Aaron Dysart, an instructor in the Anoka-Ramsey fine arts program, has his own work on display: "Surprise Party," an exhibit that just opened at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It's one of 52 projects throughout the year that celebrate the museum's 100th birthday.

Dysart decided to make the exhibit interactive, because "it's not a party or celebration unless people show up," he said.

When a visitor walks into the fountain court area of the museum, it trips a motion sensor, which turns off the overhead lights and triggers 10 lights to shine on a rotating disco ball and fill the darkened area with tiny, moving, starry lights.

Dysart said he did an earlier iteration of this piece in an empty storefront in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis. "I was interested why the storefronts were empty, and they were empty because no one shows up. So, the store was dark until a person showed up," he said. "Then, there was a party."

The museum "is just a warehouse with fancy stuff until people show up," he said. "It is an archive that comes alive only when people show up and pay attention."

The installation is in the fountain court, a room with a 48-foot-tall ceiling, which was the center of the original building before the museum's major expansion.

Said Dysart, "I wanted to give this building the glorious party it deserved."

LIZ ROLFSMEIER