Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts to celebrate its 1st birthday with a bang

Colossal glass and metal representations of the big bang theory. A dark, ethereal chamber of ever-moving pixels in infinitely shifting patterns. Wild Moccasins on stage. Creative cocktails. And, of course, birthday cake.

The Moody Center for the Arts will celebrate its first birthday Friday, Feb. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. with a festive, fun and free party that’s open to the public. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow)

The Moody Center for the Arts will celebrate its first birthday Friday, Feb. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. with a festive, fun and free party that’s open to the public. Guests are invited to enjoy the Moody Center’s newest exhibitions, which opened Feb. 2, and dance along to a live performance by Houston indie-pop favorite Wild Moccasins while enjoying beverages, birthday cake and Big Bang-inspired art.

“We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the Moody’s first birthday with a public party,” said Executive Director Alison Weaver. “In our inaugural year, we welcomed more than 12,000 visitors to exhibitions by internationally renowned artists such Thomas Struth, Olafur Eliasson and Mickalene Thomas, mounted original productions such as ‘An Iliad’ and ‘A Proust Sonata’ and commissioned site-specific work by emerging artists like David Scanavino. We look forward to more exciting projects in the year to come.”

The award-winning building, designed by renowned Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan, is dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration through the arts. The intersection between arts and science is on display in the Moody Center’s current exhibitions, including Josiah McElheny’s “Island Universe,” which explores the multiverse scenario of eternal inflation, and Leo Villareal’s “Particle Chamber,” which uses advanced projection technology and computer algorithms to display its constantly shifting array of pixels.

Josiah McElheny’s ‘Island Universe’ is a monumental installation of five hanging sculptures inspired by the multiverse scenario of eternal inflation, an extension of the big bang theory. (Photo by Todd-White Art Photography, London)

In the Central Gallery, visitors will find a unique exhibition of sculpture, drawing, and collage organized by Rice’s Lisa Lapinski, Assistant Professor in the department of visual and dramatic arts (VADA). ‘Pile the Wood High!‘ features the works of three generations of artists, including noted California sculptor Hirsch Perlman, chair of UCLA’s Department of Art; Lapinski, who was a graduate student of Perlman’s at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in the 1990s; and Anna Helm, Lapinski’s student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Parking is available for $5 in West Lot 4, best accessed from Campus Entrance No. 8 on University Boulevard at Stockton Street. Additional parking information and maps can be found here.

The Moody Center for the Arts, 6100 Main St., is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit moody.rice.edu.