When the coffee shop Verve closed earlier this year, Jenna Mukuno and Glory Bushey were afraid it might be the end of Big Art as they knew it.

Big Art, a three-year-old event that showcases student art and performances in the community, is hosted by the literary magazine blue moon. The past two years it has been held at Verve. But due to financial difficulties, Verve closed its doors in early October. blue moon co-editors Mukuno and Bushey, both sophomores, said they were afraid of what that meant for the magazine.

“The original purpose of Big Art was to try and incorporate Blue Moon into the Walla Walla community, more so than just the Whitman community,” Bushey said.

“Since Verve closed, we were really nervous that it’d have to take place on campus in Reid Coffeehouse. We wondered, ‘Well how are we supposed to get the community on campus?’ The whole point was that we move outside beyond campus,” Mukuno added.

Fortunately for the magazine, the restaurant Merchants offered up a space for the event, which took place Thursday, Nov. 20, from 7-9 p.m.

“We were really lucky to have Merchants be so cooperative. They just offered up a space to us without charge and were really accommodating,” Mukuno said.

Once the venue was decided, the event ran surprisingly smoothly, said the editors. The only problem was a microphone stand that did not fit the microphone: a problem solved by Mukuno’s offer to hold the microphone up for anyone who needed it.

Blue Moon’s editors and 21 staff members have been planning for this event since the beginning of the semester. The staff has spent the semester soliciting student artwork submissions, lining up musical and spoken word performances, getting artwork reproduced and advertising.

All in all, Mukuno and Bushey estimate between 10 and 15 non-staff students contributed to the event. The artists ranged in all class years and types of performances. Performances included poetry and fiction readings, slam poetry and instruments such as the piano, violin and guitar.

The art was displayed mainly on Merchants’ second floor and was available to sell to attendees. The average price for a piece of art was $30.

“Our first piece was sold before Big Art even opened by the owner of merchants, which is really cool that he’s that supportive of us,” Mukuno said.

Other attendees, who filtered in and out throughout the night, seemed equally excited.

“I loved it,” said first-year Paris White. “I thought it was really enjoyable.”

White wished, however, that she could have seen more artwork on display.

“I understand how something that large of a scale can be hard to pull together, but I felt like some parts weren’t well organized. I think it was made up for in the quality of the art and performances that were there,” she said.

The event is part of blue moon‘s plan to be a presence throughout the school year.

“The goal is to try to create a year-long institution rather than just a one-time publication. We want blue moon to be something that students can identify at the beginning of the year and not just receive once in the mail. We wanted to stir up the art community and really be a culture throughout the year,” Bushey said.

Other parts of this goal include continuous advertising for the publication, which will come out in May.

“Each week we have a different group of people doing the ad campaigns [for blue moon]. A different group comes up with some crazy idea to do one week,” said staff member and sophomore Taylor Overturf, while manning a table at Big Art.

Some of the ideas are more effective than others, Overturf added.

“One week we had someone make a huge cake and ice it, and put it around campus,” she said. “I realized people don’t want to eat food that’s just been lying around. That’s something I realized from that experience.”