26
June
2016
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Art Splash celebrates Creative Africa

July 1- September 5, 2016

Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building

Returning for its fourth year, Art Splash, the Museum's popular summer family program, will open on July 1 in conjunction with Creative Africa, a season of five exhibitions of African art, both historic and contemporary, currently on view in the Perelman Building. Spanning ten weeks, Art Splash offers a dynamic set of programs focused on engaging families, including gallery explorations, hands-on workshops, guided tours, performances, and family festivals. A special family friendly menu offered in the Perelman Café and a complimentary shuttle to bring visitors to and from the main building will be available through Labor Day, offering visitors of all ages a memorable visit to the Museum this summer.

Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and CEO, notes, "We have long recognized the Museum's potential as a place for creative play. Art Splash is our invitation to all families to share in this experience together. Since we initiated this program four years ago, it has grown substantially, enabling us to welcome more children and their caregivers each year. We are particularly pleased to have the continued support of PNC, which shares our goal of bringing communities together through the arts."

In the Splash Studio, visitors can participate in projects that will change throughout the summer and explore themes such as Travel, Design, Build, Print, and Sculpt. Highlights include creating masks inspired by the Kota figures on display in the exhibition Look Again: Contemporary Perspectives on African Art, and designing colorful textiles similar to those featured in Vlisco: African Fashion on a Global Stage. Families can build paper structures based on the innovative projects as seen in The Architecture of Francis Kéré: Building for Community, and immerse themselves in his vibrant site-specific installation, Colorscape. Suspended from the Skylit Atrium ceiling, Colorscape offers a playful interactive environment, evocative of the sounds of daily life in Philadelphia as well as the architect's home village of Gando in Burkina Faso.

Paula Fryland, PNC Regional President for Philadelphia, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey, said: "PNC aims to help local residents gain access to the arts, and to help arts organizations expand their audiences. We can think of no better fit for us than Art Splash at the Philadelphia Museum of Art."

"At Art Splash, we have something for everyone, big and small" said Emily Schreiner, The Zoë and Dean Pappas Curator of Education, Public Programs. "Whether by joining a class or a hands-on workshop, or taking a relaxing stroller tour with baby in tow, kids of all ages can enjoy creative time together with their families and make discoveries along the way."

In the Splash Studio (10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.)

July 1-10
Travel
 through time and create a sculptural mask using metallic materials and textures inspired by the Kota figures in the Look Again exhibition.

July 12-24
Design
 your own textile by drawing shapes, patterns, and designs on fabric inspired by Vlisco.

July 26-Aug 7
Build
 a colorful paper-scape structure inspired by Colorscape, Francis Kéré's vibrant installation.

August 9-21
Print
 by making a stamp from a variety of materials and create your own patterns inspired by Threads of Tradition.

August 23-Sept 5
Sculpt
 miniature sculptures with clay and decorate them with bronze paint, inspired by the gold weights in Look Again.

Family Tours 
(11:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m.)
Early Birds (ages 3-5) and Art Explorers (ages 6-10)Participatory conversations offer an introduction to art for young visitors and their families.

Family Art Cart 
(Noon-3:00 p.m.)Museum educators are in the galleries with hand-on activities for everyone.

Family Workshops
Families may pre-register for workshops on select Saturdays that include gallery explorations followed by collaborative art making in the studios. Projects range from creating textile designs (July 16 and 23), to sound structures (July 30 and August 6), and photographic prints (August 13 and 20).

Family Festivals

Sunday, July 3
Celebrate Africa and Art Splash with Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble as they perform traditional dance and music from West Africa and the African diaspora.

Sunday, August 7
The Liberian Women's Chorus for Change, a group of award-winning singers, dancers, and musicians from Liberia, sing songs that promote change and social justice through art.Family Festival performances take place at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Admission is Pay What You Wish on the first Sunday of each month.

Visiting the Museum
Museum admission for children twelve and under is always free. General Museum admission is Pay What You Wish on the first Sunday of every month.

Transportation
A free shuttle between the Perelman Building and the West Entrance of the Museum's main building departs every fifteen minutes and has a lift for easy stroller transport. Stroller parking will be available inside the Perelman Building during Art Splash.

Dining Options
The Perelman Café will offer family-friendly food from 11:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

Support
Art Splash is presented by PNC Arts Alive. Additional generous support is provided by The Women's Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Origlio Beverage and The Honickman Group, Mrs. Kay Bossone, Mari and Peter Shaw, Steve and Gretchen Burke, and Deena S. Gerson in honor of Isaac Henry Hohns.

About PNC Arts Alive
About PNC Arts Alive PNC Arts Alive is a multi-year grant initiative of the PNC Foundation that challenges visual and performing arts organizations to put forth their best, most original thinking in expanding audience participation and engagement. To date, this award-winning program has provided approximately $13 million in grants to enterprising cultural organizations in three regions served by PNC. For more information, visitPNCArtsAlive.com

About Creative Africa
Art Splash runs in conjunction with Creative Africa, the suite of five exhibitions that feature historical works of art, contemporary fashion, photography, design, and architecture in the Perelman Building. The season is accompanied by programs that feature a broad spectrum of the arts from across the African continent. Each calls attention to the continuities and differences between African art forms over the centuries.The exhibitions are:Look Again: Contemporary Perspectives on African Art, a major exhibition drawn from the collection of the Penn Museum (through December 4, 2016).Vlisco: African Fashion on a Global Stage explores the celebrated company's most enduring designs, examines the process of creating a new textile, and showcases a selection of contemporary fashions by African and European makers as well as Vlisco's in-house design team (through January 22, 2017).Threads of Tradition focuses on traditional patterns in West and Central African textiles and the techniques used to create them, including strip weaving, resist dyeing, piecing, appliqué, and embroidery (through January 2017).Three Photographers/Six Cities presents an in-depth look at three photographers who create powerful pictures of six African cities: Cairo, Egypt; Nairobi, Kenya; Lagos, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Bamako and Tombouctou (Timbuktu), Mali. From Akinbode Akinbiyi's observation of urban centers and Seydou Camara's examination of Islamic manuscripts to Ananias Léki Dago's pictures of offbeat locales, the images offer unique perspectives on contemporary African experience (through September 25, 2016).The Architecture of Francis Kéré: Building for Community features a site-specific, immersive environment designed by this world-renowned Burkina-Faso-born architect (through September 25, 2016).

Creative Africa Support
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is supported by an Advancement grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Creative Africa is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Arlin and Neysa Adams Endowment Fund, The Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, Julia and Gene Ericksen, Osagie and Losenge Imasogie, Dr. and Mrs. John T. Williams, and a generous anonymous donor.Look Again was organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in cooperation with the Penn Museum.

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