2nd Saturday Outing to Celebrate MacDowell Month

What better way to celebrate MacDowell Month than by enjoying local art and sharing with your family? Teach your children early about Fine Arts and the importance of supporting and loving art!


Second Saturdays at MFH both delight and educate
12:30 AM, Jan 13, 2013

Getting their fingers dirty with pastel crayons and creating art together on a Saturday afternoon will always be a fond memory for local mom Jennifer Humayun and her 10-year-old daughter, Ursula.

Humayun said they were just looking to spend a day at the Museum of Florida History when they stumbled into the Second Saturday activities. The group of about 20 parents and children took a tour of the museum’s temporary exhibit, Reflections: Paintings of Florida, 1865-1965. After the tour they recreated one of the works in the exhibit.

“It’s enriching because the kids don’t realize that they are learning about the history of Florida and then art,” Humayun said. “All these different aspects that are woven together — art, history and spending time with family — people should be out here. This will be a memory I never forget.”

Second Saturdays at MFH have been going on for years, said Bonnie McCluskey, museum program supervisor.

The program is always focused on an exhibit at the museum and is family oriented, added Jennie Brock, museum educator. In the coming months, activities on Second Saturdays will include story time about Florida wildlife and a recycled art project.

“It teaches the kids a sense of their history — what their environment was, where they come from — and I love that they are doing it through art,” said Antje Meissner, who brought her children to the museum for the activities.

“It’s difficult to get kids interested in art exhibits and I think they are doing a great job with that here,”she added.

Special guestPerdita Ross came for this month’s program and led the hands-on art project.

“I hope they took away that art is always about something,” Ross said, local artists and art educator.

“It has significance to where you live, what you see and history.”

“The kids were a lot of fun,” she added.

Ursula had a good time, plus she got to learn about sable palms being the state tree and about whooping cranes.

“I like drawing and being able to be creative,” she said. “And it’s really fun that kids get to learn about plants and Florida history — but in a fun way.”