PHILADELPHIA – Woodmere Art Museum invites kids of all ages to experiencefamily-friendly fall programs beginning in September. The museum, located in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood, welcomes the return of the large-scale landscape hay maze to Woodmere’s front lawn for the months of September and October. This year’s maze, titled Owl’s Eye, is a labyrinth of concentric circles made with bales of hay, evoking the shape of an owl’s eye. The fall season also includes two new children’s exhibitions featuring artwork by local students, an art installation in the museum’s new Children’s Garden and Friday Night Family Happenings through December. A full schedule of family oriented, art-inspired programming follows below.
Family Events
The hay maze Owl’s Eye will open to the public onSeptember 9. From 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., visitors are invited to run the maze and enjoy flashlight tours, seek and find games, art making, face painting, food, and much more. Owl’s Eye creator Peter Everett Brown was the winner of Woodmere’s summer design competition. Brown, who lives in Fort Washington, is a project designer and project manager at the architectural firm Lenhardt Rodgers. The installation is geared towards families and children ages 4-11. The maze will be open to visitors through October 30 on Fridays (6 p.m. – 8 p.m.), Saturdays (10 a.m. – 6 p.m.) and Sundays (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.). Admission is $8 per child ($6 members) or $20 for families of three or more.
On select Friday evenings in September through December, Woodmere invites families to spend an evening at the museum with Fall Friday Night Family Happenings, a series of art-making activities for children ages 4-11. The first activities include Moustache Making (September 9), Pinwheels for Peace (September 16) and The Greatest Pumpkin Ever (October 21). The Friday family programming will run in conjunction with Friday Night Jazz at Woodmere, the museum’s popular jazz series. Museumgoers and music lovers are invited to stroll Woodmere’s galleries, enjoy wine and cheese, and hear live jazz performances while the kids participate in the family programs.
Children’s Exhibitions
Local students from Edgewood Elementary School, Quarry Hill Elementary School and Pennsbury High School will exhibit their work in Impressions, a new exhibition on display in Woodmere’s Helen Millard Children’s Gallery from September 11 – October 23.The exhibit highlights how students use elements and principles of design to illustrate their surroundings.
The winter months will bring a second children’s exhibition – Into the Atmosphere: Kids Care 18, on display November 6 – December 18. Inspired by space and stars, Into the Atmosphere features artwork created by hundreds of children around the region, made as holiday gifts. The exhibition marks the museum’s 18th annual Kids Care collaboration with WXPN’s 88.5 FM’s Kids Corner with Kathy O’Connell.
The Helen Millard Children’s Gallery is a permanent exhibition space dedicated to exhibiting artwork by and for young people. All exhibitions in the gallery, which first opened in 1986, are installed in a professional manner, providing both student participants and visitors a one-of-a-kind museum experience.
Woodmere will also introduce a new Children’s Garden on the grounds of the museum, located beside the George D. Widener Studio building, a converted carriage house used for year-round art instruction. For six years, Woodmere’s Summer Arts Community Programhas collaborated with children from differing ages, ethnicities and neighborhoods to construct a major work of art. The 2011 projectMonsters, Myths, and Magic brought together 29 children and young adults, ages 8-22, for two weeks, to create mythical creatures and monsters. Under the direction of Woodmere educator and artist Hildy Tow students designed and built fanciful wooden creatures, a giant bird’s nest, jeweled stepping stones, birds, birdhouses and butterflies, to be installed amongst the flower beds in the Children’s Garden. An opening reception will be held on Sunday, September 18 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Visiting Woodmere Art Museum
Woodmere Art Museum is located at 9201 Germantown Avenue in the historic cobblestoned Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. Admission to special exhibitions is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and FREE for students and children; Exhibitions in the Founder’s Gallery and Helen Millard Children’s Gallery are FREE. For visitor information, call (215) 247-0476 or visit www.woodmereartmuseum.org.
SCHEDULE
Exhibition: Impressions
September 11 – October 23, 2011
Reception: Sunday, October 2, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Featuring the work of students from Edgewood Elementary School, Quarry Hill Elementary School and Pennsbury High School. FREE.
Exhibition: Into the Atmosphere: Kids Care 18
November 6 – December 18, 2011
Reception: Saturday, November 12, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Kids Care is a collaborative project between Woodmere Art Museum and WXPN’s Kids Corner. FREE.
OWL’S EYE HAY MAZE
September 9 – October 30, 2011
Fridays: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturdays: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sundays: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Families welcome; ages 4-11 with adult
$8 per child ($6 members); $20 for families of three or more ($18 members)
Opening Celebration:Friday, September 9, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Run the maze and enjoy flashlight tours (flashlights available $3), seek and find, art making, face painting, food, and much more!
FALL FRIDAY NIGHT FAMILY HAPPENINGS
September – December, Select Fridays: 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Art-making for children ages 4-11 with adult. FREE with Hay Maze admission.
September 9: Moustache Making
September 16: Pinwheels for Peace – Make your own pinwheel to display at home or school on International Day of Peace (September 21).
September 23: Polka Dot Art
October 14: A-Tisket, A-Tasket: Make Art for Your Basket, in honor of Ella Fitzgerald
October 21: The Greatest Pumpkin Ever –Story hour and pumpkin painting
October 28: Ghosts, Goblins, Witches, and Really Scary Stuff
Story time in the Parlor for children ages 4-8. Admission is $2 (FREE for members)
These programs use storytelling to introduce children to works of art in Woodmere’s Founder’s Collection. Led by museum educators, each program includes reading a children’s book, looking at one work of art and completing a simple, hands-on activity.
November 4: Still Life Stew by Helena Clare Pittman, illustrated by Victoria Raymond
November 11: Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margo Apple
November 18: Everyday Life: Join a Party by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Nikki McClure
Artful Evening for children ages 8-11. Admission is $2 (FREE for members)
Join Museum educators in lively discussions about art. Bring your observations skills, imagination, and creativity as we explore faces and places in the Founder’s Gallery. An art activity will follow.
December 2: Faces, Places, and Inner Spaces
CHILDREN’s GARDEN
Monsters, Myths, and Magic
FREE and open to the public
Opening Reception: Sunday, September 18, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
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