Gallery visits where the art’s wiggling and the scene’s jumping

The severed cow’s tongue said it all. Mistaken for a dead fish by some and beheld at a great distance by others, the disembodied organ trembled atop a strip of white paper on the floor of the Track 16 Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, daring onlookers to think it wasn’t art. The highlight of a show by a group of UC Irvine students spoke volumes about the members of Muse and their cutting-edge curiosity about the L.A. art scene.

And that was the whole point of their annual Art Walk, a June 14 event that drew hundreds: the chance to expose themselves to the works of new and established artists. Touring 30 galleries during a nine-hour period, the young professionals who support the Los Angeles County Museum of Art eyeballed everything from graphic depictions of bare breasts to functional works such as an assemblage of sliced, dried vegetables morphed into free-form bowl shapes.

“I like the cow’s tongue,” said Muse advisory board member Jane Simmons, a marketer and art dealer. “The interactive nature of that kind of exhibit sets up an experience with the art itself and with the other people who are looking at it.”

After the tour, about 500 Muses -- the group has 3,000 members -- and their guests gathered in Track 16 for a party sponsored by Venice magazine to hear jazz, sample fare from local restaurants and gaze upon even more art in the multi-room facility. “Did you see the cow’s tongue?” asked party organizer Paige Petrone. “I refused to put a restaurant station in there!”

Muse is an important support group, said Al Vasquez, museum director of membership, as he sipped the event’s signature Dreamsicle, a frothy combo of vanilla-flavored rum, orange juice and cream. “Muse members will play a pivotal role in the future of L.A.’s art scene and lend crucial support to our museum.”