The College Voice

Issue date: 2/18/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Kelly Smith DeAna Smith and Dann Taylor of Lawrence High School look at art at Princeton's "Failed Love" anti-Valentine's Day exhibit.

Media Credit: Kelly Smith Princeton University student, Sarah Donner, performs at "Failed Love."

The "Failed Love" exhibit held at Princeton Art Museum celebrated unsuccessful courtship with music performances, art and chocolate on February 11, 2001, just in time for Valentine's Day.

The exhibit was held on one of Princeton Art Museum's popular Late Night Thursdays, in which special exhibits are available to the public free of charge, starting at 7PM. The exhibit was different from the previous exhibits held on Thursdays because the anti-Valentine's Day theme was presented by the Student Advisory Board.

Natalie Guo, a member of the board, said, "we wanted to create a theme that was interesting to the students and the community." Members of the board who knew local artists asked them to perform at the event.
One such artist, Sarah Donner, explained that much of her inspiration in writing her songs comes from "actual people and hearing their stories."

Another artist, "Big Al" Williams, said, "music is like a math equation, you have all these different equations and variables and you're trying to fit them together to make it work."

Both artists are frequent performers at Princeton University and said they were excited to participate in the "Failed Love" event.

Along with the live performances there was a scavenger hunt in which participants were given a poem and had to match it with one of the paintings in the upper galleries. Each poem and painting pair related to the theme of failed love.

Even the food perpetuated the anti-Valentine's Day theme by including bags of M&M's imprinted with sayings such as "Heart Broken" and "Love Stinks." The buffet spread included chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate-covered pretzels and hot chocolate - just the right fare for anyone recovering from a broken heart.

"Failed Love" was attended by many couples, Princeton University students and members of the community.

The Student Advisory Board will be putting on another special exhibit in the spring of 2010 featuring a Versailles theme honoring the unification of two famous paintings that have not been exhibited together in 20 years. Details will be available closer to the event.

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