End of the World Party: Earth’s Last Call (Maybe)

The best part about any of the end of the world prediction is always experienced the morning after. It is often in the bright light of the morning that many will turn off their phones or a pop a pill before the public relations exercise of backpedaling begins.

While our local Mayan faithful may be discovered doing naked handstands on the JW Marriott’s Helipad awaiting a cosmic anal probe, clearly UICA has not drunk the Mayan Kool Aid as they commemorate this occasion with an art show and local music.

On Friday night, not only are they opening a brand new art exhibition that has… wait for it… an end date of Feb. 17, but they are also celebrating with an End of the World Party immediately after the opening.

 “To imagine the future is an act central to our species. Art, religion, and science are all extensions of an innate human desire to peer around this profoundly blind corner,” says Brett Colley, GVSU Professor of Art and co-curator of UICA’s Utopia/Dystopia. “The artists whose work is included in this exhibition seem to recognize that, in a very real sense, the future is always here… the form it will take is visible in our present day world, one of near infinite possibilities.”

(Insert the sound of your mind exploding.)

Colley, along with Mandy Cano Villalobos, Professor of Painting at Calvin College, have selected 14 contemporary artists to present around the theme of Utopia/Dystopia. Colley and Villalobos are both members of the all-volunteer UICA Curatorial Board comprised of artists and educators Maureen Nollette, Ann Cole, Margie Earlandson, Miriam Slager, Stephanie Wooster, Michael Ingold, and Brandon Alman.

Immediately after the opening reception, guests are invited to welcome the new age of Aquarius with mind-expanding musical acts Tokyo Morose and Haunted Leather.  

UICA claims the world will not end, but they encourage you to act like it is.

If you happen to feel so inclined to lighten your earthly burden of cash and make a sizable donation in the name of the End of the World, I am sure they will not deny this generous offering of faith. Just be aware of the morning after — there’s got to be a morning after. Drink (and donate) responsibly.  

Admission: Party: $4 members / $8 non-members