Meet the Artist: Michele Wood!

On Saturday, October 22, from 2:00-4:00 p.m., visit the Krull Gallery to meet, live and in-person, award-winning artist and illustrator Michele Wood.  Michele Wood was honored with the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award in 1999 for her book I See the Rhythm, written by Toyomi Igus. Come and see her amazing art, which will continue to be on display in the gallery through Sunday, October 23, 2011.   This event is FREE and is open to families and patrons of all ages.

Below is a brief video featured on ACPL's You Tube Channel about Michele Wood's exhibit "Not to be Forgotten":

We Are the Ship -- Kadir Nelson Exhibit at Fort Wayne Museum of Art

I'm so excited to share this news!  Original paintings from Kadir Nelson's award-winning children's book We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball will be on exhibit at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art from August 20, 2011 through October 16, 2011. 

If you've never seen original artwork created for picture books, this is your chance.   I promise you won't regret it!
Mr. Nelson has illustrated and/or written many highly-acclaimed children's books.  Click here to see a list of Kadir Nelson titles in the library's catalog.

Tie-Dye on the Plaza!

Come downtown to the Main Library on Saturday, August 6 for Tie-Dye on the Plaza.

Bring your own white t-shirt or pillowcase; we'll be outside on the grass in front of the Library Plaza Stage with everything you need to create your own tie-dyed masterpiece.

Tie-Dye on the Plaza
Saturday, August 6
1:00-2:30 p.m.

A Little Library Love

We love it when our customers share their art with us.
Here's a piece that really touched our hearts!

Thanks, Carly, for the great picture of the Children's Department!
We're glad you enjoy visiting us!

Spring Break Smorgasbord!

Looking for something fun to do during Spring Break? Check out the Spring Break Smorgasbord events in Children's Services. We'll have a different activity each day from 2 to 4pm. Don't forget our Art Room is available for you to use anytime the library is open - this Spring Break stop by to create a fantastic collage.

Monday, April 4th 2 to 4pm - Letterboxing at the Library
Tuesday, April 5th 2 to 4pm - Do You Like Legos?
Wednesday, April 6th 2 to 4pm - Games Plugged and Unplugged
Thursday, April 7th 2 to 4pm - Art Room Extended
Friday, April 8th 2 to 4pm - Swashbucklin' Search

We hope that you will spend some of your Spring Break with us!

National Library Week Bookmark Contest

Have you created a bookmark yet for our annual National Library Week contest? This year's theme is...

Create Your Own Story @ Your Library

The contest is open to children of all ages and adults; winning designs will be made into "real" bookmarks and made available during National Library Week, April 10-16, 2011.

Contest entries may be turned in at any library location between now and February 28, 2011. So, print out the template, grab your markers, crayons, and colored pencils, and get creative!

ArtSmart

Teachers and homeschooling parents...check out ArtSmart! Developed by the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette and the The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, ArtSmart provides a wealth of information on Indiana artists, complete with lesson plans and activities to encourage the study of the art, history and culture of Indiana. Developed originally to support the Indiana history studies of 4th graders, its many ideas can be adapted for use with a variety of grade levels.

You can find a link to ArtSmart, as well as other resources about Indiana and Fort Wayne history, on our Fort Wayne and Indiana History Booklist.

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com.

Library Refrigerator

Visit the new Art Room in Children's Services to create a piece of art to display on the library refrigerator. Watch the refrigerator change over the next few weeks as we add more and more art to the door.

The Art Room is open anytime the library is open. Right now you can explore the Flowers in Art theme. Stay tuned, the theme will be changing soon.

Welcome to the Art Room

This lovely family is enjoying the new Art Room in Children's Services. You are welcome to stop by any time the library is open to create art, too!

Right now you can check out the Flowers in Art theme and practice drawing and using colored pencils. View the famous art work on display and be inspired to create a great work of your own!

Tie Dye on the Plaza CANCELLED!

Second Annual Tie Dye on the Plaza
is cancelled due to the weather!

We will host this awesome family event

Saturday, August 28

1 - 2:30 pm

The butterflies are on their way!

