Brandywine celebrates summer of N. C. Wyeth with programs and events for all ages focused on the art of storytelling
Chadds Ford, PA, June 24, 2019— The summer season kicks off at the Brandywine River Museum of Art with a full slate of engaging programs and events for all ages centered around the art of storytelling. In tandem with the Brandywine’s newest exhibition, N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives—the first exhibition in almost 50 years to examine in depth the entirety of Wyeth’s multifaceted oeuvre—visitors are invited to participate in The Art of Stories presented by PNC Arts Alive. This multidisciplinary series will celebrate the narrative arts and the ways in which stories are crafted, saved and shared. Animating the work of N. C. Wyeth—whose fantastical realms were populated with pirates, knights and other literary figures—the series will include engaging discussions, performances and opportunities for artistic self-expression.
The Art of Stories presented by PNC Arts Alive includes programs for all ages at the Brandywine. For adults and teens, conversations among prominent illustrators, writers, storytellers and scholars of narrative arts representing ethnically diverse traditions will explore different approaches to these creative art forms. For children, the Museum’s popular summer program, Museum Explorers, will be enhanced with illustrator-led art-making activities, and the free First Sundays for Families event in August will be filled with multicultural storytelling performances, interactive gallery explorations and hands-on art activities led by teaching artists.
Family Programs include:
Museum Explorers Family Workshops
Thursdays, July 11, 18, 25 and August 1
10 and 11 a.m.
Free for members; non-members: $5 per child with one adult admitted free per child.
Discover The Art of Stories presented by PNC Arts Alive in four Thursday morning workshops designed for children ages 2 to 8 accompanied by their grownups. Inspired by the exhibition, N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives, each week will feature appearances by award-winning children’s book illustrators as well as interactive gallery and art activities.
Museum Explorers: Nifty Nature with Jennifer Hansen Rolli
Thursday, July 11, 10 and 11 a.m.
See nature through the eyes of an artist and use oil pastels to capture the beauty of Brandywine. Jennifer Hansen Rolli is an author and illustrator whose book, Claudia and Moth, is the story of a young girl who learns about life through her love of butterflies.
Museum Explorers: Creative Characters with Gene Barretta
Thursday, July 18, 10 and 11 a.m.
From pirates to pigs, seek out traditional and unusual portrait subjects and assemble an original 3-D character worthy of a storybook. Gene Barretta is an author, illustrator and animator whose books for young readers include biographies of Muhammed Ali, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
Museum Explorers: Fantastic Journeys with David Wiesner
Thursday, July 25, 10 and 11 a.m.
Embark on an adventurous trek through the Museum seeking inspiration for a fantastical craft. David Wiesner is a three-time winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children. His popular titles include Tuesday, The Three Pigs, Flotsam and Mr. Wuffles!
Museum Explorers: Imagination with Judy Schachner
Thursday, August 1, 10 and 11 a.m.
Build amazing stories around works of art and express your thoughts through a creative and collaged fashion statement. Judy Schachner is a New York Times best selling author and illustrator of over 23 books for children, including the Skippyjon Jones series and Sarabella’s Thinking Cap.
First Sunday for Families: The Art of Stories
Sunday, August 4, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Free all-day admission
Celebrate the art of stories with award-winning artist and illustrator Raúl Colón and performances by Jeannine Osayande & Dunya Performing Arts Company.
Additional Programs include:
Setting Down Roots: The N. C. Wyeth House and Studio
Thursday, June 27, 11 a.m.–noon
$10 members, $15 non-members
Join Christine Podmaniczky, Curator of N. C. Wyeth Collections & Historic Properties, for a fascinating presentation on the N. C. Wyeth House and Studio, a National Historic Landmark.
Hidden Cargo: Overlooked Dimensions of N. C. Wyeth’s Treasure Island Illustrations
Tuesday, July 9, 6 p.m.
$15 members; $20 non-members
Professor David Lubin will discuss N. C. Wyeth’s illustrations for Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure classic Treasure Island.
Memoir and N. C. Wyeth’s Letters
Tuesday, July 16, 6 p.m.
$15 members, $20 non-members
Award-winning writer Beth Kephart will explore the autobiographer in N. C. Wyeth through an investigation of his letters.
Memoir: A Workshop for Writers with Beth Kephart
Thursday, July 18, 6–8 p.m.
$15 members, $20 non-members
Learn about how memoir gets made with award-winning writer Beth Kephart, then spend time among N. C. Wyeth's paintings, unlocking and sharing personal stories.
The Oral Tradition from Africa to Hometown USA
Tuesday, July 23, 6 p.m.
$15 members, $20 non-members
Delve into the rich history of storytelling through a discussion of the oral tradition in both Africa and the United States with Jeannine Osayande, a teaching artist, choreographer and performer of West African dance (Mali Empire).
