Dynamic Frames: review of Lil' Davinci Art Gallery

I’ve been on a quest to find an easy attractive way to display my kid’s artwork.  I’ve used a clothes line and clothes pins, which was cute in their toy room, but it didn’t give the clean look I wanted.  I tried putting up traditional frames and changing their artwork in them as they came home from school, but messing with traditional frames and glass was so cumbersome that I never ended up changing the artwork.  Last year I took a tour of Hershey Medical Center with the coordinator of artistic improvement.  Part of her job is to enhance the environment in the hospital.  She does this by painting murals and hanging artwork.  In some of the patient rooms they had built frames that they could easily switch out the artwork.  They even had a collection of art prints and patients were able to look through the collection on an ipad and choose the picture that would hang at the foot of their bed.  They got to choose what they looked at during their hospital stay!  She painted ceiling tiles with whimsical outdoor themes in the children’s hospital to give bed ridden young patients something to look at.  In one hallway she showed me some frames from Dynamic Frames that were hinged on one side.  They swing open allowing you to press in a new piece of art and store old pieces.  It was so easy and the spring loaded mechanism kept the image pressed neatly to the mat and glass.  It was neat, clean and easy. Plus it can hold up to 50 pieces of art!  It was the solution I had been looking for in my home!  I asked for a set of these last Christmas and love them!  They were easy to hang and can be hung horizontally or vertically.  Adding new artwork literally takes seconds and doesn't require any tools.   I wish I had these in the school office when I was an art teacher.  It would be an ideal way to change out seasonal art throughout the year at a school or office!

Note: Do be careful when the frame on a vertically hung art cabinet is open all the way the weight of it can tip the whole thing off it's hanger.

The Paper Bag Art Gallery

Ideas for displaying, preserving and honoring your child's artwork

A dilemma most parents of preschoolers and young grade school students face is: what to do with the influx of artwork done at school?  There are also worksheets that mark their progress, sentimental samplings of early handwriting, and the responses to questions like what they want to be when they grow up and how to make their favorite meal.  Well these papers, too precious to part with, sat broken and sad in a torn paper grocery bag at our house.  Keeping every paper felt like a heavy burden and this storage disaster was no solution.  So I’ve come up with a few creative remedies for this problem. 

1.       You know the sheets of paper that come home where the teacher asks each student a question and then records each child’s answer?  I started a word document where I record all the questions and dictated responses.  They are fun to read through and don’t take up additional physical space in my house!

2.       Establish a folder on your computer where you can keep digital copies of artwork and projects.  Scan flat pieces that are small enough to fit on your scanner or take a digital picture of larger works.  Take a picture of your child with items that they made to wear or use (like masks, headpieces, hats, puppets etc)  Most of these projects are cuter on your child than on their own.



Clothes Line Art Gallery



3.       Hang a clothes line and clip seasonal works of art that you can change up as new works arrive.  Scan or photograph items as they are hung for your digital collection.

4.       Paint unfinished wood picture frames and hang them in your family room or toy room.  You can change these masterpieces out periodically without too much fuss.

5.       Design and print blank greeting cards on card stock (2 cards per 8.5 x 11 sheet).  Be sure to include your child’s name and the date/age they created the pictured work of art on the back of the card.   Pair them with invitation sized envelopes and give them as gifts for Grandparents that enjoy writing letters or as a teacher gift at the end of the school year.



Use children's original artwork on blank greeting cards



Please be sure to back up any digital files in the event that your hard drive crashes.  Keep a few treasured pieces of artwork that were created with their little hands and let the rest go!  I hope these ideas give you some inspiration for how to honor your child’s creative little hearts without cluttering your home with piles of paper to precious to simply throw in the trash or recycle bin.

How do you honor the artwork that comes from your little creative hearts? 

10 Tips for Taking Children to the Art Museum



Viewing a photography exhibit of Ron Rosenstock
at the Worcester Art Museum



Growing up, my sister and I were frequently brought to art museum exhibits.  I still remember trips to Boston and Philadelphia.  I love art history, and want my kids to have positive experiences of going to the museum.  There is so much you can learn about history and other cultures through the art made by different people.  Many pieces can inspire my little ones to go home and dabble in their paints and play dough. 



