Chuck Olson’s abstract paintings currently share space with American masters on the walls of the Butler Institute of American Art.

Next week Olson will be joined at the Butler by some Pittsburgh music masters for an evening of songs and conversation.

The idea for “The Mix: The Art and Music Within Us” on May 15 was hatched during the opening reception for “Chuck Olson: Paintings from 2010-2024,” which will be on display through May 18.

“Encouraged by the numbers from the opening and the response and what people have been saying, Susie (Carfano, assistant to Butler Executive Director Louis A. Zona) knows I play in a side project band and has a real rock ‘n’ roll soul,” Olson said. “She said, ‘Would you guys like to play, maybe do a benefit or something to support the museum?”

Olson, 72, has shown his work in more than 300 solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Europe and Asia and taught art from 1976 until 2018 at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. But he didn’t pick up the guitar until he was 48 years old.

His art studio is located above a performance venue, and many of the musicians would use his studio as their “green room” when playing there. Olson’s wife started inviting the musicians to their house for French cuisine, which often led to jam sessions.

Olson ended up starting a band called The Six. Its initial lineup included Greg Joseph and Rob James of The Clarks and Jim Donovan, who at the time still was a member of Rusted Root, and other musicians would sit in with the group for the occasion.

Joseph and James will be with Olson for the Butler event, as well as Joe Grushecky (who was the leader of the Iron City Houserockers and a collaborator with Bruck Springsteen), Rick Witkowski (who played with BE Taylor and Crack the Sky), Jeff Schmutz of Good Brother Earl and drummer Joe Waslousky.

The evening will start at 6:15 p.m. May 15 with a conversation about art and music with Olson, Joseph and Grushecky.

“It will be stories from the front, getting out there and showing your art and making your music. And it’s always interesting,” Olson said.

The music starts at 7 p.m., but don’t expect to hear The Clarks’ “Shimmy Low” or Grushecky’s “American Babylon.”

“Usually people don’t want to play their setlist when they go into something like this,” Olson said. “They want to play their influence, so you’ll hear Joe sing some songs that you’ll never hear him sing with the Houserockers.

“When Joe said to me, Hey, Chuck, I want to play ‘Make You Feel My Love’ by Bob Dylan — you know, the one that Adele does — I said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’d pay money to hear you sing that because I can’t imagine that.’ It gives him the opportunity to do things he’d love to do.”

Olson said he felt privileged to have an exhibition at the Butler. When he was teaching at Saint Francis, he and his students would drive two hours to Youngstown so he could show them the museum’s collection.

“I think it’s one of the biggest American art collections in the East,” Olson said. “It’s bigger than Carnegie Museum of Art (in Pittsburgh), it’s more diverse than Carnegie in terms of American art. Every single hero and heroine of mine in art, whether it’s (Willem) de Kooning or Georgia O’Keeffe, Wolf Khan, (Robert) Rauschenberg, they’re all in that collection.”

It’s also why he’s excited to perform there.

“We’re just hoping to draw a crowd so that it really benefits that great jewel of a museum that you have in Youngstown.”

If you go …

WHAT: “The Mix: The Art and Music Within Us” featuring artist Chuck Olson, Rob James & Greg Joseph (The Clarks), Joe Grushecky (Iron City Houserockers), Rick Witkowski (BE Taylor and Crack the Sky), Jeff Schmutz (Good Brother Earl) and Joe Waslousky.

WHEN: 6:15 p.m. May 15 for conversation on creating art with Olson, Joseph and Grushecky, followed by concert at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: $40 for Butler members and $50 for nonmembers with proceeds benefiting the Butler. Call 234-228-8588 for tickets.