The Alternative Press

MONTCLAIR, NJ - After missing November because of a certain hurricane, Free First Thursday Nights will resume December 6. This new initiative, which the Montclair Art Museum launched this past October, invites MAM’s entire community to enjoy a night out at the Museum. Every first Thursday of the month, October–June, MAM will be open 5 – 9 p.m. with free admission, dynamic programming, and a full-service bar.

Offerings will change on a monthly basis, providing something new to see or do at every First Thursday Night.

In December, tours of the second exhibition in MAM’s New Directions series of contemporary art, Saya Woolfalk: The Empathics, will be conducted every hour on the half hour (5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m.).   In connection with the Saya Woolfalk exhibition, MAM’s Book Club will discuss Lilith’s Brood, an evocative epic of human transformation by multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winner Octavia E. Butler.

The Store at MAM welcomes Meghan Riley for an artist’s trunk sale, featuring new collections and the opportunity to meet the artist.

The Museum also encourages First Thursday visitors to participate in our 2013 New Directions exhibition. This third in the series, opening Fall 2013, will feature acclaimed artist Jean Shin, who creates sculptures and installations using materials gathered from the communities in which she works. Donate your metal flatware (forks, knives, spoons, serving utensils, etc.) to her project. At this Free First Thursday Night, every piece of flatware will earn you one raffle ticket for a chance to win exciting MAM prizes.

In addition, the evening will include two performances, at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m, by Passing Notes, Montclair High School’s a capella group, singing popular tunes.

The regular features of the evening include a full service bar, offered in partnership with Egan & Sons, with special First Thursday Night prices and signature cocktails, and live music provided by the Montclair State University John J. Cali School of Music Jazz Studies Program, consisting of Jonathan Greenberg (alto saxophone), Robert Butkowski (guitar), Taylor Clifford (bass), Max Adler (drums), and Tim Egan (tenor saxophone). Besides the Saya Woolfalk exhibition, both Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam, and the Land and Patterns, Systems, Structures: Abstraction in American Art will be open for visitors, along with the Native American Collection and the George Inness Gallery.

For more information about the December 6 First Thursday Night as well as upcoming First Thursdays, including a regularly updated schedule, visit montclairartmuseum.org/free-first-thurs-nights.

To attend the Book Club discussion, please RSVP to mkelshaw@montclairartmuseum.org.

Social Media

Visitors are encouraged to share their First Thursday Nights experience on social media. Find the Museum on:

• Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/montclairartmuseum
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/#!/MAMmontclair New! Use the hashtag #MAMfftn to follow the discussion about Free First Thursday Nights.
• Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/montclairartmuseum/ New! Share your photos with MAM in our Free First Thursday Nights group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/mamfftn/
• Foursquare – https://foursquare.com/v/montclair-art-museum/4b1165c8f964a520ab7b23e3

Fall Exhibitions on View

Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam, and the Land
September 28, 2012 – January 20, 2013

Saya Woolfalk: The Empathics
September 28, 2012 – January 6, 2013

Patterns, Systems, Structures: Abstraction in American Art
December 3, 2011 – May 19, 2013

For more about these exhibitions, visit montclairartmuseum.org.