This month, the Chrysler is participating in MINDS WIDE OPEN by presenting the exhibition Women of the Chrysler: A 400-Year Celebration of the Arts.

Last week, the Chrysler combined the show with its Wednesday evening “Music in the Galleries” series by hosting “Evening at Tiffany’s,” a night of glass, champagne (ironically served in plastic cups—albeit with yummy strawberries, which helped up the glam factor) and music by former Wave DJ, DJ Android (aka Andra Rosenberg).

The two best things about last night? Music and art—together in the same place.

“We’ve been thrilled to have regional musicians perform in our galleries each month, and we always link the music with the art,” Museum Educator Alexandra Hunter said. “For us, these concerts are a win-win situation. Visitors can enjoy great music, while exploring our collection, and expand their appreciation of both.”

Have you ever been to one of those stuffy museum events where the music is a violin player or swing band your grandmother just loves? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but last night I was encouraged to see the embracing of DJ Android’s style in a more formal environment.

Android even said a lady in her late 40s or early 50s came up to her and simply said, “I love Camera Obscura.” The set list was made up completely of female singers, and we had a lively discussion about how great it is hearing bands like The Cardigans and Lush amid this amazing glass and wide variety of audience members. I sort of felt like I was at the birthday party from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet right about when Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio spot each other through the fish tank.

And the art!

Image courtesy of chrysler.org.

The Chrysler Museum has one of the best glass collections in the United States, with its Tiffany collection being particularly noted. So to stay on the MINDS WIDE OPEN theme, glass curator Kelly Conway led a discussion of Tiffany and Co.’s “Tiffany Girls,” a group of women in the late 19th and early 20th century responsible for some of Tiffany’s most revered glass designs. “This ‘Evening at Tiffany’s’ is designed to be a compliment to both the women’s show as well as a showcase for our excellent collection of Tiffany glass,” explained Editor/PR Coordinator Cheryl Little.

Wearing her Tiffany blue, Conway started by simply saying, our Tiffany glass collection is number one. “If you’re from Hampton Roads, we have the best Tiffany—you can say that.” And you should–Norfolk needs all the artistic recognition it can get, and this is something to be proud of. She gave a brief history of Tiffany & Co. and its glass department, stating while it offered many objects, including ceramics, stained glass windows (including the Alice Douby design at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), and jewelry, it was most famous for its lamps.

Clara Driscoll

It was inspiring to hear about all that the “girls” did for Tiffany glass over 100 years ago. Due to a strike during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, Tiffany solidified its women’s department (which was already cutting glass and doing mosaics) into an official group, with Clara Driscoll at the helm, easing tensions between the female and male workers, designing templates, and coming up with more commercial (read: less expensive) items to sell in order to keep the company afloat when their ornate and costly designs weren’t selling en masse. Not so inspiring? Hearing how Driscoll had to leave her employment with Tiffany twice due to marriages because, obviously, wives couldn’t possibly manage husbands and careers at the same time. Conway explained why the women were particularly instrumental to the success at Tiffany. They had a savvy eye, they caught differences in color and design differently than their male counterparts, they were sensitive to floral patterns and they had nimble fingers. While this may sound a little stereotypical today, realizing we’re talking about the 1880s, I can see why this would have made sense—and it obviously worked.

Conway ended the discussion by letting all glass fans know the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond is having a Tiffany exhibition at the end of May, and Chrysler will be having a Spring 2011 exhibit specifically focusing on Tiffany lamps. Little offered to anyone interested in delving deeper, “In addition, museum members have the opportunity to join our Glass Associates support group and participate in more exclusive programs designed for real glass lovers, from newbies to real aficionados, collectors, and artists.”

Not into glass but are into cool things to do at the Chrysler? Art After Dark, their outdoor film series, begins in June and will feature movies like A League of Their Own, Roman Holiday, and Rear Window. Hunter also said they are looking into booking a DJ for one of their Cool It! Events this July.