A few weeks after the Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM)’s grand opening, the museum was bustling with students once again on Thursday, Dec. 4. On a chilly weeknight at the end of the semester, students had the opportunity to trade problem sets for postcards, crowding around hot chocolate and handmade luggage tags as improv jokes echoed through the museum’s airy halls.
The Student Advisory Board’s annual Student Gala, this year entitled “Voyage,” filled the many halls and pavilions of the museum with food, music, activities, and conversation. This is the first year the Gala has been held in the new museum space — in past years, it has been taking place in Campus Club, with much of the school not noticing any relation to the art museum.
“We’re excited to be back in full space,” said Reza Ramji ’28, a member of the board. “It’s gorgeous here.”
In the museum’s Creativity Lab, students could make their own luggage tags, keychains, and postcards. There was also a scavenger hunt, where students explored the galleries, photographing different works of art as they went. Once students had taken all the photos, they showed their pictures to the Information Desk and were entered in a raffle to win PUAM swag.
I personally enjoyed a good time in the Creativity Lab picking out the leather color of my tag, hand-stamping it with my initials, and creating my own personalized keychain with glass beads all while enjoying time with friends I just happened to run into.
The gala also featured live music and dance performances in the Grand Hall from student groups including La Vie En Cello, diSiac Dance Company, Fuzzy Dice Improv, and the Nassoons. The performances took place next to extensive tables of charcuterie, chocolate-covered fruits, hot chocolate, and more.
“Getting spaces where groups can perform without people having to pay is especially nice,” said Fuzzy Dice member Nina Obidairo-Danielsen ’29. “Once you experience a live performance, you tend to want to continue.” In this way, the gala performance space uplifted student arts ecosystems across campus, not just within the museum.
The Student Advisory Board has been around since 2008, and has persisted through the shift between the old and new museums. “There’s not quite as much you can do with Campus Club,” Ramji said. “I didn’t even know we had a board last year, because we didn’t really have a museum.”
“This is primarily a student-facing event … We try to do activities that really attract students with cute ideas like hot chocolate with cream and desserts,” said Student Advisory Board president Jessica Guo ’27.
The events themselves were varied, combining dance, orchestral strings, and improv in one place. The new lofty space’s beautiful lighting, intentionally-designed acoustics, and abundance of seating elevated student art in a way that Campus Club, as a smaller venue not crafted as intentionally as a performance space, simply could not for past galas.
“Honestly, I just needed a break from studying. It’s the perfect way to relax,” said Kayla Bullock ’28.
The gala was a glimpse into the way the new museum welcomes students into its doors both for art and for community.
Devon Williams is a contributing writer for The Prospect and a member of the Class of 2028. She can be reached at dw9268@princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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