One of the best things about homeschooling is that you can take advantage of the slower daytime hours at museums, and some places offer discounts during the day for homeschoolers! Care Bear has been more interested in Art lately and so when she saw the History Center had an exhibit, The New Deal for Artists, she was very excited to check it out. Here’s the description of the exhibit from the Smithsonian:
In 1934, Americans grappled with an economic situation that feels all too familiar today. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration created the Public Works of Art Project—the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. Federal officials in the 1930s understood how essential art was to sustaining America’s spirit. Artists from across the United States who participated in the program, which lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934, were encouraged to depict “the American Scene.” The Public Works of Art Project not only paid artists to embellish public buildings, but also provided them with a sense of pride in serving their country. They painted regional, recognizable subjects—ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life to landscapes and depictions of rural life—that reminded the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community and optimism.
1934: A New Deal for Artists celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Project by drawing on the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s unparalleled collection of vibrant artworks created for the program. The paintings in this exhibition are a lasting visual record of America at a specific moment in time. George Gurney, deputy chief curator, organized the exhibition with Ann Prentice Wagner, curatorial associate.
The Smithsonian Institute put together a page that describes the exhibit in more detail here. You can see if this exhibit is coming to your area!
Since Little Miss is so curious and old oil paintings are not something toddlers should be curious with, I took her to a neighboring exhibit, Open House. It was cute! The museum picked a real house in our area and looked into who lived there since it was built, and had sections in the exhibit depicting each era from the 1880’s until our current era. Can you believe over 50 families lived in this one house?! They turned it from a single family home to a duplex to a triplex, but still… wow! It was fun, and there were many things Little Miss could play with including a piano that told the story of the people who owned it, and a giant piggy bank with giant play coins that showed the price of items in the 50’s.
Though we don’t go on field trips every Friday, look forward to more field trip ideas each Friday! I’ll try to include travelling exhibits so you can find ones in every area, too!
My family and I recently visited a museum during day hours… We were practically the only ones there 😉 Gotta love home schooling.
Yes! One of the many benefits! Many places have homeschool days here where you can get free admission and they have special activities.