Thrifty Thursday: Art Lessons, gratis

       I was visiting the local art museum's website to check on its hours, when I noticed an offer of free educational materials. Sweet. I submitted a request and they emailed me once the materials arrived. We stopped in to pick up our education package and were informed of an interactive exhibit for children located downstairs. "You guys wanna check it out?" I asked my students. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!!" came the chorus of eager replies. And I'll tell you, I was impressed. What started out as running a quick errand turned into an entire morning spent at the museum. My budding artists had a delightful time.

       Creative work in progress.

Ah! The joy of art!

The artist whose work was being showcased 
preferred to draw from a live model.

So we tried it out:

 "Stick 'em up!"

"Howdy, partner."

     
       There was something to interest every age group: books, building blocks, dress-ups, paper and pencils, even origami!

       We sure had fun mixing and matching these magnetic portraits.

"Your features are so. . . unique!"

"She gets those eyes from her great-great-grandfather, 
Edgar Allen Poe."

 And my personal favorite. . .

Bearded Girl

       Once we recovered from our bout of hysterical laughter, we headed back home and opened up the package we'd received.

       Woah. 

       Totally surpassed my expectations, seeing as it was free and all. Look what we found inside:

       The kit included 23 posters and over 50 postcards. On the back of each is a short bio of the artist, details about the piece and questions or suggestions to spark discussion and activities related to the work. I'd purchased several 8x10 canvases at the second-hand store a long time ago (a buck-fifty each). This was the perfect opportunity to pull them out. My 10-year-old is definitely the most interested of the 5 in all things artistic. She's the one who gasps at a glorious sunset and screams, "Where are my markers?" so she can capture it's fleeting beauty. She immediately chose a favorite from the poster set and determined to draw it herself.  She used acrylic paints and her "twistables"colored pencils. (Those I did not purchase second hand, but they are well worth the money in my opinion).

       I'm immensely pleased. What a terrific resource. Whether you home-school or not, this is something I highly recommend to anyone with an appreciation for art.