Arts happenings

Thursday is the new Friday at the Nasher Museum of Art.

The museum's extended curfew Thursday nights invites visitors to dine late and peruse the galleries for an additional four hours, but it is only on the first Thursday of each month that the museum sponsors presentations by local artists and speakers.

"It's a very casual event in which each week's speaker will give a tour of one of the galleries, and probably hone in on a few of the pieces that he really likes and talk about them," said Wendy Hower Livingston, manager of marketing and communications at the Nasher.

The first Thursday events have steadily gained popularity since the museum opened. However, Livingston gauges the success of the program not only by attendance, but also by the enthusiasm exhibited by both artist and visitor.

"I measure success by the feeling I have when I'm there listening to the speaker. It's an inspiring, uplifting feeling," she said. "I'm surrounded by people who are very engaged and interested in what's around them."

As an added bonus for those of us who thrive on competition, each week's artist reveals five additional clues to the museum's "Illuminator" game. Each clue leads to a work of art on display in the permanent galleries. After correctly matching a total of 20 clues, players are eligible for a free Nasher T-shirt.

This week's speaker, Pedro Lasch, assistant professor of the practice of visual arts, will reveal the next five clues tonight. Lasch's work centers around the concerns of Hispanic immigrants within a global context. He has worked extensively with the Queens Museum of Art, where his exhibition Open Routines: Recent Projects was on display earlier this year.

Livingston hinted she has heard rumors that Lasch may have something up his sleeve for this week's presentation. Though for most avid art aficionados, anticipation of the unusual is almost as exciting as the promise of a free T-shirt.