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Art museum readies for Rockwell, plans special family programs

The N.C. Museum of Art is gearing up for the opening of five exhibitions and planning a host of family programs too.

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Green Frog, Green Frog, What Do You See? by Eric Carle
By
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
The Norman Rockwell exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Art will get top billing over the next week or so as the museum gears up for the big opening Nov. 7.

And for good reason. The exhibit will include 40 original works of art along with 323 Saturday Evening Post cover tear sheets. And I'm very excited to get a look at the exhibit. I think his scenes of American life especially will captivate kids.

But the museum also will open four other special exhibits on Nov. 7. And among them is one that will feature work that really is familiar to kids. Fins and Feathers: Children's Book Illustrations from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art will feature original illustrations from Carle and other children's book others such as Leo Lionni and Petra Mathers.

I'll get a preview of the Fins and Feathers exhibit next week and I'll share it with you next Friday. So stay tuned for more.

But in addition to the exhibits, the museum also is planning some family events. So mark your calendars.

Family activities for the Fins and Feathers exhibit are:

  • Museum docents will lead visitors on an informal half-hour discussion of the Fins and Feathers exhibit at 2:30 p.m. on Thursdays Nov. 18, Dec. 9 and Jan. 13 and Saturdays Dec. 18 and Jan. 22. The talks are free.
  • The theme for the museum's regular Preschool Playshops program will be Something Fishy at 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Nov. 18. The program is for kids ages 2 to 5. They'll fish for pieces of a large puzzle, hear the story "Fish is Fish" by Leo Lionni and discover fish in the museum's collection and Fins and Feathers exhibition. Preschool Playshops do not require pre-registration, but it's first come, first served.
  • The museum will team up with Wake County libraries for The Art Hour, where kids and families will learn about the art in stories and stories in art and then create a picture book. For ages 4 and up. It's at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 6, Dec. 4 and Jan. 15 at Cameron Village Regional Library, 1930 Clark Ave. in Raleigh. And it's at 2 p.m. Nov. 13, Dec. 11 and Jan. 8 at East Regional Library, 946 Steeple Square Court in Knightdale. These events require pre-registration. Call 919-856-6723 to register for the Cameron Village events. Call 919)-217-5316 to register for the East Regional events.

And family activities for the Rockwell exhibit are:

  • There will be Family Audio Tours available of the exhibit at the Visitor Services Desk. They are $5 per wand. Probably best for kids ages 7 and up - more for their attention span than the content. The tour features children talking about the works in the show.
  • All visitors, including kids, can be a curator for a day and write their own captions for select works of art in any of the exhibitions. Participating works of art will be indicated by a "Caption This" logo on the wall labels in the galleries. Visitors can submit captions via text message or online.

And I'll have more about this next week, but the museum will have a new feature called The Front Porch. The interactive gathering space features a front porch modeled after a Raleigh home. There will be games, furniture as well as storytelling, music and other events.

Here are some of them. They're all free.

  • Storytelling: Folktales and Ghost Stories of Piedmont North Carolina at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Nov. 20. The event features storyteller and author Cynthia Moore Brown, who shares her favorite folktales and ghost stories. For all ages.
  • Music: Old Times and Old Tunes is at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Nov. 27. The event features musician David Giuseppe playing songs from North Carolina and American traditions.
  • Music: Exploring Latin American Rhythms is at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Dec. 4. Features Ana Lucia Divins, a bilingual singer.
  • And Storytelling: Family Stories is at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 18. Mabinte Shabu presents stories that link African and American culture.
For more on all of the exhibits opening at the art museum, click here. For more on all of the art museum's family programs, click here.

And check back next Friday for a preview of Fins and Feathers and more on the family programs.

 

 

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