Autumn’s Art: Fall Events at Local Museums

Delaware rests interminably on the division between snow storms and rain storms, flooding hurricanes and quiet spectating. We also have a tenuous relationship with fall. We could have weeks of a changing palette against the sky or 48 hours before a storm whips through and makes it look more like winter.

Fortunately, we are blessed with museums in and around our state that provide many ways to enjoy the season.

At Delaware Art Museum there are the final Thursday evening Summer Happy Hours leading up to the Peace Week Delaware and Fall Equinox Labyrinth Walk on Saturday, September 22nd, at 6:00 pm. Celebrating the change of seasons with a meditative stroll into and out of the Labyrinth will help you refresh for the fall. Level of meditation available will depend on how many children you have in tow.

On Thursday, September 27th, at 8:00 am, Brandywine River Museum of Art will host the Harvey Run Trail Walk: Finding Natural Wonders. This walk, inspired by the current Natural Wonders exhibit, will be led by Susan Charkes, author of AMC’s Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia(free for members/$12 non-members). Other highlights from the Museum’s calendar include their First Sundays for Families with free admission on the first Sunday of each month, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. November’s first Sunday offers the thrill of Pirate Adventure Day.

First Saturdays at Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover are home to the free Biggs Kids programs. On Saturday, October 6th, at 11:00 am, Delaware Nature Society will be there for a special program on birding for children. Then the Museum will partner with Delaware State Fair at Delaware State Fairgrounds for The Great Delaware Pumpkin Carve Festival on Friday, October 26th from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm and Saturday, October 27th from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Fall Family FUNdays at The Delaware Contemporary on select Sundays, 1:00 to 3:00, are open to all ages and offer a variety of engaging activities and art-making opportunities. Attend all four and receive a FREE family portrait taken by a professional portrait photographer during the December 16th Free Family FUNday.

Keep checking back here to read more about local events to enjoy with your family this fall.

God bless,
Jason

Artful Campers

Letter writing, museums, and camping have something in common. They take time. This summer, we took time to enjoy many moments away from the seemingly immediate demands of modern life. We got away from devices and noise and experienced the subtleties of life we so often fail to perceive.

We took time.

Delaware Art Museum is inviting families to take time together in the Copeland Sculpture Garden for twilight art making, moonlit sculpture tours, and bedtime stories during their very first campout on August 18th! Tent camping will happen in the Garden and limited space will be available inside for sleeping bags.

The Labyrinth at dusk, the sunset light falling on Crying Giant, the colored lights of the Museum at dark…this promises to be a special evening.

It will be extra special for me and my sons as the Museum has dedicated a magnolia tree to my late wife, Mary Kathryn Zerbey. It has yet to have a plaque, or made official with a ceremony, but it is a touching gesture to have a permanent place for Mary at the Museum she introduced us to seven years ago.

I had left my job as a proofreader and editor to care for our sons. Mary knew me to be restless and sent me to the Museum. After a stroller tour and a Glory of Stories, we were hooked. Not just to Delaware Art Museum, but all museums. We’ve delighted in countless hours in collections of varied stripes. They’ve become a focal point of our educational lifestyle. Places where knowledge isn’t just discovered, but applied, challenged, connected, explored, and brought into full color and dimension.

An opportunity to spend 13 (or more) hours in a corner of our world that has brought us so much value? Oh yeah, we’ll be there August 18th.

God bless,
Jason