Students attend museum event

By Megan Finnerty
Features Editor

For many Purdue students and community members who stood talking and sampling wines and cheeses, the first Fusion Friday at the Lafayette Art Museum was worth the trip into the freshly fallen snow.

Tricia Billinghire, a senior in the Schools of Engineering, said she had a great time sampling the seven wines, various cheeses and desserts, but she had the most fun meeting people.

"This is more culture than I knew we had in Lafayette," she said with a laugh. "There are so many students on campus who would love this; it’s a new, interesting way to meet people."

Village Bottle Shoppe supplied a variety of wines, which the crowd of roughly 150 young people sipped while touring the museum. Wines ranged from a sparkling dessert white to a powerful, dry Tuscan red.

The Fusion Friday series, sponsored by the museum, will be held the last Friday of every month from 8 to 10 p.m. and is geared toward college students and a mostly under-30 crowd.

Themes change each month. The planning committee is arranging an Irish night for next month and a salsa night for the following month, according to Mark Broda, committee member and senior in the School of Technology.

The entire museum is open and filled with music during Fusion Fridays to encourage visitors to wander, glass in hand, cracker crumbs on lips, through the museum’s exhibits.

The mostly student crowd filled a lowly lit first-floor room with a variety of people and styles. Visitors ranged from women dressed in chic black accompanying men dressed in sport coats and ties to young women in jeans and sweater-coats chatting with men in khakis and rugbys.

Erica Kripp, a senior in the School of Science, was there with some friends and said the party atmosphere made the museum seem more accessible and less pretentious than expected.

"I’ve had so much fun and met so many people; there’s a lot of different types of people here," she said. "Coming to an art museum can be pretentious, but here everyone’s really laid-back and having a good time."

For people tired of the wine selection — or not in the mood — the Java Roaster supplies free cookies and coffee and Sgt. Preston's provided several types of beers for purchase.

The next Fusion Friday will be from 8 to 10 p.m. on Feb.23 at the Lafayette Art Museum, located on 9th Street.

Students plan vacations

Purdue offers patrol service to community

Local support group helps with cancer survival

Students attend museum event

Student foresight prevents Spring Break travel scams

FEATURES DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 256

Features editor:
Megan Finnerty

To send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org