Brothers Joel and Daniel Willson are attempting to stir the creative juices of the Baton Rouge art scene.
Their most recent performance was Spontaneous Combustion, an event combining live impromptu music and art, on the outdoor patio at Highland Coffees on Friday, Sept. 30, where limited chairs didn’t discourage patrons.
Daniel Willson, sculpting senior, said Spontaneous Combustion spawned from the gallery he and his brother started last August called Aaron’s Beard, located on Staring Lane.
Willson said the gallery’s name is derived from the Bible. He said several aspects of Moses’ brother, Aaron, were relevant to the ministry his parents ran on Chimes Street, which the served as the first location for the gallery.
Willson said it’s important for undergraduate students to gain experience through showcases and decided to use the space to host shows for his sculptures. His brother, Joel, who graduated from the University in violin performance in May 2011, wanted to incorporate live music into the showings.
The brothers played music and artists painted images inspired by what they heard. Since then, the brothers have done five similar shows.
In addition to creating original art and music, the brothers are promoting the overall art scene in Baton Rouge. Daniel said Spontaneous Combustion is their main event as of now, but they also hold one to two gallery shows a semester.
Joel said it is often difficult and expensive for students to get their artwork entered into a gallery, and he wanted to provide a space for local artists and University students to show and sell their work.
He said many people easily dismiss the current local art scene, but his goal is to stimulate the arts and inspire people.
Daniel said their aim is promoting a sense of community. He said the art scene in Baton Rouge is disjointed and only revolves around a few areas of the city.
He said the University is a big part of the community — especially with the number of students studying art. The gallery aims to provide a location where students can gain experience and contribute to the community.
In last week’s performance, the group played instruments ranging from standard trombone, violin and piccolo to less common instruments like the sitar, mandolin and melodica — a keyboard played by pressing a key to open a reed while blowing through a mouthpiece on the side of the instrument.
Joel said the event usually has six to seven musicians performing while three or four artists create, and it provides an environment where visitors can watch the creative process in action.
Joel said painters who have participated in the event tend to paint in a particular style but find that their style will change during the event, depending on the musicians’ abilities.
He said the musicians, in turn, look at the art being created and attempt to make a musical illustration of it.
As both artist and musician, Daniel said he sometimes thinks about his music influencing the artists at Spontaneous Combustion. He said music often inspires him during the conceptual process of sculpting, and if he wants a particular mood in a piece, he’ll listen to music that complements that.
In regards to the music he creates, he said it all depends on what the artists pick up.
“I can only influence them as much as they’re willing to be influenced,” Joel said.
 
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Contact Haylie Navarre at [email protected]