'Black and white through the night'

It's always been possible for Boston College students to get into the Museum of Fine Arts for free. But now the museum's offering a little extra incentive: Oreos. Well, Oreos, music, movies, and amazing art. Tonight the MFA is hosting the first College Night at the museum since the '80s, an event running in conjunction with the Ansel Adams exhibit now on view.

"Ever since the Ansel Adams exhibit opened, we knew that we wanted to do something to appeal to students," said Amelia Carnigan, museum public relations coordinator. The Adams show has been running since August, and will be at the museum until the end of December.

Adams' black and white photography provides the unifying theme for College Night, titled, "Black and White through the night." In addition, there will be a showing of Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes (filmed in, of course, black and white), and a performance by The Mountain Goats, an indie rock band whose performance Carnigan said has been sold out for weeks. Twenty-five more tickets will be given out half an hour before College Night opens, on a first-come, first-served basis. Finally, there will be a coffee lounge to tie the whole thing together.

"This is basically a social event where we want students to meet and mingle with each other," said Carnigan. The event extends to all colleges in the area that work with the museum to offer free admission with a college ID. Carnigan said that around 75,000 students from "member universities" go to the MFA each year, including 3,534 BC students last year.

"The exhibition (180 black and white photographs) is a complete retrospective, covering Adams' entire career from the 1920s through the 1970s, and is almost entirely drawn from The Lane Collection, which I curate and is housed here at the MFA on long-term loan," said Karen Haas, curator of the exhibit, in an e-mail interview. Haas, who once taught at BC, said that the nature of the exhibit, with both well-known and more obscure pieces from a very well-known artist, makes it a good fit for a college crowd. The entire event, offering a classier alternative to a standard Thursday evening, seems the perfect fit for anyone looking for some enlightenment off campus.

What to know before you go Hours: College Night will run from 7 p.m. to midnight; the Ansel Adams exhibit will be open until 9:45 p.m. The MFA is open regularly Monday and Tuesday 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. (select galleries only after 4:45 p.m. Thursday and Friday); Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Getting there: Take the E line to the Museum of Fine Arts stop, or take the 39 bus to the MFA stop. You can also take the 8, 47, or CT2 buses to the Ruggles stop.

Admission: Free for students with college ID.