Children’s classes bring out their inner artist at the New Britain Museum of American Art

by Kory Loucks

NEW BRITAIN — As all this snow loses its novelty and the children become bored, why not bring them to an art class at the New Britain Museum of American Art, and give their inner artist a chance to shine.

It offers drop-in Art Explorers classes at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays for children 8 and older and Art Start classes at 11 a.m. for younger children.

On a recent Saturday at the Art Explorer’s class, the older group of children created dragons from paper based on a dragon painting in the museum titled “Twilight Terror” by artist Rowena A. Morrill, with art teacher Suzy Jorsey-Balay, while art teacher Margaret Freeman taught the younger group.

Freeman said each week she offers a different class, which often combines a craft with a book and some art in the museum.

This was a second visit for Karen French of West Hartford and her daughter, Ari French, 3. “We loved it,” she said of their previous experience.

Ari drew curtains on her box, while Lindsay Hillemeir, 4, of the Unionville section of Farmington said she was going to make a house that was a jar, but ended up drawing the sun, some clouds, a chair, a smiling person, and a flower inside her box.

Lindsay exclaimed about the person she drew on her box, “Look at the flower she growed.”

Sofia Johnson, 3, and her mom, Rina, of East Hampton also worked on their perspective box, drawing windows and doors.

“It’s a nice thing to do on a Saturday,” Rina Johnson said.

Karen French agreed, saying, “Winter is a really good time to do this.”

Charlotte Furia, 3, said her favorite thing to do was to look at the art, “and see all the things I did.”

And, while she liked making her perspective box, she clearly enjoyed writing her own name, which she spelled correctly, on the brown paper-covered table in purple oil pastels.

When they completed their boxes inside and out, Freeman carved small holes into the sides, allowing them to peek into their own perspective boxes, which they got to take home.

Lindsay enjoyed her first time in the art class, saying, “This is a cool place.”

In addition to getting the red oil pastel on her box, Lindsay managed to get much of it on her face, hands, and dress, much to her mother’s chagrin.

“Hopefully it will come out in the wash,” her mom, Tina Hillemeir, said of the red-stained dress.

After the art class, Lindsay Hillemeir and her mom had lunch in the museum’s award-winning Café on the Park, where Lindsay had a grilled cheese sandwich along with a fruit juice boxed beverage, and her mom had a winter chicken salad with greens and cranberries.

Lindsay summed up the whole experience when she enthusiastically proclaimed, “This was the best day ever!”

The Saturday drop-in Art Start class costs $5 per child for non-members and $3 for members, while the Art Explorers class costs $7 for non-members and $5 for members. The museum also offers birthday parties for groups of all sizes.

For more information, contact the museum at 860-229-0257, ext. 220, or visit its website:

www.nbmaa.org

(photo by Leslloyd F. Alleyne-Journal Inquirer)