Saturday, July 28, 2012

Get an Education at The Boca Raton Museum of Art

By Jony Mozen


There is so much to be learned by visiting a museum and The Boca Raton Museum of Art has truly set an example that others should follow. The Museum sponsors teacher and student programs, field trips, educational workshops, school and community partnerships, internships, artist in residency programs, adult and children's programs, professional development for educators and docents, and even a summer camp. The Boca Raton Museum of Art has been a valuable asset to the community for generations.

The Boca Raton Museum of Art in Mizner Park features an assortment of traveling exhibitions and permanent collections from established and rising artists, and includes 19th and 20th century European and American painting, drawings and sculpture with works by a number of the great masters including Degas, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, Seurat, Pre-Columbian art and others, plus West African art and artifacts, photography, and more. The museum also offers educational and outreach programs, artist lectures, films, art school classes for adults and children, guest lectures, an art festival, juried competitions, and cultural events.

In Japan, the changes which society underwent in the second half of the 19th century opened up new possibilities for Japanese garden design. With the opening of the country to trade with other nations, elements borrowed from the West, including lawns, formal arrangements of plantings, paved walkways and fountains, made their way into Japanese gardens of the period. More importantly, Japanese garden designers were discovering forms and materials in their own culture from which they had never before drawn to add new and interesting textures and experiences to their designs. The new trends were part of a renaissance that cut across many areas of artistic expression to re-define what it meant to be Japanese in a modern world. Innovations based on native forms might include masses of flowers such as irises or camellias, which resonated with the aesthetic sensibility of the Heian nobility by way of the 17th and 18th century paintings of the Rimpa school. Materials appearing in gardens for the first time had been around for centuries, like roofing tiles used to pave pathways or to provide other decorative accents.

New patterns, too, were familiar, such as stepping stones cut from old stone pillars across a garden pond, adding a contrastive geometric quality reminiscent of the strongly graphic surface designs of textiles. The Morikami explores another trend of the period - naturalism. This lighter, more open feeling is evident in the modern romantic garden, which is freer in its choice of plantings while recalling nostalgically the love of nature expressed in the literature of the Heian Period.

The Bonsai Collection is an age-old art of sustaining a tree in a container. The Paris World Exhibition in 1900 opened the world's eyes up to bonsai. The end of World War II in 1945 led to importing bonsai from Japan into the U.S. The art of bonsai design is to shape a tree through various techniques so that it represents, but does not duplicate, trees in nature. An aged effect is desirable, using shape, color and texture in ways that evoke a sense of how such a tree was formed over years of growth in nature. The tree must be healthy, sturdy, and displayed so as to enhance its impact. The pots are likewise selected to proportionately and artistically enhance the tree without taking away from it. Branch and leaf density, size, and location, as well as the trunk proportions, color, size, and texture are shaped to be in harmony with the whole. The use of mass and space and the relative location of the parts are critical.

Youth Summer Camp offers students a way to explore the world through art. A low student-teacher ratio, and four age-appropriate levels of learning bring children together in an environment that explores their artistic skills and deepens their connection to the natural world. The goal is to inspire students to create original works of art in a wide variety of studio programs and focus on lessons in developing fine art. Classes are geared toward each student's individual level of achievement. Instructors are highly professional art educators who seek a balance between preserving the child's natural creativity and providing the skills and discipline necessary for deeper expression to unfold. Activities include a strong emphasis on art history with hands-on learning about two famous artists; Multicultural art curriculum with visits from special guest artists; Social interactions through presentations and class exhibitions; and demonstrations how physical motion and rhythm relate to art. There will be opportunities for students to exhibit their artwork at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Art Adventure at The Art School offers birthday parties as a fun and memorable way for you, your child and all your friends to create a masterpiece to commemorate a birthday. Everyone receives a goody bag that includes a $10 coupon off Art School Classes & a Family Guest Pass to the Museum. There are many cultural attractions in Boca Raton as well as educational and business opportunities, fine dining and shopping, and a wonderful lifestyle all year long. If you appreciate the finer things in life, you should consider making Boca Raton your home, too.




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