Art, music, and participating in local cultural events are all are important parts of a child's development. Unfortunately, depending on income, accessibility to transportation and lack of opportunity, many children in Dallas aren't exposed to fine arts on a regular basis.
 |
| Photo by: Stuart Miles |
I was SO pleased to find that Target has joined with The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas for a fantastic FREE kid-friendly art appreciation event called, "Target First Saturdays."
Some of the themes, scheduled on the first Saturday of each month this year are:
- July 2012 - IDENTITY - Activity: Future Self Portraits
- August 2012 - TECHNOLOGY - Activity: Hybrid Sculptures
- September 2012 - HISTORY - Activity: Personal Histories
- October 2012 - PERSONALITY - Activity: Personal Tote Bags
- November 2012 - NATURE - Activity: Sculpture Gardens
- December 2012 - FAMILY - Activity: Family Portraits
...and it doesn't stop there. It looks like they have scheduled as far out as March 2013 so far!
Let me take you on a tour!
My family was SO excited to be invited to take a look at "Target First Saturdays" at the Nasher this past weekend! We love museums, but just hadn't gotten ourselves down to the Nasher in the 2+ years we've lived in Dallas.
This month's theme: Art in PROCESS
 |
| Picasso - "Head of a Woman" - our first find! |
The drive from McKinney on Saturday morning actually went quite quickly! It only took about 30 minutes to get there, not too shabby! We were able to find parking and were greeted by Nasher & Target staff waiting with a "goodie bag" for my little peanut in the lobby. The bag included a stamped "passport" for Target First Saturdays, that she can bring back each month to get stamped and earn special prizes!
We started with our scavenger hunt sheet, that included (4) thumbnail photos of various sculptures at the Nasher. Our goal - find the sculptures pictured and write down the name of the piece as well as the artist. Looking around, it looked like the other kiddos there were having a FUN time, trying to figure out which sculptures were on the sheet, and writing down the names/artists. Hopefully, for many of them, this is the beginning of art appreciation for years to come!
 | ||
| Abakanowicz - "Bronze Crowd" |
My little peanut, only 15 months old had a fantastic time looking at each of the art pieces out in the Nasher sculpture garden. Of course we aren't supposed to touch, like in any museum, but the staff here were great about us toddling around on the grass getting up close and personal to the pieces.
 |
| Her FAVORITE (because she could walk through it) - Serra - "My Curves Are Not Mad" |
Honestly, we spent more time outside in the gardens than inside in the current exhibitions, since our little one wanted to run around. However, there were some other fabulous activities going on throughout the day that looked like tons of fun. Each month they have a similar schedule but offer NEW activities to keep the kids interested. JUNE's schedule was:
- 10 am -12 pm - Children's Art Activity - Crayon Resist Drawings (and a take-home project card for making marbled paper)
- 10 am - 12:30 pm - Artist at Work Sculptor Demo
- 10:15 am, 11:15am and 12:15pm - Family Tour of the Museum
- 11:30am - Yoga in the Garden
- 12:30pm - Storytime with the Dallas Public Library
- 1:00pm - NasherKids Live! - Kabuki with Kent Williams
 |
| Keeping cool by the beautiful fountains outside in the sculpture garden! |
 |
| Checking out "Night" (La Nuit) by Maillol |
Don't forget to check out the Nasher Cafe by Wolfgang Puck while you're there. We had two fantastic sandwiches, the Roasted Turkey Club and Vegetarian Bahn Mi. Our little peanut also enjoyed her NasherKids Meal (available from 11 am - 2 pm).
 |
| YES, I AM one of those annoying people who takes photos of their FOOD! |
There were some great exhibitions inside as well, like the interactive piece by Ernesto Neto, called "Cuddle on the Tightrope" - a cool mess of crocheted rope that you can actually walk through. Be sure to check it out before it's gone (May 12th - September 9th 2012):
 |
| Photo by: Julius Pickenpack |
Thank you, so much to Target First Saturdays and Nasher Sculpture Center for providing our family with a beautiful day, and for giving our little peanut a start to what we hope will be a lifetime of developing her own personal creativity and love for the fine arts!
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
- Pablo Picasso
Nasher Sculpture Center
2001 Flora Street
Dallas, TX 75201
(214) 242-5100
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving me a comment. Please email me directly if you need a response right away!