A yearlong celebration of the arts continues August 11 through 12 at The Magic House with one of their longest running programs, the Visiting Artist Series. One weekend every month, visitors have the opportunity to learn and experience different artistic techniques from a variety of professional artists.
Carrie Hutchcraft, Director of Marketing at The Magic House, explains that the series has been in effect for over 15 years. Each year, The Magic House works with different community partners that help to organize the series and determine which artists will be participating. This year, The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and Equifax are among the partners helping The Magic House decide which artists will be a part of the series, a decision Hutchcraft stresses is paramount.
“We really want to make sure they are all local artists from the area,” Hutchcraft explains. “Also, when we are looking at who we want to have here, first and foremost they have to be kid and family friendly.”
Along with being local and kid friendly, Hutchcraft also stresses that the artists must be able to adapt their art to a large group due to the large amount of visitors that come through on the Visiting Artist Series days.
Diversity is another important aspect of the series. Previous activities have included African drumming performances, chalk art, and different activities geared towards the seasons. “We really look for diverse artistic abilities, so we will have everything from different plays and performances to hands on crafts, like the Clay Play that we have coming up,” Hutchcraft says.
Clay Play will be held indoors at the Expericenter in The Magic House. The children will receive a piece of air-dry clay they will get to mold and sculpt into whatever shapes or objects they desire. Krueger pottery, a ceramics studio and supply company in Webster Groves, will provide the spinning wheel, enabling the children to experience what it’s like using the wheel to create their project.
This routine of allowing the children to not only learn, but also gain hands-on experience in different methods of creating art, is something Hutchcraft says is what makes the Visiting Artist Series so important.
“We are trying to take that extra step to really help promote the importance of art in children’s education,” she says. “We want to give every child a chance to have access to different artistic tools and artistic ways of expressing themselves.” Partnering with area art institutions, opening a newly renovated art studio in September and hosting different exhibits are all necessary steps The Magic House is taking to give children that opportunity.
The hours for the Visiting Artist Series are as follows: Saturday, August 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, August 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the event is included in general museum admission.
The Magic House is located at 516 S. Kirkwood; For more information, call 314-822-8900, or visit www.magichouse.org.
