Walk into the world of art and get an interactive experience with famous art pieces. Come and enjoy a noontime meal in Grant Wood’s Dinner for Threshers, climb into a tent and explore camping gear in John Singer Sargent’s Camp at Lake O’Hara, and add “corn husks” to the flower tower in Diego Rivera’s Corn Festival. Visitors can enter Clementine Hunter’s Big Chicken to get behind the reins of a giant rooster and can explore a small collection of Mona Lisa prints featuring the original and famous parodies.
Framed: Step into Art™ was created by Minnesota Children’s Museum. The exhibit is a hands on activity for both children and adults alike. Framed: Step into Art™ was designed to gain knowledge and understanding about the artwork and actually experience the artwork. The bilingual exhibit provides a framework within which adults with all levels of art experiences can engage children in aesthetic development. The exhibit uses the questions “What is going on here?” and “What do you see that makes you say that?” Framed: Step into Art™ provides opportunities for children and adults to spend time with art, make a connection with art, and explore art according to their own needs and abilities.
Muscatine Art Center Director, Melanie Alexander, explains that the goals for the exhibition are to show how “we can learn and think about the work and ourselves through other people’s art” and that “art can tell a story”. The exhibit is designed as a fun way to explore and appreciate art.
Special programs connected to the Framed: Step into Art™ exhibit include Family Day events offered one Saturday each month – January 23rd, February 20th, March 19th, and April 16th. Crafts and snacks will be provided from 1:30 -2:30 pm on those days. Admission is always free. Programming developed for children ages 2 to 5 in “For Tots” will be tailored to the exhibit throughout the month of February.
The Muscatine Art Center is located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue in Muscatine, Iowa. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday evenings until 7:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. Donations are appreciated. Visit www.muscatineartcenter.org for more information about programs and events and to download a class brochure. CONTACT: Melanie Alexander, Director 563-263-8282 or malexander@muscatineiowa.gov
