Art Project #36: Visiting the Art Museum.

I've been wanting to take the boys to an art museum for years.  But it's one of those trips that is easily put off.  I knew they would not love it as much as visiting science or children's museums and since they weren't begging to go we never got around to it.

I figured that now was the perfect time to visit!  It went well with our 100 Days of Art Challenge, it was the perfect activity for us to do with Ian's hand in a brace, and, best of all, our art museum had free admission for the month of August!

I am so glad we went too.  My boys enjoyed it tremendously and kept telling me how much fun they were having.

We're lucky that our art museum is very kid friendly!  This month they had a special exhibit all about cats.  There was a scavenger hunt of sort through the museum to see all the art work that had cats in it.  We had a map to follow and each exhibit had a picture of a cat near it so we knew when we found it.

Our first "cat stop"

They had an interactive exhibit set up called Cats in Residence.  The art and design students from nearby schools put together a netted cage filled with all sorts of climbing things and toys for the cats and the museum brought in cats for people to pet and see.  All of the cats came from the local shelter with adoption papers and information.  Each grouping of three cats spends one week at the museum before going back to the shelter (or being adopted; it was posted that 77 cats has been adopted so far!).

Alec with Garbonzo 

Evan petting Diego 

We found art carts throughout the museum; though only one was open.  Each cart is in a different section and has a different theme.  Alec participated in one about mosaics; learning first about mosaics, the materials and colors used and what the meaning behind them was.

creating art at the art museum 

Learning about mosaics 

Wall mosaic 

Alec's completed mosaic 

Floor mosaic 

We studied the different painting techniques and talked about the differences between realism, pointillism, cubism, and impressionism.  We talked about perspective drawing, abstract art, and learned a bit about the preservation of art too.

We stopped for a snack in the courtyard and the boys played a game of chess, checked out the sculptures and mosaics.

Inside the ball sculpture 

Behind Evan you can see art on display from local schools and students

Throughout the museum they have carts of books and benches for reading, they have little stands set up where kids can have their pictures taken and a few rooms have dress up areas and kid friendly stops to learn about what is being shown in that room.  There were often drawing supplies, papers and coloring sheets around too! 

The older boys stopped to draw and color

One of the book carts we saw 

Wall mural in the children's play area behind the suits of armor 

I love when the boys take a personal interest in something and watch the excitement take over their face.  Evan just loved the various stained glass windows we saw and actually used my camera to take his own pictures.  Alec and Evan were both thrilled when we found some jade carvings; many of the names reminded them of the names on Steven Universe and they were excited to see some of these materials up close and in real life. 

My boys gushed about their trip and they told me so many times that they enjoyed it tremendously.  I was so glad and know that we will definitely be back! 

Others in this series: 

Project 1: Painting with Hexbugs

Project 2: Tissue paper flowers

Project 3: Star Wars Crafts

Project 4: Watercolor compass circles

Project 5: Floral pens

Project 6: Watercolor outlines

Project 7: Scratch art jellyfish

Project 8: Oil pastel flowers
Project 9: Fingerprint dandelions 
Project 10: Beaded Sun Catchers
Project 11: Bird crafts and snacks
Project 12: Symmetrical, color mixing, butterflies

Project 13: Water gun art

Project 14: Watercolor Kits

Project 15: Dragonfly Silhouettes 

Project 16: Painting pet rocks 

Project 17: Spray Paint Resist

Project 18: Water bottle windsock

Project 19: Stained glass made easy crafting kit 

Project 20: Tin can windsock 

Project 21: Firework glue art
Project 22: Qixel art kit

Project 23: Makit Bakit Kits 
Project 24: Wood burning cutting board

Project 25: Making our own rafts 

Project 26: Spray Painted Canvas

Project 27: Paper bowl jellyfish 

Project 28: Tin Foil Art

Project 29: Oil Pastel Bubbles 

Project 30: Chalk Pastel painting 

Project 31: Washi Tape Votive holders 

Project 32: Drip Painted Pots

Project 33: Sun Art 

Project 34: Tissue paper transfer 

Project 35: Stained Glass dragonfly

Project 36: Art Museum field trip. 

Project 37: Taking a Family Art Class

Project 38: Painting Minecraft T-Shirts

Project 39: Painting Pikachu 

Project 40: How to Draw Books

Project 41: Wax resist Watercolors

Project 42: Splatter Paint Canvas

Project 43: Fine line fall leaves 

Project 44: Fairy Village field trip

Project 45: Oil Pastel Resist Leaves

Project 46: Tissue Paper Leaf Art

Project 47: Bat Silhouette Painting 

Project 48: Beginner Photography

Project 49: Making Harry Potter Wands

Project 50: Drawing Cat Faces 

Project 51: Making Homemade cards

Project 52:  Learning the Art of Zentangle

Project 53: 3-D printing 

Project 54: Gingerbread Train

Project 55: Paint Swirled Ornaments 

Project 56: Loom band ornaments and bracelets 

Project 57: Candy trees 

Project 58: Strand of light chalk drawings

Projects 59-64: Christmas Crafting Kits from Oriental Trading

Project 65: Painting Ceramic Village Pieces 

Project 66: Washi Tape Cookie Cutter Ornaments
Project 67: Learning Origami 
Project 68: Art Books and Artist Study
Project 69: Playing Go Fish Art
Project 70: Edible Chocolate Art
Project 71: Geometric Hearts 
Project 72: Marble Swirled Hearts
Project 73: Solid Tempera Paint Drawings
Project 74: Qixels 3-D Maker
Project 75: Making Cupcakes
Project 76: Window Marker Art
Project 77: Shamrock Zentangles on Scratch Paper
Project 78: Painted Pandas 
Project 79: Minecraft Digital Art
Project 80: Charcoal Drawings
Project 81: Chalk Pastel Lighthouse Drawings
Project 82: Dying Easter Eggs With Bleeding Tissue Paper
Project 83: Painting Pottery
Project 84: Drawing En Plein Air
Project 85: African Savannah Paintings
Project 86: Woven CD Garden Decoration
Project 87: Working with Clay
Project 88: Art Lessons with Art Academy
Project 89: Melted Bead Wind Chimes
Project 90: Perler Bead Projects
Project 91: Ivory Soap Carvings
Project 92: Ice Cube Tie Dye
Project 93: String Art
Project 94: Multimedia Ocean Paintings 
Project 95: Balloon Splatter Painting
Project 96: Making Mosaic Stepping Stones
Project 97: Glass Bead and Glue Sun Catchers 
Project 98: Coloring Book Art
Project 99: Metal Stamped Bookmarks

Project 100: Water Balloon Art