Montclair Art Museum to Offer Free Family Day

Aug. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) will offer a special Family Day: O’Keeffe in the Garden at Van Vleck House and Gardens on Saturday, September 15, 2012, 1–4 p.m. Visitors will create artwork and explore the garden through the eyes of the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Families will enjoy an exciting outing with scavenger hunts, story time, live music, and an interactive dance performance occurring throughout the gardens. O’Keeffe in the Garden will take place at Van Vleck House and Gardens, 21 Van Vleck Street, Montclair, NJ and is free of charge. Parking will be available on the street.

The event is themed in anticipation of the Museum's fall exhibition Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam, and the Land. This exhibition, originated by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and premiering at the Montclair Art Museum on September 28, 2012, will reveal the little-known breadth of Georgia O’Keeffe’s interest in northern New Mexico and will more particularly illuminate her keen sensitivity and deep respect for the Native American and Hispano cultures of the region.

Sponsorship
Family Day: O'Keeffe in the Garden is made possible by a grant from The Montclair Foundation.

About Van Vleck House and Gardens and the Montclair Foundation
The Van Vleck House & Gardens originated as a 12-acre private estate more than 140 years ago when Joseph Van Vleck Sr. and his family moved to Montclair from Brooklyn in 1868.  Like many successful businessmen of the era, Joseph Van Vleck Sr came to suburbs seeking a refuge from industrial living and brought to Montclair a grand vision of a country estate surrounded by acres of landscaped grounds. There have been several houses on the grounds over the years; however only the U-shaped Italianate villa, home to Howard Van Vleck and his family, remains.

In 1993 the heirs of Howard Van Vleck gifted the house and grounds at 21 Van Vleck Street to The Montclair Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to support non-profits.  The Foundation created the Van Vleck Board of Management to oversee the property.

The gardens are public, and open from dawn to dusk, free of charge, 365 days a year. The house is a center for non-profit groups and is available to them for meetings, retreats, and fundraisers.  Visitors are welcome to enjoy all the garden spaces and encouraged to join us for classes, concerts, and special events.

About the Museum
The Montclair Art Museum, a notable, community-based institution with an international reputation, boasts a renowned collection of American and Native American art that uniquely highlights art making in the United States over the last three hundred years. The collection includes more than 12,000 objects: paintings, prints, original works on paper, photographs, and sculpture by American artists from the 18th century to the present, as well as traditional and contemporary Native American art and artifacts representing the cultural developments of peoples from all of the major American Indian regions. The Museum’s education programs serve a wide public and bring artists, performers, and scholars to the Museum on a regular basis.

MAM’s Yard School of Art is the leading regional art school, offering a multitude of comprehensive courses for children, teens, adults, seniors, and professional artists.

The Montclair Art Museum is located at 3 South Mountain Avenue in Montclair, N.J. Information and directions are available on the Museum website, montclairartmuseum.org, or by calling 973-746-5555. MAM is open Wednesdays through Sundays, Noon – 5 p.m., and, starting October 4, 2012, on the first Thursday of every month, 5 p.m.–9 p.m. It is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and major holidays. Museum admission is $12 for nonmember adults, $10 for senior citizens and students with I.D., and free for members and children under 12. Thursday nights, starting October 4, are free for everyone. First Fridays are also free. The Store at MAM is open Tuesdays through Sundays, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and has extended hours until 9 p.m. on First Thursdays.

All Museum programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Vance Wall Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Museum Members.