We have packed up our butterflies and shipped them to the Holocaust Museum Houston in order to be part of their loving tribute to the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. We added 374 beautifully colored butterflies lovingly created by the children who visited our department in June. Visit the link provided to learn more about this awesome exhibit in the making!

ThE BUtTeRflY PRoJEcT

For the past several weeks, the Children's Services department has invited our young patrons to participate in the Holocaust Museum Houston's Butterfly Project. We provided butterfly templates and markers and the children did the rest!
In an effort to remember the 1,500,000 children who perished in the Holocaust, the Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies.
The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2013, for all to remember. The Museum has already collected an estimated 400,000 butterflies and we will be adding 374 more!
We are readying ours for shipment to the museum in Houston to be a part of this awesome exhibit.

Black History Art Contest

Stop by the Children's Services department to see the wonderful art in our display cases.

The Fort Wayne African/African American Historical Society held the Black History Art Contest for children in April of last year. The contest's focus was African American inventors and researchers who have made landmark contributions to the scientific advancement of society. The keyboard, the pencil sharpener, the lawn mower, the cell phone and the traffic light are just some of the inventions of African Americans interpreted by the students' artwork. All area public, private, parochial schools and youth centers and clubs were invited to participate.
We are thrilled to have this art on display!

New Magazine in Children's Services!

Kiki is an award-winning magazine and creativity journal for girls ages 8 and older. Kiki helps each reader develop her personal style and gain self-confidence. Kiki features (7) departments in every issue: Art Bin, Biz Buzz, From the Studio, Kiki Care, Kiki Fun, World Beat, and Your Style.
	√ Quarterly √ No advertising √ 80 pages per issue

FWMoA Chalk Walk 2010

Sign up for the Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Chalk Walk now!
The Chalk Walk is based on an Italian tradition of street painting that dates to the 16th century, known as i madonnari (street painters). Using pastels, they may choose to reproduce existing artworks or create their own.
As part of the Three Rivers Festival, Chalk Walk is truly a community event and will draw on the amazing talents of area, regional and national artists. Individuals and families with no training in art are just as welcome.
There is no charge to particpate and it is a wonderful opportunity for young and emerging artists, a fun family event, and a wonderful way to meet a variety of amazing people.

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Today is the birthday of post-Impressionist painter, Vincent Van Gogh.

Van Gogh is known for his bold and powerful use of color.
Visit and explore the Metropolitan Museum Website for Kids; it is filled with kid friendly information on this amazing artist.

Fort Wayne Museum of Art!

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art is scheduled to reopen today. Plan a visit to see the newly renovated museum. The doors open at 11am and admission is free for the entire week. The new museum includes a hands-on gallery for children. This is sure to quickly become a regular destination for Fort Wayne families. If you would like to learn more there was a nice article about the renovation in the March 2010 Fort Wayne Monthly.

Marchitecture @ The Botanical Conservatory

The Botanical Conservatory is sponsoring a Downtown Landmarks Scavenger Hunt. Have a look at the pictures on this week's form, I bet you will recognize many of them. While the weather is nice, take a walk downtown and check out the architecture in person. There will be a new hunt each week, so check back each Monday for a new form. Enter weekly for your chance to win a family membership.

Recycled Art Creations

This Saturday from 2 to 5pm you can drop in at the Main Library to create a piece of recycled art. We will have a lot of great "trash" available for you to use. The art pictured here was made from an old white tablecloth & VHS tape.

Check out photos from other recycled art programs for ideas.

The Allen County Solid Waste Management District is sponsoring a Trash to Treasure Art Contest at the Main Library on April 17th. Plan to come back that day and enter your work. To register, visit the ACSWMD website.

Artlink Postcard Mail Art Show

If you enjoyed the Art Out of the Box: Mail Art program, you will probably want to know about Artlink's upcoming Postcard Mail Art Show.

Click here for more info on the call for entry. Artlink is looking for postcards of an original drawing, painting, photograph, collage or mixed media piece. They would like postcards from all over the world, so please share this information with your friends.

The opening reception for the postcard show will be Friday, April 9th from 6 to 9pm.