

He ended the talk by thanking Gealt for “the example of a life lived virtuously.”

After the lecture, the crowd moved from the fine arts building to the IU Art Museum for the opening reception.

Some ate tomato and basil crostinis and tiramisu bites in the atrium while others went into the special exhibitions gallery to observe Gealt’s work.

Anthony Moravec, chairman of the National Advisory Board for the Art Museum, attended both Metzger’s lecture and the reception.

A friend and collector of Gealt’s, Moravec said he was surprised by the topic of the lecture.

“I didn’t expect to see a lecture of such deep and thoughtful consideration,” he said.
Moravec’s quadruplet daughters were also at the reception. Though not all of them made it to the lecture, his daughter Katherine did.

“I really thought it was refreshing because it was insightful and entertaining,” she said.

Gealt was present along with his wife, Heidi Gealt, director of the IU Art Museum.

He said the main thing he wants people to take away from his exhibit is that the land is important.

Barry Gealt said he loved the different angle of Metzger’s talk.

“He did exactly what I wanted for IU,” Barry Gealt said. “He gave everyone a talk about how to think about ideas and life.”