Nostalgia Illustrated: N. C. Wyeth, Advertising and American Cultural History
Thursday, September 12, 6 p.m.
$15 members, $20 non-members
Douglas B. Dowd, Professor of Art and American Culture Studies, Washington University, St. Louis, will discuss N. C. Wyeth’s commercial images and how the artist situated American consumers in a golden past to meet the needs of a nascent, modern advertising business.
About the Exhibition:
Co-organized by the Brandywine River Museum of Art and the Portland Museum of Art (PMA), N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives includes approximately 70 paintings and drawings selected from major museums and private collections. It will be on view at the Brandywine River Museum of Art from June 22 through September 15, 2019.
A formidable yet often overlooked figure in the history of American art, N. C. Wyeth was the foremost illustrator of his generation and the patriarch of an extraordinary family of artists. Well known during the 20th century for his bold, imaginative illustrations that brought new characterizations to classic stories such as Treasure Island, The Boy’s King Arthur and The Last of the Mohicans, Wyeth was a prolific artist who vigorously pursued parallel interests in painting landscapes, seascapes, portraits, still lifes, murals and advertising images throughout his career. By repositioning Wyeth as a distinguished painter who worked across the perceived divisions of visual culture, N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives offers new insights on Wyeth’s place within the broad spectrum of early 20th-century visual arts.
The Brandywine is the first of three national venues for this exhibition, and visitors coming to Chadds Ford have a unique opportunity to further immerse themselves in both Wyeth’s work and life. N. C. Wyeth’s own home and studio—a National Historic Landmark and the locus of roots which have nourished a family of extraordinary creativity for more than a century—are owned by Brandywine and open for public tours daily. Wyeth’s majestic studio, with its spectacular Palladian-style north window, is much as the artist left it at his untimely death in 1945.
Concurrent Exhibition: N. C. Wyeth: A Personal Perspective
Organized by the Brandywine and on view at the Museum through September 8, 2019, N. C. Wyeth: A Personal Perspective, highlights a special collection owned by artist and author Douglas Allen. Since his childhood, Allen has spent seven decades assembling one of the most comprehensive compilations of printed material documenting N. C. Wyeth’s career. Allen’s remarkable assemblage includes first and/or signed editions of Wyeth illustrated books; posters and rare boxed sets of prints; advertisements; hard-to-find old magazines; letters; and archival photographs—even objects such as dinnerware and lamps decorated with Wyeth’s designs. This exhibition reveals the scope of Wyeth’s impact on the popular culture of his time, but it also demonstrates, with a selection of Allen’s own wildlife paintings, the inspiration one artist can find in a respectful study of another artist’s oeuvre.
N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives is generously made possible by Ms. Linda L. Bean, The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Wyeth Foundation for American Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, Dr. Benjamin F. Hammond, George Lucas Family Foundation, Sotheby’s and Freeman's. Additional support has been provided by donors to the Brandywine River Museum of Art Exhibition Fund including the Davenport Family Foundation, William C. and Laura Buck, Mr. and Mrs. Robert V. Duprey/Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, Morris & Boo Stroud, Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Matz, Dr. and Mrs. John Fawcett, Mr. and Mrs. Christopher F. Buccini, and Mr. Alan P. Slack. Support for the exhibition’s catalogue is provided by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund. Support of the exhibition’s educational programs is provided by Somerville Manning Gallery. The Art of Stories programs are generously sponsored by PNC Arts Alive.
About the Brandywine River Museum of Art:
The Brandywine River Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th-century mill building with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine. Known for its holdings of the Wyeth family of artists, the Museum contains the largest collection of N. C. Wyeth's artwork, and features galleries dedicated to the work of N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth. The Museum’s outstanding Heritage Collection presents a cross-section of American art with a special focus on artistic practice in the Brandywine Valley.
The Museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day), and is located on Route 1 in Chadds Ford, PA. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors ages 65 and over, $6 for students and children ages 6 and up; free for children 5 and younger and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art members. Guided tours of the N. C. Wyeth House & Studio, Andrew Wyeth Studio, and Kuerner Farm—all National Historic Landmarks—are available daily (for an additional fee) from April 4 through November 18; advance reservations are recommended. For more information, call 610.388.2700 or visit brandywine.org/museum. The Museum is one of the two programs of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
About the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art:
The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art preserves and promotes the natural and cultural connections between the area’s beautiful landscape, historic sites, and important artists. The Conservancy protects the lands throughout the Brandywine Valley, developing new conservation approaches and assuring access to majestic open spaces and dependable water supplies for generations to come. The Museum of Art presents and collects historic and contemporary works of American art, engaging and exciting visitors of all ages through an array of exhibitions and programs. The Brandywine unites the inspiring experiences of art and nature, enhancing the quality of life in its community and among its diverse audiences.
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