At a recent Little Things Family Party, hosted by the Vero Beach Museum of Art, families were invited to explore the museum galleries and to enjoy all of life’s simple pleasures.
“Tonight we are having a family party celebrating Doris Lee, all the little things in life that make us happy, and all the little things in her artwork that make us happy,” said Catherine Esrock, VBMA public programs manager.
“The museum is for everyone. We want everyone to feel welcome here, like they belong.
Everyone likes to make art. It’s a good creative outlet. It grows children’s brains and helps with problem-solving,” Esrock explained.
“We’ve been very careful to do things in here that are different age group orientated – with dexterity, colors, learning the alphabet and language. They’re learning while having fun, and they don’t realize it. We like to link the visual arts and education, which is part of our mission,” added Sophie Bentham-Wood, VBMA director of marketing and communications.
The event drew all eyes to the “Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee” exhibition, on display in the Holmes and Titelman Galleries. From the 1930s until the mid-1960s, Lee was one of the most recognized artists in the country.
Docents helped the children take a closer look at Lee’s work, while leading them through an art hunt where they searched for fruit, friends, the ocean, colors, family, and even a gong, which they then took turns hitting so they could feel the vibrations.
After viewing Lee’s work, the families visited the Laura and Bill Buck Atrium, where they played games and created their own works of art.
They could put together tiny travel art kits to use on the road, such as those Lee used on her worldwide travels. Mimicking other aspects of Lee’s life, children were tasked with drawing still life bowls of fruit, and they could also contribute to a community mural. In 1938, Lee was commissioned (the only woman artist asked to do so) to paint two U.S. Post Office murals during the Great Depression: “General Store and Post Office,” and “Country Post.”
Afterward, so that they could feel like they were truly part of the museum, the budding artists hung their pieces of artwork in a tiny gallery.
The littlest of visitors and, truth be told, some of the older set, also enjoyed visiting the Art Zone, where they could explore the interactive area, play, create, read and watch their artistic creations come to life on the ‘aquarium’ wall.
Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee will be on exhibit through Sept. 18, and Masters in Black & White, showcasing a selection from the photography collection of Elizabeth Stewart of Vero Beach, is on display until Sept. 11. The exhibit, Picasso, Matisse & Friends: Drawings from a Private Collection, will open Sept. 17.
New this year, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 3, an artist from the Duncan McClellan Gallery will give glassblowing demonstrations from their mobile hot shop. Then from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday Dec. 4, take the family to a Fire and Ice-themed Holidays at the Museum, and the weekend of Dec. 16 and Dec. 17, return between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. for Art After Dark, an outdoor digital art display. All three events are free.
For more information, visit vbmuseum.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
