Art is alive and thriving in Ames this fall and Iowa State students, as well as people from the Ames community, have dozens of options to experience art in the coming months.

The Brunnier Museum, The Octagon Center for the Arts, Gallery 181 and the Farm House Museum are all featuring plenty of opportunities to view art.

“You don’t have to travel to Des Moines or Chicago or New York to experience the arts. It’s right here in our own community,” said Marilyn Vaughn, Communications Specialist for University Museums at Iowa State.

“We want to get people to participate and expose them to the arts,” Vaughn said, adding that she wants the arts to be an active part of students’ lives.

The Brunnier Museum hopes to achieve this by creating programs and exhibits that are interactive.

One of the programs Vaughn said has been successful in past years is the Big Brain Cafe, a program happening about once a month on Thursday nights that gives people the opportunity to chat with artists from ISU and elsewhere, as well as see their work.

The first installment of the Big Brain Cafe this year will be from Amalia Amaki, an expert on African American artists.

The Brunnier Museum is also showcasing a variety of new exhibitions this year, including “Through These Eyes: George Washington Carver at Tuskegee,” “College of Design Faculty Exhibition” and “Robert Hillestad : Threads of Celebration.”

The Carver exhibit is currently on loan from the University of Delaware and outlines the work of African American photographer P.H. Polk and his photographs of the Iowa State alumnus and renowned scientist George Washington Carver’s years at the Tuskegee Institute.

According to a press release, 40 out of 118 photographs included in the exhibit profile Carver, who was the first African American to graduate from Iowa State. The pictures depict Carver conducting experiments, surveying crop conditions, lecturing students and participating in leisure activities.

In addition, Vaughn said, the display “shows the whole gamut of southern life from impoverished people living in shacks to celebrities.”

The exhibit is going on now and runs through Jan. 3. A reception will take place on Sept. 10 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the museum, located in the Scheman building in the Iowa State Center.

ISU President Martin Jischke, as well as student body president Bryan Burkhardt are scheduled to speak at the reception.

“The College of Design Faculty Exhibition” began yesterday and includes work from faculty in the college’s four departments (architecture, art and design, community and regional planning and landscape architecture). The exhibit is a celebration of the college’s 20th anniversary and runs through October 25.

“Robert Hillestad: Threads of Celebration” profiles the artist’s 20 year career as a textile artist, displaying coats, dance costumes and wall sculptures.

The Farm House Museum is another place students can go to experience some art on campus. Vaughn said the museum is decorated with antiques from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

“You can take a trip back through history by going into the museum,” Vaughn explained.

Although the museum was scheduled to begin renovations in July, the project has been postponed, giving students some extra time to visit before it is renovated.

But campus is not the only place students can go to see art in Ames. The Octagon Center for the Arts (located at 427 Douglas Ave.) is kicking off its fall season with “Art in the Park 1998: A Day of the Arts.”

The event will give Ames area artists a chance to showcase their work and to make it available for sale. Live music and dancing groups will also provide entertainment.

“Art in the Park” will take place Saturday at Hilton Coliseum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $3 in advance and are available at the Octagon or event sponsor Firstar Bank.

“We expect it to be a very exciting season,” said Patrice Beam, Executive Director of The Octagon Center for the Arts.

Beam wants to encourage more students to visit the center and see what it has to offer.

“We think one of our advantages to students is that all of the exhibitions are free and open seven days a week. We are just one of many arts-related activities in Ames,” she explained.

“I think Ames has a considerable variety of Arts from music to dance, its a thriving place. It gives people who live here an excellent choice of opportunities. Between the Octagon and the Brunnier, there’s something to do all of the time,” she added.

Other highlights at the Octagon Center include the “Iowa Watercolor Society Exhibition,” going on through Sept. 16 and featuring 34 paintings from 32 Iowa artists, and “Hmong Artistry: Preserving a Culture on Cloth,” a profile of the textile art of the Hmong people of China.

Admission to all of the events at the Brunnier Museum, the Farm House Museum and the Octagon Center for The Arts are free.