ASPEN — ArtCrush, the annual summertime benefit for the Aspen Art Museum, will expand this year, with several events scheduled for July and August.

The series of events begins July 30 with wineCrush, an evening of top-flight wines and a gourmet dinner, presented by the Sotheby’s auction house. PreviewCrush, on July 31, will feature a preview of live auction artwork at the Baldwin Gallery.

ArtCrush, featuring dinner and auctions of art, wine and more, is set for Aug. 1 on the Art Museum grounds. The event will be followed by a concert at Belly Up Aspen, with acts to be announced.

ArtCrush will also feature the presentation of the 2008 Aspen Award for Art to Ed Ruscha. Ruscha, a 70-year-old Nebraska-born, Los Angeles-based artist associated with the Pop art movement of the 1960s, is known for incorporating letters, words and phrases into his work. Ruscha had a one-person exhibit, Mountain Paintings, at the Aspen Art Museum in 2004.

The Aspen Art Museum’s current exhibits, Jeremy Deller’s “Marlon Brando, Pocahontas, and Me,” and Yan Lei’s “Sparkling-Aspen,” show through Sunday, April 13.

For further information on artCrush and other Aspen Art Museum exhibits and events, call 925-8050, or go to aspenartmuseum.org.