Free Family Day
Whether you’re a regular visitor to BMAC or you’ve never been here before—especially if you’ve never been here before—Free Family Day is a great opportunity to check out all that’s going on at the Museum. We’re staying open late, and admission is free all day.
From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. you can watch art being made in real time, make your own artwork, contribute to a community art project, take a guided history tour of the museum/train station, enjoy snacks and live music on the lawn, or just lounge on Land Lift (details below). And of course you’re welcome to view the current exhibits at your own pace, with artist, curators, and docents on hand to answer any questions you might have.
ADMISSION: Free (obv!)
SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES
11-5 Art Watching, Art Making & Smoothie Bikes
BIG INK‘s mobile woodblock printmaking workshop will be up and running in the Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Gallery. Watch eight artists pull huge prints from woodblocks they have carved in the months leading up to this event.
Hands-on art-making activities for creatives of all ages will be available under a tent outside the Museum (11-3), and artists, curators, and docents will be on hand in the galleries to answer questions about the current exhibits.
All that art watching and art making making you thirsty? Choose your ingredients and pedal yourself a refreshing smoothie with a smoothie bike on loan from our friends at Bellows Falls Community Bike Project.
11-2 Caterpillary Coolness
The Caterpillar Lab returns to BMAC with dozens of eye-popping critters in specially designed terrariums. TCL’s expert educators will offer fascinating insights into the lives of their tiny (and not-so-tiny) friends.
12-3 Ask the River
Join artists Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett, and Andrea Wasserman (Ask the River) in making art inspired by the Connecticut River. From noon to 2, sketch and paint alongside the river behind BMAC. From 2 to 3, take part in a group cyanotype-making activity, which will eventually become part of an exhibition at BMAC (Feburary 2020) on water activism and stewardship.
3-4 Unpacking the Station
Artist Angus McCullough (Coincidence Control) and a local historian lead a tour of BMAC’s Union Station building and immediate surroundings, aiming to understand how the layout and structure of the space have changed over time, defining different social, economic, and personal histories. Original blueprints, historic photos, and railway maps inform a discussion of how the railway network cemented standardized time and profoundly impacted the evolution of the region and nation.
4:30-5 Hula Dancing
Feel the tropical breeze blowing from the beaches of the paintings in Ocean’s Edge, and join dancer Trinity Villanueva as she demonstrates the kahiko and hula auana. Move your hips to the strum of her ukelele as you learn how to dance the hula, too!
5-8 Local Music, Food & Smoothie Bikes
Hang out in the galleries or outside on Bob Boemig’s Land Lift, John Tagiuri’s Wrench Bench, Dan Snow’s Rock Rest, or Jim Cole’s Duet for Dan, and enjoy the musical stylings of the 2Bit 2Man Froggy Went A Courtin’ Orchestra (5-6:30) followed by Moxie (6:30-8).
Dosa Kitchen will be offering their yummy locally- and humanely-sourced South Indian specialties, and Cai’s Dim Sum Teahouse and Catering will serve up their delicious dim sum specialties!
And… smoothie bikes!
Free parking is available next door at 28 Vernon St.
