The Burke — staying up After Hours

The Burke Museum will open its doors to UW students for After Hours tonight, where a live techno group will be performing followed by a screening of the Ben Stiller film Night at the Museum.

At 7 p.m., the event will kick-off with a performance by Truckasaurus, followed by the screening of the movie at 8:30 p.m. Monthly events such as these are free to all UW students with a Husky card and are supported by the UW Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life. Rebecca Durkins, a communication specialist working with the Burke Museum, said After Hours takes place to encourage student awareness of the museum and all of its resources.

"As a museum on the UW campus, it's important for us to stay relevant to student needs and interests," she said. "After Hours at the Burke is our chance to bring a critical mass of students to the museum and really get to know this underserved audience just outside our doors."

Durkin says that since After Hours began in October, the museum has seen a large increase in daily student attendance.

UW Freshman Kristin Whitacre attended the Burke for her first time at After Hours in October. That night, more than 1,000 students came to the museum to view their new exhibit In Search of the Giant Squid, as well as eat free sushi and hear several DJs.

"I went with my FIG group and it was really a neat excursion because I had never been there before," Whitacre said. "I probably wouldn't have ever gone to the Burke otherwise, so it was cool to expose myself to another part of our campus. It was really crowded, however, and it was kind of annoying to have to wait in big lines just to view the exhibits and get free sushi."

Today from noon to 1 p.m., Truckasaurus will be performing a free preview set out on Red Square while employees of the museum hand out free Burke Museum dinosaur buttons. Truckasaurus recently graced the cover of Seattle Sound Magazine under the headline "The future of techno."

Durkin says today will be a great opportunity to check out the exhibits, hang out at the caf[HTML_REMOVED], make new friends, win door prizes from their sponsors (University Book Store and Fourthcity) and, of course, enjoy the performances.

"At After Hours, students have the opportunity to take over the usually quiet museum and get comfortable at the Burke" Durkin said. "At past events, students were free to be loud and silly without worrying about being out of place in the museum setting."

[Reach reporter Chantal Anderson at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]