When your aesthetic appetite has exhausted the 18,000 works available in Amherst’s own Mead Art Museum or when you’re just looking to get off campus for an afternoon, hop in a car and head to Smith or Mount Holyoke, or both.

Currently on display in the Bassett Gallery of the Mead Art Museum until July 3, 2012, the temporary exhibition, “Exotic Muses: Dancers by Robert Henri and Nick Cave” has been captivating visitors. The six-object installation features three paintings by American painter Robert Henri and three “Soundsuit” costumes by contemporary sculptor and performance artist, Nick Cave. Although the two artists’ works differ vastly in style and media, they are underpinned by the common theme of displaying the dancer’s body as a means of personal and cultural expression.