Special Events Featured, Along with Regularly Scheduled Weekday and Weekend Classes
Summer activities for children and families at The Metropolitan Museum of Art –featuring regularly scheduled weekday and weekend classes, including a weekly Spanish-language program – will begin with a special Gallery Workshop for Families at The Cloisters on July 2, and will conclude with the program Look Again! on August 7. Additional highlights include special Holiday Monday programs on July 4, a film screening on Saturday, July 16, and a final workshop at The Cloisters on Saturday, August 6. These programs for children up to age 12 and their adult companions are free with Museum admission, and all materials are provided.
Ongoing weekday activities, Tuesdays-Fridays, July 5-August 5, include:
· Charles H. Tally Art Mornings for Families: Four Forms in Art – an adventure in art through conversation and sketching, for visitors ages five through 12 and their adult companions. Each day focuses on a theme related to a form found within art: Tuesdays are devoted to the triangle; Wednesdays to the circle; Thursdays to the square; and Fridays to the rectangle. Classes meet 11am-noon.
· Hello, Met! – Families new to the Museum (youngsters ages five through 12 and accompanying adults) receive a warm and stimulating introduction to its encyclopedic collection through discussion and sketching of its masterpieces. Prior to the program, a short film may be viewed. Classes meet Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
· Start with Art at the Met – for ages three through seven. An hour of storytelling, sketching activities, and other ways of exploring art. Classes meet 2:30-3:30 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 3:30-4:30 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays.
· El Primer Contacto con el Arte – a Spanish-language workshop for ages six through 12, featuring an hour of discussion and sketching activities focusing on a particular theme and a different area of the Museum each week. Classes meet Fridays, 11:00 a.m.-noon.
Ongoing weekend activities, July 9-August 7, include:
· Start with Art at the Met – for ages three through seven. An hour of storytelling, sketching activities, and other ways of exploring art. Classes meet Saturdays, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
· Look Again! – for ages five through 12. Topics unlocking the history, meaning, and cross-cultural connections of works of art in the Museum are explored through conversation and sketching. From time to time, performances will enhance this program. Scheduled on Saturdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:00-3:30 p.m., and on Sundays, 11:00-12:30 p.m. (The 2:00 p.m. program on July 9 and August 6 will be Sign-Language interpreted.)
· Art Evenings for Families– for ages six through 12. An encounter with the Museum's collection through conversation and sketching. Scheduled at 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Saturdays, July 10 through August 7. About once a month a performance segment is added to the program.
· Hello, Met! – Families new to the Museum (youngsters ages five through 12 and accompanying adults) receive a warm and stimulating introduction to its encyclopedic collection through discussion and sketching of its masterpieces. Prior to the program, a short film may be viewed. Classes meet Sundays, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Special family activities include:
· Water! – an hour-long Gallery Workshop for Families at The Cloisters, beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 2. Participants will learn how water – from wells to fountains – was necessary for both everyday and ceremonial purposes in the Middle Ages, as well as the different uses and meanings of water and how we can't live without it.
· >Holiday Monday Family Programs – On July 4, a Holiday Monday at the Museum, youngsters ages five through 12 and accompanying adults are invited to explore the Metropolitan through stimulating discussion and sketching of some of the masterpieces in its collection in hour-long sessions that will begin at 11:00 a.m., noon, 1:15 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.
· A screening of the 35-minute film From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, on Saturday, July 16, at 1:00 p.m. Based on the humorous story by E. L. Konigsburg, and starring Ingrid Bergman and Madeline Kahn, the film follows the adventures of brother and sister hide in the Metropolitan Museum for a whole week – and solve a mystery while they're there.
· Making an Entrance – an hour-long Gallery Workshop for Families at The Cloisters, beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 6. Whether you are entering a church or a castle, doorways can tell stories and make you feel welcome (or not!). Workshop participants are invited to walk through the doors at The Cloisters and find out what might be on the other side.
A variety of complimentary printed guides for independent activities within the Museum are provided, and reduced-fee family Audio Guide tours are available. Also available are Touch Tours for the visually impaired; Discoveries, a series of Sunday workshops for children and adults with developmental disabilities; and Sign Language interpretation of one family program each month (call 212-879-5500, ext. 3561). There is a special children's shop on the second floor, and the Museum's cafeteria features special meals for children under 12 years of age – priced at $4.95 each and served in a unique three-dimensional tray designed to look like a New York City taxicab.
Prior to visiting the Museum, families can log onto the MuseumKids page of the Metropolitan Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org) which has the direct address http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/museumkids.htm.
Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are admitted free.
Family programs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art are supported by: Uris Brothers Foundation Endowment, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Schein, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., Pat and John Rosenwald Fund, Aronson Endowment Fund, Staten Island Advance, and The Roberta & Allan Weissglass Foundation, Inc.
For further information on family programs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, call (212) 570-3961.
# # #
Press resources