Saturday, visiting children got to experience a tour of contemporary art pieces by Tony Feher at the Blaffer Art Museum for Family Fun Day.
From 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, children and their parents attended Family Fun Day, an event organized by Blaffer to encourage the community to take an interest in contemporary art.
“They’re trying to get more people involved after the renovation,” said Erin Dunn, art education graduate and Blaffer docent.
Blaffer, which re-opened in October after restoration, features different contemporary artists every 3 or 4 months.
After the tour through the gallery, the children took part part in activites, such as a hopscotch game made out of various geometric shapes.
“All of these (activities) have an element of Feher,” said Katherine Veneman, Blaffer’s curator of education.
One activity, tapetionary, required the children to make art with brightly colored tape on a white backdrop.
“You want to spark their imagination,” Veneman said. “Kids have really open minds.”
During the tours, docents stopped at each piece and let the guests ponder it before talking about some of the ideas and materials found in each piece.
Painting graduate and Blaffer docent Frederick Ocksassa said his favorite was “Sharadiant,” which was made out of a few brightly colored broom handles arranged in a circle.
This was Ocksassa’s first time giving a tour to children.
“They seemed very intrigued, and they seemed to enjoy it,” he said. “I want to get better at talking about art — Tony Feher’s exhibition in particular. People are kind of hesitant, and I like to change their minds on it.”
Upstairs, there were more activities for the children, including painting and making toys with molds. Directed by artist mentors, sculpture alumni Lindsey Slavin and Tommy Gregory, these activities were among the most popular.
The art pieces were set on a table to dry and were judged later. Winners in each category — children, teenagers and adults — were given prizes. The adult winner received an exhibition catalog, a thick book with all of Feher’s art pieces in the gallery. The other two winners received art supplies.
Family Fun day, usually an annual event, is going to become a semesterly affair at Blaffer, Veneman said.
Blaffer is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