Earlier this summer we took my five year old to the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts.  There was an exhibit of photography that we thought he would like since he loves taking snapshots with his own little digital camera. 



The idea of bringing a child into an art museum can be daunting.  It’s a place that is mostly quiet, sometimes silent, where no snacks are allowed, nothing can be touched, and there’s lots of open space where you cannot run!  But, I have ventured out with my little ones and have comprised a list of ten tips I have found to be helpful.  I am sharing them with you in hopes that it will make your trip to the art museum, with children, a successful one.

1. Hone into your child's interest.  Finding an exhibit that taps into to your child’s interests will help them be more likely to engage in the exhibit.  They will be less likely to be bored and more likely to make connections with their life experience if it’s something they’ve read about or learned about in school.



2. Do your homework.  There may be special galleries at the museum geared toward younger patrons or hours set aside where children are especially welcome.  It’s always good to check out their website to double check their hours of operation, where to park, and other important information before you venture out.

Medieval architecture, originally from the
Benedictine Priory of Saint John in France. 

3. Take advantage of summer time specials and reciprocal memberships.  If you are visiting another city, check to see if your membership at a museum in your hometown is accepted at other museums.  Many museums accept memberships from other museums that are accredited by the same organizations.  We happened to be at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts where they have free general admission for the months of July and August.  Take advantage of any specials that are available.  They are offering these because they want you to come!

4. Explain what the museum will be like and how you expect your child to act.  Before the day of the trip to the museum be sure and explain what the museum will be like.  I try to emphasize that there will be other people looking at the art and it is important to be respectful so they don’t disturb anyone.  In most cases learning to act respectful is the best way to avoid embarrassing behavior.  I also try to spin it so I’m not giving a list of rules and things they cannot do, but rather things they need to do, like be quiet, have walking feet, and keep their hands to themselves (rather than saying: no yelling, no running, no touching).  And explain why: just like at the library people are thinking and reading and you will break their concentration if you are too loud, you could knock someone or something down if you run, your fingers will leave damaging oils on the artwork if you touch it, and probably set off an alarm.

5. Engage in conversation with your kids and bond with them.  Talk about what you like about a piece of artwork: the colors, the subject, the way the light and shadows look.  You don’t have to know a lot about the art, just tell them your gut feeling about what makes it interesting to you.  Point out how incredibly old something is or what part of the world it comes from. 

6. Make it fun!  I like to stand in front of a wall of artwork or in the center of the gallery and on the count of three have my family (discretely) point at their favorite piece.  It’s fun to see who likes the same piece or find out how different your taste is.  Older kids might enjoy doing a scavenger hunt.  One that doesn’t require a lot of planning on your part is to give them a piece of paper with the alphabet on it and have them fill in names of artists, titles, art movements, countries etc that they find during their journey through the exhibit.  Reward them with a quarter for every letter they fill in and let them buy a small souvenir or some postcards in the gift shop on your way out.

7. Take advantage of kid friendly amenities that the museum offers.  If there is a hands-on gallery, you want to know about it.  If there is a headset tour geared towards kids, they might enjoy it more than reading plaques on the wall.  Check their website and ask the front desk what they might recommend for your little one.



8.  Let your child set the pace.  Just because you want to linger in your favorite gallery doesn’t mean they will.  If you are truly there to give your child a positive experience let them move from piece to piece when they want to. 



9. Leave the museum with your child wanting more.  Dragging them through an entire museum to get your money’s worth or because you’ve planned to be there for the day can be too much for your child.  Pay attention to them and leave before they are overly exhausted and hungry.



10.  Pack a snack for the walk back to the car or ride home.  Just because snacks aren’t permitted in the museum doesn’t mean you can’t keep a secret snack that you bring out as you leave the building. (By secret I mean: don’t tell your child you have a snack or they will whine for it before you can actually give it to them.) Having something to munch on helps tired legs and feet make it back to the car without a piggy back ride and makes the ride home more pleasant too.  Oh, and pack a snack for yourself too.

What things do you do to make visits to a museum more successful and enjoyable for you and your children?