Voices echoed from ASU Art Museum's downstairs entrance as Yolanda Bejarano's voice filled the air of the courtyard. The distinct scent of pizza drifted down from the roof's terrace above.
Museum board members and staff, exhibition supporters, artists and students gathered Friday night to celebrate the opening of the "New American City: Artists Look Forward" exhibit and the fourth annual Welcome Back Students Party at the ASU Art Museum.
The event included free refreshments, two live bands and a lot of planning.
"It was a team effort," said Heather Lineberry, senior curator.
Laura Wenzel, assistant registrar for the museum and pizza distributor for the night, said she ordered 225 pizzas for the event.
Snow Songs, a two-person band, began the musical entertainment. Snow Songs member Bejarano was dressed in a scarlet red dress, singing and playing her electric guitar. Snow Songs was followed by the band Sweet Bleeders.
Bejarano, one of the participants in the museum's "Art Inspires Music" exhibit, was asked to sing at the Welcome Back Students Party about a month ago, she said.
Graphic design junior Banel Bucknor said she really enjoyed the atmosphere.
"The exhibit was very informative," she said. "It is very different from art in the U.K., where I'm from."
Chemical engineering freshman Lehyla Heward said she liked the interaction of live music and an art exhibition opening.
The exhibition, which is made up of pieces by 23 local artists, was partly inspired by President Michael Crow's goal to transform ASU into the New American University, museum curator John Spiak said.
"The art reflects community artists' reaction to changes in the city," Spiak said. "This is the point in the development of Phoenix that we need to define."
The exhibit is the museum's largest this year and will run through Jan. 27, 2007.
Reach the reporter at: Jennifer.Oconnor.1@asu.edu.
