By Hannah Rice, News Editor
Reynolda House prides itself on being an art museum with “must-see” exhibits, but visitors Thursday morning (Aug. 21) will witness something quite unexpected.
Members of the Reynolds and Mount Tabor High School cross-country teams are gathering to compete to see who can – wait for it – sit the fastest. That’s not a typo. It’s not who can run the fastest. Two of the best teams in the state are battling it out in an intense game of musical chairs.
“(Thursday) is literally a match of musical chairs to the death,” said Reynolds junior runner Aaron Cooper. “I think Tabor will bring out twice as many guys and dust us. You never know, though. We could pull it off.”
Luckily, this event is just for fun and no one literally will face death by chair. As intense as the Demon vs. Sparta rivalry is, the schools did not organize this event as another outlet. The real purpose behind the musical chairs match is to help kick off a major exhibition called “The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design,” which is being held at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art. The showing includes a total of 43 chairs crafted by prominent American designers over the past 200 years. The exhibition opens to the public Saturday.
Reynolda House is a popular destination for many RJR students during the school year. Along with this new exhibit, the museum hosts film screenings, concerts, lectures, classes and other works of art. Students get into the museum for free.
Anyone interested in cheering on the cross-country teams can also do so for free on the front lawn.
“Both of our teams run through Reynolda during our training,” sophomore runner Todd Holbrook said. “We definitely want to beat Tabor.”
Second place just wouldn’t sit well with the Demons, who have been working on their game.
“I’m just trying to see those antique chairs,” Cooper said. “I’ve even been practicing my speed squats in order to maintain a faster butt-to-chair sprint.”
Those who cannot attend the event will be able to find videos and pictures posted on Twitter via @CurateReynolda and under the hashtag #artofseating. Click here for more information about Reynolda House.