The Tarble Atrium Cinema is kicking off the school year with its first movie showing.

“Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse,” an animated look at the multiverse within Marvel’s Spider-man comics, will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Tarble Atrium.

The film is known for its unique animation style, which influenced the decision to show it this week.

Tim Abel, museum education manager and a personal fan of the film, explained further.

“The drawing style, on the surface, is a really interesting match to the artwork of Federico Solmi,” he said, referencing the artist whose work is currently on display in the Tarble.

Solmi’s “The Grand Masquerade” is currently occupied in the Main Gallery.

The Tarble Arts Center page on the Eastern website refers to the style of this set as “video painting,” which is the process of painting frame after frame to put together into a looping video which plays continuously on a LED screen on one wall.

People who visit the center can compare this work to the style of the movie.

Another reason “Into the Spider-verse” was chosen for this week was because of the film’s own public acclaim, said Mike Schuetz, director and chief curator at Tarble.

“The timing was right … It is also widely popular and accessible to most, if not all audiences,” Schuetz said.

Schuetz said the arts center hopes to draw in as many students as possible with programs like this one.

“We can never have enough people show up,” Schuetz said. “Most, if not all, of our public programs and events are free and open to everyone, plus we have food, refreshment and snacks.”

This is the case with “Into the Spider-verse;” the movie is free for members of Tarble and Eastern students, with a $3 suggested donation for any other visitors.

The Tarble Atrium has many more events planned for this semester, which are not limited to movie showings.

Many of the events include workshops where attendees can make art pieces of their own, inspired by the exhibition in the main gallery at that time.

Others are formatted similarly to book club meetings and involve in-depth discussion of a specific book, eventually tying it back to the current exhibition.

Movie fans can anticipate another event like “Into the Spider-verse.” On Oct. 29, the popular Oscar-winning horror film “Get Out” will be Tarble Atrium Cinema’s second movie shown this year.

Those who plan to attend the Tarble Arts Center itself can look forward to an exhibit by Rachel Monosov entitled “We Are Almost There in the Main Gallery,” along with the Protest Banner Lending Library in the Brainard Gallery.

Both exhibits will open on Oct. 6 and run through Jan. 5, 2020.

Luke Taylor can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]