OUT OF THIS WORLD … Museum of Fulton County Events Planner and Business Manager Doris Piercefield poses with a pair of paintings created by participants in the museum’s Artful Academy at the Museum program. She stands in front of the display that inspired the session in which the paintings were made, including a pen light manufactured in Wauseon and used during the Apollo and space shuttle missions.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
After launching the program earlier this year, the Museum of Fulton County is extending “Artful Academy at the Museum” through December.
Through the program – open to all ages but targeted at both traditional and homeschool students – participants take part in a monthly lesson based around something currently included in the museum’s exhibits before using it as inspiration for their own artistic creation.
“Our instructor, Lindsee, chooses a subject out of the museum and then from that she presents a history lesson and explains how that history affects us now, then relates that into an art project to help the kids remember what they have learned,” Museum Events Planner and Business Manager Doris Piercefield said.
In one of the lessons, focused on Native Americans, participants carved arrowheads out of bars of soap and painted them. “They looked just like they were real,” Piercefield said.
During another session, the teacher brought in small model trains which were run through black paint and then across canvases to make lines which participants then painted in between in watercolors to make abstract paintings.
Other sessions have focused on shadow portraits. The museum’s current “We the People” exhibit highlights both the stories of people who moved to Fulton County from other countries and the county’s connection to space exploration.
Pen lights used on the Apollo and space shuttle missions were manufactured by Fulton Industries in Wauseon. According to an informational marker at the museum, these flashlights were the only light source for astronauts during the fateful Apollo XIII mission.
The program began in February and continued through March, and was eventually extended through August, with four sessions each month and no repeated topics.
It will now continue once per month through December with classes from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on September 6, October 4, November 15, and December 16, all Saturdays.
According to Piercefield, the class was shifted from Thursdays to Saturdays because they are attempting to draw more homeschool students to the program.
The museum will also have a tent dedicated to the program set up at the upcoming Fulton County Fair, where participants can complete a painting, different each day that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – for $5.
“For $20, you can bring a family of four and all sit down and do a painting,” Piercefield said. The monthly classes are $20 per person for each session and include all necessary supplies as well as admission to the museum on the day of the class.
Museum members get a 10 percent discount on that price, bringing it to $18. To sign up for the program, visit the museum’s website at www.museumoffultoncounty.org or call them at (419)337-7922.
The museum is located at 8848 State Highway 108, across from the Fulton County Fairgrounds. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.