KIDS + FAMILIES

September 4 is a Family Day at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  As part of Family Day at MFAH, the museum’s education department plans an array of art activities, performances, films, and refreshments from 1 pm to 4 pm designed to give families an interactive experience, with an emphasis on current exhibitions. 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, September 4 (Labor Day Weekend), 2011:  Work It! Fashion in Art
Fall into fashion at the MFAH Family Day: Work It! Fashion in Art, on Sunday, September 4. Create a work of art you can wear made from sumptuous fabrics in the studio. Put together a chic ensemble and pose in the gallery, listen to the story of an uproarious hairdo, and sketch fashions from all over the globe.

Musical ensemble Two Star Symphony will present original music at 2:00 p.m. during a family friendly gallery performance. Families with little ones will enjoy Storybook Films at 1:30 p.m., as the popular books Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, and Brave Irene come to life in colorful animation. The Reel Kids film series presents Funny Face at 2:30p.m., a classic musical film starring Audrey Hepburn and set in the fashion world of Paris.

Beck Building Activities:

Wear It! Creating Wearable Art
SW Bell Studio and Farish Classroom
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Create a work of art you can wear with flair, inspired by the fashion on display in Henri Matisse’s Woman in a Purple Coat. Sumptuous fabrics and more will be available in the studio. An MFAH Teaching Artist is on hand to get everyone in the family started on their own work of art.

Performance by Two Star Symphony
Gallery 214
2:00 p.m.
Catch an exciting performance by this unusual music ensemble. Each member of Two Star Symphony helps to compose the instrumental pieces they present to audiences. Listen as they interpret today’s theme of Fashion in Art for listeners of all ages.

A Fashion Don’t: Storytime in the Gallery
Gallery 218
1:30 and 3:00 p.m.
Hear the hilarious story of Madame LaGrande and Her So High To the Sky Uproarious Pompadour, read by an MFAH Educator. Then explore a portrait in the gallery that also features an amazing pompadour.

Lemonade Stand
Lobby

Put It Together: Fashion Fun in the Gallery
Gallery 223
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Strike a pose in fashionable costume apparel, inspired by styles being worn in Impressionist paintings from the Beck collection. Then find delectable details in paintings by Henri Matisse and František Kupka as you put together art puzzles in the gallery.

Law Building Activities:

Sketch It!
Cullinan Hall
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Sketch styles you see in works of art from all over the world. Intricate jewelry from India, gold crowns from Indonesia, and clothing from Peru each give you a chance to capture amazing details. Also be inspired to sketch the small-scale works by contemporary artist Charles Le Dray, on view in Cullinan Hall. An MFAH Teaching Artist is on hand with sketching materials and seating.

Fashions of the World: A Search Activity
Pick one up in Cullinan Hall
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Pick up this fun riddle search activity to find works of art in the Law building that were created to be worn. Travel to locations such as the Arts of Africa, Arts of China, and the Pre-Columbian art galleries, and then create your own riddle as a family.

Storybook Films
Brown Auditorium Theatre
Law building - Lower Level
Free with General Museum Admission
1:30 p.m.
Enjoy three short animated films that bring storybooks to life. Families with little ones will love these fashionable and fun tales.

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
Wilbur is different from the other Naked Mole Rats in his Colony, because he wears clothes (and he likes it!). But what will happen when Grand-pah, the oldest, wisest, and most-naked Naked Mole Rat ever, discovers Wilbur’s secret? A gentle story about not quite fitting in and expressing one’s own individuality. Directed by Pete List. Narrated by Trixie, Mo and Cheryl Willems. (9 minutes)

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Joseph, the tailor, is very resourceful. When his overcoat becomes old and worn, he makes it into a jacket, then his jacket into a vest. And so on until he has nothing left - then he even makes something out of that! Narrated by Rob Reiner with authentic klezmer music. (10 minutes)

Brave Irene
Irene summons up all her courage in the face of a fierce snowstorm when her mother falls ill and Irene must deliver a ball gown to the duchess. Narrated by Lindsay Crouse.
(13 minutes)

Reel Kids Film: Funny Face
Brown Auditorium Theatre
Law building - Lower Level
Free with General Museum Admission
2:30 p.m.
A New York bookseller (Audrey Hepburn) is offered a modeling contract and a trip to Paris by a fashion photographer (Fred Astaire) after being discovered on a photo shoot. The musical contains the classic Gershwin tunes “S’Wonderful” and “How Long Has This Been Going On?” and features revelry, romance, and runways! Directed by Stanley Donen. (103 minutes)