Crawfish Boil adds Cajun spice to museum event

The event aimed to bring people to the Museum of Art and Archeology.

By Nancy El Attar

Published Oct. 12, 2010

The fervent atmosphere, Cajun music by Swampweed Cajun and strong smell of crustacean set the stage for the Crawfish Boil on Friday evening in Pickard Hall. This event is the first of its kind in Columbia, and was held by the Museum Associates, an organization that supports the work of the Museum of Art and Archeology by promoting events and artwork.

"We like to go to the openings, they're wonderful, they have receptions," MU alumna Barbara Rothenberger said. "We're members of the Museum Associates and we like to support that."

A crawfish boil is a tradition originating in Louisiana as a way to bring people together. Crawfish are served with corn, sausage, potatoes, jambalaya and beer, in addition to seasonings of hot sauce, lemons and cayenne peppers. It is a meal that is reputable for its inability to be presented at a formal event. Because of the meal's messiness, it typically requires jeans and casual wear.

The crawfish is boiled in a large pot of roughly 60 to 80 quarts and is heated by propane. When it is ready to eat, the pot is flipped upside down onto a table so the crawfish are spread out along the table and accessible to everyone. The meal presented to Friday's participants was similar, only varying in some side dishes and the way it was served.

Bringing members of the Museum Associates was not the aim of this event. This event was meant to attract a broad audience to the museum, a place that seems to attract only a certain type of person.

"Art museums have a tendency to seem intimidating to people," said Alex Barker, the director of the Museum of Art and Archeology. "This event is designed to reach out to an audience that I think is just as interested in art but might not feel like an art museum caters to them."

Crawfish boils are most commonly rooted in the South. It has no relation to art and archeology, but was chosen for its reputation of being a meal that brings people from a diverse background together for a night of friendliness and fun, which was the aim of this event.

"A crawfish boil is gritty, down home and it's pretty hard to be stuffy while you're eating crawfish," organizer Robin Labrunerie said.

Despite efforts to attract a broad audience, the event did not have many students participating. A ticket to the event cost $25.

"The price is a little high for students," MU graduate student Kim Nochi said. But this is a Museum Associates event so it's geared more toward the members and those who run it to get some funding for the museum."