Students can unwind over food and music at the Tarble After Hours party Wednesday night.

Tim Abel, the museum education manager at the Tarble Arts Center, said this party is the perfect opportunity for students, staff and anyone else in the community to relax and have fun.

He said with it being the week before finals, students in particular are very stressed. A good way to de-stress, he said, is to come to the free party and indulge in the pizza from Villa Pizza and doughnuts from the Pandemonium Doughnuts shop.

Attendees can also make their own buttons at the party, he said.

The music at Tarble After Hours will be courtesy of a DJ, he said.

About 75 guests showed up for the last Tarble After Hours party, so Abel said he thinks turnout for this one will be about the same or, hopefully, even larger.

“The more you have for a dance party, the better,” he said.

The feeling of anxiety and stress looming over the Eastern community served as inspiration for the party’s theme, Abel said.

The poster used to inform people about the event is an image of the character Marion Crane driving in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” with a disturbed expression, he said. Graphic design major Jeonghyun Kim designed the poster.

Abel said he chose this party’s theme with Sue de Beer’s work as a videographer and photographer in mind.

De Beer is most known for her “dubious characters and her cinematographic experimentation,” according to the Marianne Boesky Gallery.

To further immerse her audience in her creative photographic worlds, the website says she often films her subjects in environments made entirely of furniture and/or sculptures.

Abel said the theme for Tarble After Hours reflects these “off the wall” and “deep, yet playful” themes and ideas.

Abel said he would recommend anyone to attend Tarble After Hours, but people who have never been to the Tarble Arts Center before may get even more out of the experience.

When it comes to Abel, he said he is most excited to see groups of people bonding and having fun among a great collection of artwork.

“I really like seeing as many people from the EIU community come,” he said. “It’s just been really great to see how many different communities and groups come and just have fun. I like seeing the museum kind of visited by a lot of people.”

Abel said the party hours for alumni and friends goes from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m.; hours for students goes from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Logan Raschke can be reached at 581-2812 or at lrraschke@eiu.edu.