A steady stream of children, parents and grandparents recently made their way to the Vero Beach Museum of Art for the 40th annual Children’s Art Festival.
It was a toned-down, half-day version this year, minus the abundance of hands-on activities and day-long performances by student musicians, choruses, dancers and theatrical groups, but attendance by thousands of visitors, as in past years, would currently be unthinkable.
Instead of the usual beehive of art activities in the Education Wing, the museum offered Take Home Art Kits, distributed by staff and volunteers outdoors, in the shade of the portico.
“Each bag has two art projects, coloring pages designed by Kathleen Kennedy, a notebook and colored pencils,” explained Denise Grannino, public programs manager.
Also included, self-guided tour information about the current exhibits tasked youngsters with locating various works of art. And more than a few adults looked on in envy at the art projects – a flowerpot to decorate along with wildflower seeds, and cute little birdhouses with art supplies to paint them.
The New Light exhibition by Korean artist Chul Hyun Ahn was a huge hit, with children especially mesmerized by the optical illusions.
“As hard as you try, you can’t catch it with a camera. It’s how light enters the brain and changes,” said longtime docent Toni Hamner, explaining the process as people tried to photograph the illusions with their phones.
As they entered the Schumann Gallery, young and old alike were taken aback by Marc Sijan’s ultra-realistic sculpture, Gallery Guard Seated 11.
Other budding young artists were found quietly sitting in front of the Poetry of Nature: Hudson River School paintings, as they created their own masterpieces.
“It’s just really great to have people back at the museum. And with the Congressional Art Competition we have lots of families from all over the region coming in, so it’s a nice return to normal,” said Brady Roberts, VBMA CEO.
“It’s been a really great audience in today. And these art kits have been a runaway hit. We’re approaching 4,000 art kits that we’ve delivered in the past half-year. These are really popular, and I think we will continue to use them,” he added.
Roberts was referencing the Congressional High School Art Competition, which had its award ceremony earlier that day. The competition drew entries from Brevard and Indian River counties and was judged by artists Cathy Ferrell of Vero Beach and Phyllis Shipley of Rockledge.
Eliza Sherrier, art teacher at St. Edward’s Upper School, was particularly pleased with the results of this year’s U.S. Space Program-themed competition.
Kiran Arain, a junior, won Best of Show for her piece “Space Sky,” which Sherrier described as “sort of an impressionist piece that shows NASA and a reflection of the sky.” Third prize went to Mish McLendon, a senior, for “The Guardian.” Sherrier said his style is along the lines of his father and grandfather, who are famed Highwaymen artists.
The Children’s Art Festival predates the physical museum building. The inaugural “art in a tent” event took place in 1981, hosted by the Alliance for the Arts to elicit interest in the creation of a community museum. Its 40-year success has reinforced that the way to develop new audiences is to invite families in to celebrate art together.
For more information, visitvbmuseum.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
