Families invited to visit “Roman Art from the Louvre”
Docent Jeanne Jackson and a group of children check out ” Roman Art from the Louvre” this summer at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. (Photo by Paul B. Southerland/The Oklahoman Archives.)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Family activities at library, museum to celebrate art from Louvre
Families can celebrate the special exhibit Roman Art from the Louvre Sunday with a gladiator parade, free pizza and an array of hands-on art activities.
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library are teaming up for Sunday’s Roman Art Family Day.
“We’re just trying to really build up the enthusiasm in downtown Oklahoma City for the Roman exhibit, and it just seemed a perfect fit with the library just across the street,” said Chandra Boyd, the museum’s education curator.
The museum’s activities will begin at noon with free pizza from Little Caesars.
The museum will provide face painting, a dress-up area and exhibit scavenger hunts. Local artists will offer a variety of hands-on activities, including paper mosaics, frescoes and theater masks.
At 1 p.m. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre performers, along with a Roman soldier on horseback from Remington Park Racetrack, will march into the museum in a gladiator parade. The theater group will perform a Roman-theme play at 1:15 at the museum. The group then will reprise the parade and performance at the library.
Puppet group Balcum Rancum and storyteller Michael Corley will perform shows based on Roman mythology at both venues.
Other activities at the library include hands-on sculpture and mosaic sessions, face painting and Olympic Games for the Nintendo Wii.
“One of our most popular programs that we’ve been doing is video games,” said Lisa Wood, children’s services coordinator for the Metropolitan Library System. “It just gets teens and kids involved in the library and makes it a fun and safe place for them to hang out.”
The museum offers a family day with each of its special exhibitions.
“It’s a festival type event, but it is complementing the exhibition, providing an extended interpretation that’s on the level of families with children,” Boyd said. “It’s family fun and we’re kind of sneaking learning in.”
The event proves that downtown doesn’t close on the weekends and offers many activities for families with children, Wood said.
“It’s an once-in-a-lifetime thing to have this exhibit here,” she said. “It’s such a valuable experience to get to see this exhibit. I mean, it’s from the Louvre.”
The exhibit, which opened in June, has attracted thousands of visitors from across the state, country and even some foreign countries.
“The response has been incredible to it. We’ve had just long lines; I think our average attendance daily is about 500. All our school tours are booked. It’s just been pretty much across the board; all ages love it,” Boyd said.
GOING ON
Roman Art Family Day
Hours: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Ave.
Activities: Free pizza, hands-on art activities, puppet shows, gladiator parade, Oklahoma Children’s Theatre performance and more.
Cost: Museum activities are free with admission; library activities are free.
Information: Call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com.
-BAM
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