Visitors to the Museum this month will learn about three masters of art while creating their own masterpieces, all the while becoming Box Masters. The works of Josef Albers, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louise Nevelson will be used to teach color, structure, and sculpture, inspiring the creation of crafts, science, and architecture, with boxes!
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- “Homage to the Square: Apparition”, 1959. Josef Albers
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- Falling Water; built in 1964; designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
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- “Untitled” 1964. Louise Nevelson
German-born artist Josef “The Square Man” Albers created over 1,000 paintings, drawings, and prints of squares between the 1950’s and 1970’s. While some may look at these works of art and just see squares, there is both mathematics and color theory (such as the effects that colors have on one another) behind each piece. The series Homage to the Square explores what happens when different sizes and colors of squares are placed upon one another and how they create optical illusions. His experimentation inspired artists and movements, such as Geometric Abstraction, Color Field, and Op Art. In the Craft Maker Space, your little artists will channel Albers by doing a sugar cube project.
Frank Lloyd Wright, named the greatest American architect by the American Institute of Architects, started out as a draftsman in the 1880’s. Inspired by the flatness of the prairie, he created an American style of architecture which became known as the Prairie Style. This style is known for its one-floor horizontals, with rows of windows that strengthen the horizontal theme. Wright is another prolific artist who in seventy years drew over 1000 designs, half of which were actually constructed. He became a major influence on the architects that have come after him. In the Craft Maker Space, a model making project will be done to show the principles of Wright’s Prairie Style.
Russian sculptor Louise Nevelson came to America as a child in 1905. She considered herself the first recycler because she used discarded wooden objects to create her works of art. Her use of individual pieces to create one monumental sculpture is known as assemblage or “a work of art made by grouping found or unrelated objects”. Nevelson paved the way for female artists, who were not previously known to make large, sculptural pieces of art. In the Box Lab, your little sculptors and architects will be led by the Imaginators in constructing structures inspired by Wright’s buildings and sculptures encouraged by the works of Nevelson.
Don’t think we forgot about your little scientists! In the Science Maker Space, arches and triangles will be explored to see how they can strengthen bridges and buildings. Binoculars will be made using colorful gels that will show what happens when colors mix. The Lab Coat Kids Science Show will focus on light and color, by teaching your curious kids about prisms, while also learning how primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) become secondary colors (green, purple, and orange).
Who knew that boxes could inspire so many artists and works of art? We hope that everyone gets creative this month and uses what they’ve learned about boxes to make some masterpieces!
Growing Into the World 