• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 0 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Kristy Thomas shows off the new Children's Gallery at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Photo by Victor Maccharoli.

Cube Ad

Art museum reopens children's gallery as family center

By ERIC LINDBERG — Nov. 26, 2009

Tucked away behind the Santa Barbara Museum of Art store and café is a gem for parents who want to get their children more engaged in art.

The Robert and Marlene Veloz Children’s Gallery has been re-envisioned as a family resource center that features original works of art, children’s activities, and plenty of child-friendly information about how art is created, presented and described.

“The overall concept is ‘Taking Art Apart,’” said Kristy Thomas, the museum’s associate director of community programs and events.

Along one wall is a guide for children on how to read a typical label in an art gallery, describing what each element on the label represents. That section quickly blends into a series of paintings from the museum’s permanent collection that have proven to be popular among children who have visited the museum during school tours.

Special labels near the paintings offer thought-provoking prompts relating to each piece of art.

“The questions direct them to various details in the paintings and really get kids thinking about art,” Thomas said.

A variety of art frames is clustered on another wall, giving children the opportunity to touch the different surfaces, from raw wood to canvas to a gilded frame. Below the sections of wood is a step-by-step model of how a painting is put together layer by layer.

A few nearby tables are stocked with arts and crafts supplies should visitors want to engage in a bit of creative expression, while a collection of informative brochures and family guides to the museum’s exhibitions and collections are offered along the final wall of the center.

That information will continue to change, depending on the exhibitions being displayed in the museum’s main galleries. Museum officials said the revised children’s gallery is designed to foster more of a connection between children and artwork in the museum’s collections.

“[We] felt it important to integrate original works of art into a learning environment,” Patsy Hicks, the museum’s director of education, said in a prepared statement. “By exposing families to the highest quality of original artworks in an environment that encourages looking and learning together, we hope to foster creativity and curiosity, and to build a love of art and a level of comfort in museums that will last a lifetime.”

The family resource center will also be home to a new series of public events during the 1st Thursday celebration, held during the first Thursday of every month in downtown Santa Barbara.

“Family 1st Thursdays” will take place in the center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. during the celebration, featuring family-oriented art projects based on museum exhibitions and other relevant events.

The series kicks off on December 3 with a focus on holiday cards and ornaments. Participants will create decorative cards and festive ornaments featuring works of art from the museum’s exhibitions and collections.

Future 1st Thursday projects include creating a butterfly collage inspired by an exhibition of Diana Thater’s “Butterflies and Other People,” sketching a painting from an exhibition of 19th century artwork and creating a frame, and exploring the original “Portrait of George Washington” by Gilbert Stuart and designing a dollar bill for the future.

The resource center is free and open to the public during regular museum hours, Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information is available at www.sbma.net.

Comment on this article

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above: