School Vacation Fun at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

From Monday, February 18 through Friday, February 22, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston hosts the Cogan Family Foundation Vacation Week Adventures highlighting fiber and textile arts. Activities during the week include an artist demonstration, art-making activities, and tours focusing on textile and fiber arts ranging from silk to straw. Families can create a tapestry that tells a story, weave with burlap, and make an original piece of art using recycled materials.
Special presenters include local artist Catherine Weller, who will lead a basketry demonstration, and storyteller Laura Ziman, who will entertain younger children in the galleries. Family Gallery Talks with Museum educators will also take place throughout the week.

The MFA’s Vacation Week Adventures, which run daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., are free for children 17 and younger with paid adult admission. ASL interpretation is available Wednesday for select programs. For more information, visitors can view the calendar section of the Museum’s website, www.mfa.org.

FREE SCHOOL VACATION WEEK ACTIVITIES
Story Tapestries
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
European Silver Gallery Whether they have been created for warmth or decoration, tapestries have served many purposes throughout time. Children can view tapestries in the European galleries, and create their own "story tapestry" with fabric.

Recycled Sculptures
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Loring Gallery and Workshop Studio
Families can tour the exhibition Ed Rossbach Fiber Art from the Daphne Farago Collection, which features a wide range of fiber and textile art objects, such as baskets, collages, and lace, and sketch ideas for a later creation. Once inspired, families visit the Workshop Studio to enjoy a smorgasbord of recycled materials to use in creating a "green" sculpture.

Burlap Weaving
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Ancient Americas and African Galleries
Kids can explore new artistic possibilities using burlap (a coarse fabric) as a canvas for their own woven masterpiece. A variety of fabrics, fibers, and felts are available to weave interesting patterns and designs into the burlap canvas.

Family Place Treasure Hunt: Walk this Way
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Upper Rotunda
Activity cards are available in the Upper Rotunda to lead families on self-guided treasure hunts of the shoe exhibition Walk this Way. Kids can move through the galleries at their own pace, enjoying shoes from around the world, then make kid-friendly connections to the artwork.

Artist Demonstration
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Lower Rotunda
Local artist Catherine Weller demonstrates basketry techniques in the Lower Rotunda. Kids can watch as she creates an original work of art and talks about the techniques she uses, then try their own hand at her specialized craft.

Family Gallery Talks
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
*ASL Interpreted on Wednesday, February 20 at 11 a.m.
11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Meet at Sharf Information Center
Visit the artwork that inspired this week’s Vacation Week Adventures: Fiber and Textile Art. Explore textiles from ancient times to modern-day with Museum educators.

Story Hour
Monday Feb. 18 – Friday, Feb. 22
Noon and 2:30 p.m. (*ASL Interpreted on Wednesday, February 20 at 2:30 p.m.)
Meet at Sharf Information Center
Sit back, relax, and enjoy stories about the week’s theme with Laura Ziman. Great for younger audiences.


ON VIEW
The entire Museum is free (for children 17 and under) during the Cogan Family Foundation Vacation Week Adventures, including numerous exhibitions. Visitors can see Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914-1939, which features more than 100 lithographs, etchings, woodcuts, and linocuts of colorful, Jazz Age images; Ed Rossbach Fiber Art from the Daphne Farago Collection, which celebrates the artistry of Edward Rossbach, widely recognized as a pioneer of the contemporary fiber arts movement; Jewelry by Artists: The Daphne Farago Collection provides a chronological survey of studio jewelry in the 20th century; Walk This Way, which features footwear ranging from ancient Egyptian sandals to contemporary designs by Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs; and the unconventional exhibition Drawing: A Broader Definition, which expands the definition of drawing to include works on a variety of surfaces (paper, ceramic, metal, cloth).

GETTING TO THE MUSEUM
The Museum is accessible by taking the Green line "E" train to the MFA stop, the Orange line to Ruggles stop, or bus #39 to Ruggles Street. The MFA is also a stop on the Beantown Trolley. The Museum is expecting many visitors to School Vacation Week, so parking will be limited. For more information on the MFA’s Vacation Week Adventures, please call 617.369.3300 or visit the MFA’s website at www.mfa.org.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is recognized for the quality and scope of its encyclopedic collection, which includes an estimated 450,000 objects. The Museum’s collection is made up of: Art of the Americas; Art of Europe; Contemporary Art; Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Art of the Ancient World; Prints, Drawings, and Photographs; Textile and Fashion Arts; and Musical Instruments.
Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.; Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 9:45 p.m. General admission (which includes two visits in a 10-day period) is $17 for adults and $15 for seniors and students age 18 and older. Admission for students who are University Members is free, as is admission for children 17 years of age and younger during non-school hours. No general admission fee is required during Citizens Bank Foundation Wednesday Nights (after 4 p.m.). Voluntary donations are welcome. Gund Gallery exhibitions are ticketed events that require an additional fee. For general information, visit the MFA website at www.mfa.org or call 617.267.9300.