On Thursday night, The Wellin Museum of Art kicked off Hamilton’s Halloween festivities with their very own HalloWellin event. The museum drew inspiration from its current exhibition by Rhona Bitner’s Resound which hosts photographs of the stages and studios that shaped American music. The exhibition inspired the name of this year’s theme: “On Hallowed Ground.” The main entertainment of the night was a band club showcase that included our on-campus bands dressed up right on theme. The invitation for HalloWellin suggested that its attendants “get into the spirit with a costume inspired by classic rock and rollers!” Students came in droves dressed in their finest exhibition-related costumes; some opted for cowboy hats or clown wigs while others chose to rock on with their favorite band tees. Some students also decided to use their wardrobes to bring their own favorite artists to life. For example, a pair of students decided to dress up as Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood! The Wellin offered a face painting station that helped turn students into their favorite punk artists and a button station to make punk rock pins. For those all punked out, attendees could sit down with some autumnal sparkling cider and a range of ghouly hors d’oeuvres.

Upon walking into the museum, there were tables with all the refreshments one could need to fuel up before the show or take a break after. Music poured out from the back as the bands jammed on guitars, drums and piano paired with incredible singing that rocked the house down! Students were directed to walk through the exhibit before reaching the main event, so if they hadn’t gotten a chance to visit the wonderful new exhibit, they could take some time to check out its photos. For Bitner, the motivation behind her pieces is for “viewers to imagine themselves within the spaces and situations the work depicts so that the photographs will spark their own memories and experiences. This synergy is the pulse of the work.” The performances praised and fulfilled this motivation by using the very space of the exhibit to not only spark memories of past experiences but create new moments of performance that will last in the students’ memories. The music filled the exhibit with the very “synergy” that inspired Bitner’s work.

Wandering through the exhibit, the photos of studios and performance spaces created a musical mood and right in the back of the room was the Wellin’s very own concert packed with people singing and dancing the night away. The bands used the performance area of the exhibit to create a small concert venue in the back of the museum. The venue could barely hold all of its visitors and the seats were all filled with people spilling over the sides to make room for their best dance moves. People who gathered both on the seats and on the sidelines were breaking out their favorite dances to jam out to the bands’ renditions of some classic favorites. Some of these crowd-pleasers included a couple recognizable tunes such as “Love Story” by Taylor Swift and “You and I” by Lady Gaga. If the students needed a break from the dancing, they could take a seat in the padded sound room that allowed them to experience a mellowed version of the performance.

The night brought together Rhona Bitner’s exhibit and the spirit of Halloween to sing a final farewell to fall as students prepare for a snowy Hamilton and the arrival of all things winter will bring to the Hill.