According to the mission statement of Georgetown University Art Aficionados, “creativity is and remains Georgetown University’s Achilles heel.” While many students have never been to the second floor of Walsh and think “American Gothic” refers to the weirdos they went to middle school with, GUAA has been trying its hardest to give the University’s population a greater appreciation for the arts. With Friday’s GTOWN@G40, an event exposing Georgetown students to the underground New Brow art movement, GUAA hopes to usher in a new era of artsy Hoyas.
The event takes place at G40: The Summit, a month-long art exhibition presented by the Art Whino gallery in Arlington. G40 focuses on New Brow art, a contemporary genre influenced by graffiti, street culture, and cartoons. With five floors and over 500 artists’ works, the exhibition is an immense display of New Brow murals and paintings, organized by the artists’ respective cities. Throughout March, G40 hosted events, such as musical performances and art workshops, to widen New Brow’s audience.
When GUAA first heard about G40: The Summit and its commitment to New Brow, its leaders didn’t immediately assume that salmon-shorts-wearing Georgetown students and raw, underground art could develop a mutual appreciation for each other.
“We started brainstorming about having a night at G40 with a band, food, and a bar, but didn’t entirely realize that it could come to fruition,” Alexandra Crane (COL ’12), a member of GUAA and GTOWN@G40’s organizational committee, wrote in an e-mail.
The club decided that an event would need involve more than just art in order to appeal to students. This prompted GUAA to book See-I, a local reggae band born from six members of Thievery Corporation.
The event looks to be a runaway success. “Once we booked See-I, we realized that the event was not only going to become a reality, but that it was going to be huge,” Crane said. The club advertised GTOWN@G40 as a night of food, music, and an open bar, with some artwork on display—if you’re interested. With an expected 350 to 400 attendees, most of whom don’t consider themselves art aficionados, the night is shaping up to spread appreciation for New Brow well past its on-campus fan base.
With the expected success of GTOWN@G40, GUAA is planning more artsy events within the Georgetown community. The club, funded by SAC, hopes to transform our campus full of future politicians into a center of artistic appreciation.
“Although The Summit will most likely be a one-time exhibition each year, we could host one major art event [or] party, depending on what’s happening in the DC area,” Crane wrote.
The group also plans to organize an event with WGTB called “Dark Side of the Rainbow.” The event will involve the simultaneous screening of The Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon too see if the urban legend holds true and the two sync up.
