Tap Into Your Creativity at Crystal Bridges Programs

If tapping into your creativity is on your New Year resolutions list, check out these offerings from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. For 2013 it is offering an enhanced series of workshops for both children and adults. The popular Art Night Out series returns as well, and demonstrations by artists can get your creative juices flowing as well.

Here’s the schedule of January programs:

Monday, Jan. 7, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The Great Reveal | Rare Books

Visit Crystal Bridges’ Library and explore a selection of rare books and items not often displayed publicly to learn how many American artists made their living illustrating published materials for the masses. Join Library Director Catherine Petersen as she reveals early twentieth-century American printmaking as seen in illustrated novels and archival materials by artists such as Joseph Pennell, Rockwell Kent, and Thomas Hart Benton.

Wednesdays, Jan. 9, 16, 23, and 30; 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Studio Studies Series | Figure Drawing from a Thomas Eakins Perspective

Explore the figure-drawing style of the great American painter Thomas Eakins. We will utilize Eakins’s unique techniques, including photography, grids, speed drawing, and creation of shadows and light.  This class will have a clothed model to study from.

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Drop-In Drawing

Drop in for a free, informal drawing session. Materials are provided and an art instructor will be on hand to get you started. Check at Guest Services for the specific location. Offered monthly on Wednesday evenings or Sunday afternoons. Materials are provided and all ages are welcome!

Thursday, Jan. 10, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Preschool Playdate | Let’s Build!

Mark your calendars for the second Thursday of each month! January’s Preschool Playdates features a live performances by The Kiddos, art projects, games, and storytelling based on themes from our collection.  Activities are geared for children ages 2 to 5 with an adult.

Saturday, Jan. 12, noon to 3 p.m.
Drop-In Studio

Exercise your creativity! Museum art instructors will be available to lead fun and fanciful projects in the Durand and Estes Studios.

Sunday, Jan. 13, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Drop-In Drawing

Drop in for a free, informal drawing session. Materials are provided and an art instructor will be on hand to get you started. Check at Guest Services for the specific location. Offered monthly on Wednesday evening or Sunday afternoon. Materials are provided and all ages are welcome!

Mondays, Jan. 14, 21, and 28, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Drawing Explorations | A Close-up Study of Martin Johnson Heade

Put the natural world under a magnifying lens and sketch from the botanical studies of legendary landscape painter Martin Johnson Heade. Students will practice still life drawing and observe the details of Heade’s paintings as examples.

Wednesdays, Jan. 16, 23, and 30, 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Preschool Art Class | Lines & Shapes

For children ages 3 to 5 with a caregiver. These classes are unique opportunities for our youngest guests to begin experimenting with art materials. Parents or caregivers participate with their preschoolers in different art-making activities each week. Each session includes three consecutive Wednesday classes.

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
WOW

Attention members and guests: you are invited to join Crystal Bridges Culinary Director Case Dighero in the Museum’s Great Hall to sample selections of drinks and hors d’oeuvres from Eleven. Open to guests ages 21 and above. 

Sunday, Jan. 20, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
360 Discussion | The Art and Science of Light

Featured speakers: GE light expert Steve Cunningham (Manager of Business Development); and Zed Adams, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the New School; moderated by Director of Curatorial David Houston.

Get a fresh perspective on light as an art form with experts who will discuss science, art, psychology, and electrical history in relation to the See the Light exhibition. Director of Curatorial David Houston will moderate the discussion and relate it to the various types of light art in the exhibition. Enjoy this opportunity to delve deeper into the topics related to the See the Light exhibition before it closes on January 28.

Monday, Jan. 21
American Chronicles, the Art of Norman Rockwell

Member complimentary ticket reservation period begins. (Tickets available to the public beginning Feb. 4.)

Thursday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Art Night Out | IMMERSION: Celebrating Light and Architecture

For guests ages 21 and up. Immerse yourself in light and architecture at the museum with a celebratory closing party for See the Light and the Moshe Safdie exhibition. Illuminate your night with a site-specific architectural dance performance by Tulsa Modern Movement; enjoy a special participation art project by Northwest Arkansas Community College’s visual and performing arts students; watch glass-bending demonstrations by local artist Denise Lanuti; and join an immersive theatre tour by The Artist’s Laboratory Theatre.

Finish the night with a dance party in the Great Hall featuring a light-painting performance by Los Angeles-based artist Norton Wisdom and Fayetteville’s electronic fusion band, Space Camp. Get into the night’s glowing experience and come dressed in a light-up costume (be creative!). We’ll post photos on Facebook and announce a winner at the end of the night. If you’re feeling the cold-weather blues, this event will surely warm up your winter! Colorful appetizers are included in the ticket price, and specially lit drinks will be available for purchase.

Saturday, Jan. 26, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Museum Store | Trent Tally Pottery Wheel Demonstration and Sale

Come enjoy a demonstration and browse artworks by Trent Tally, winner of the Best 3-D award in the 2012 Bentonville ArtWalk. Trent is a nationally known, award-winning artist whose work in porcelain, stoneware, low-fire earthenware, and raku combines influences from primitive, ancient, and modern art.