Art hung on the wall and music flowed through the air Thursday as guests attending A Little Lunch Music at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art filled their stomachs with a gourmet lunch.
The event, which takes place every Thursday at noon, features a musical performance and lunch from the Museum Cafe.
"It will continue until Dec. 16 and typically happens in the fall and spring," said Colleen Bourdeau, marketing and events manager for the museum. "It has definitely been growing this semester."
While last week featured the Auburn University Chamber Winds, the Woodfield Trio usually plays during the event.
The Woodfield Trio consists of Patrick McCurry on flute, Charles Wright on cello and Barbara Acker-Mills on piano.
"We've only officially been a trio for about six months," McCurry said. "We do Baroque pieces by Bach and Handel, pieces from the Classical period by Clementi and Mozart, some pieces by Max Bruch, a Romantic composer, and there's a jazz-inspired flute suite by Bolling that we're working on."
While the music is professional, A Little Lunch Music still maintains a casual atmosphere in attitude and attire.
"I really like that it's informal," McCurry said. "Visitors are there to see the exhibitions and to have lunch at the cafe. They talk with us between pieces, and the series has some regular fans who come just to sit and listen."
With a new gourmet menu each week, the cafe offers paninis, soups, salads and desserts along with soft drinks and alcoholic beverages for those of age.
"Where in Auburn can you get a gourmet lunch for under $10?" Bourdeau said. "It's a great place for a lunch date."
The reasonable lunch price and free admittance to the museum make it the ideal place not only for residents of the area, but students as well.
"I visited the museum just to look around and help out my friend with her extra-credit assignment, expecting a typical, quiet museum environment, but I was so surprised to see a full orchestra playing and a friendly gathering for lunch," said Christina Holle, sophomore in apparel merchandising. "I had no idea we had anything like this at Auburn, and I'm going to make a point to visit the museum more often and tell my friends about it."
The exhibits on display at the museum currently include John James Audubon's "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America," which documents animal life in North America, and Old Master Drawings from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.
The 1072 Society Exhibition will arrive Nov. 20, and "Stranger in Paradise," an exhibition from self-taught folk artist the Rev. Howard Finster will be displayed Dec. 11.
With the ever-changing art exhibitions, gourmet food and live music, A Little Lunch Music is sure to attract and gain new visitors.
"I think it is rare to find such an amazing cultural experience in a small town like Auburn," Bourdeau said. "The fact that it is free is just another bonus."
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