KIDS + FAMILIES

November 7 is a Target Free First Sunday at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, offers free admission all day, the first Sunday of each month, courtesy of support from Target.  As part of Target Free First Sundays, the museum’s education department plans an array of art activities, performances, films, and refreshments from 1 pm to 5 pm designed to give families an interactive experience, with an emphasis on current exhibitions.

That means free admission all day for everyone, and special family-friendly programs.

Come discover the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston inside and out!   Enjoy family flicks, sketching, storytime tours, and refreshments.  The family flicks are shown in Brown Auditorium Theater on the lower level of the Law Building.   Art activities are held in both the Law and Beck buildings, and refreshments are provided.

Sunday, November 7, 2010:  Nature Inspires Us.

Explore and make art, see a performance, hear a story, watch a family film, and much more! The first Sunday of each month offers a new opportunities to learn and have fun.

At Nature Inspires Us, families will experience how nature brings out the artist in all of us. Explore the exhibition German Impressionist Landscape Painting: Liebermann-Corinth-Slevogt   as you hear a storybook in the galleries and imagine yourself inside a beautiful painting of a garden. Hop on an interactive, family-friendly gallery experience or sketch amazing works of art on view.

Outside in the sculpture garden, be inspired by nature as you create a work of art using colorful oil pastels. Artist demonstrators will also be on hand to show how artists paint in the tradition of en plein air, or outdoors. For the little ones, Storybook Films at 1:30 p.m. will bring these tales to life on screen: Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, First the Egg, and Planting a Rainbow. Don’t miss The Fidelis Quartet performing music inspired by nature at 2:30 p.m.

Activities:

Beck Building
Nature’s Inspirations: A Gallery Experience for Families
Second floor, Meets in Gallery 200 near the elevators
2:00 and 3:00 p.m.
Have fun as you explore the exhibition German Impressionist Landscape Painting during this interactive family gallery experience, led by an MFAH Educator.

Storytime: Inside the Painter’s Garden
Second floor, Gallery 207
2:00 and 3:00 p.m.
After reading Eric Carle’s beautifully illustrated book The Tiny Seed, explore a painting of a colorful garden. This 30-minute gallery experience is great for families with children ages 2+.

Performance by The Fidelis Quartet
Second Floor, Gallery 214
2:30 p.m.
Listen to the beautiful sounds of the The Fidelis Quartet as they perform music inspired by nature.

Sketching in the Galleries
Second Floor, Gallery 227
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Sketch inside the exhibition Drawing from Nature: Landscapes by Liebermann, Corinth, and Slevogt. An MFAH Teaching Artist is there get you started with drawing paper, pencils, and a stool.

Lemonade Stand
Lobby

Sculpture Garden Activities
Pastels in the Open Air
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Use colorful oil pastels to create your own nature-inspired work of art outside in the sculpture garden.

Artist Demonstrations
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Watch two amazing artists as they create works of art in the tradition of en plain air, which means in the open air. They will be using oil and watercolor paints.

Law Building Activities
Storybook Films (22 minutes total)
Brown Auditorium Theatre
Lower Level
1:30 p.m.
Families with young ones will enjoy these animated films which bring nature-themed storybooks blossoming onto the screen.

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
It is autumn and Fletcher is worried because his favorite tree is losing its leaves… until winter arrives and his tree is transformed — based on the book by Julia Rawlinson and illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke. (11 minutes)

First the Egg
A book about transformations - from egg to chicken, seed to flower and caterpillar to butterfly — based on the book by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. (5 minutes)

Planting a Rainbow
A mother and child plant a rainbow of colors in their flower garden. Stylized artwork brings to life the cyclical excitement of planning, planting and picking flowers in a garden — based on the book by Lois Ehlert. (6 minutes)