The concert and exhibition was held at the museum to welcome back students and give a performance space for student-run bands Wayne Szalinski and The People’s Temple. Both bands were there for entertainment while the main focus of the event, The Genres: Portraiture, was displayed inside the museum.

“We thought, ‘let’s do something different in terms of entertainment. Let’s make it something really special,’” cultural program manager Tammy Fortin said. “We just decided to have a big party.”

Milad’s indie-rock band was asked to play at the concert by City Pulse, which sponsored the event.

“Our goal is to meet lots of new people on campus and get people to enjoy music,” Milad said. “We just want to play, have a good time and make sure everyone else has a good time, too.”

Hope Gangloff, a New York-based painter, gave an hour-long lecture during the concert on the process by which she creates her paintings.

Her collection, titled The Genres: Portraiture, features portraits of friends, neighbors and people she met on the street that agreed to pose for her. The half-nude, colorful portraits are on display inside the museum.

An unfinished collage fills one wall of the museum and during the lecture, Gangloff encouraged audiences to come back in a week, or possibly two, to see the finished product.

“It was an assignment for me to come here for my Studio Art 112 class and check out the art,” apparel and textiles junior Jenna on said. “I really love (Gangloff’s) work. The use of color, the feel to it, the various skin tones, patterns and textures all make for a great collection of work.”

The Genres: Portraiture will be at the museum until Dec. 1.

Three other exhibitions will be on display at the museum this month, including Focus: Beverly Fishman beginning Sept. 13, plus Michelle Handelman: Irma Vep, The Last Breath beginning Sept. 20 and Revelations on Sept. 20 as well.

“We are really looking forward to the fall,” Fortin said. “This is our way of kicking it off and looking forward to the semester ahead.”