April 27, 2013 from 11am to 2pm Weston, WV

Slow Art Day

 

Weston, WV – Slow Down, Look Deeply, Enjoy, Discover. That might be the hummed prayer for thousands around the world as they join a world wide event on Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 11am to 2pm. The event, in its fourth year, asks people all over the globe to visit local museums and art galleries to look at art slowly. Participants are asked to look at five works of art for ten minutes each and then meet together over lunch to talk about their experience.

 

Sounds simple. It is. Organized by a pool of global volunteers who work with local volunteers the idea is spreading and will be practiced from Australia to Canada and well over one hundred points in between. One of those points is Weston, W.V. at the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia on Main Ave.

 

Our world always seems to be hurrying. It is little different when it comes to seeing art or enjoying it. The Louvre discovered some years ago that visitors look at the Mona Lisa, perhaps the world’s most iconic artwork, for just 15 seconds on average. In an age of moving images, fast paced entertainments and almost endless stimulation works of art in a more traditional media often are just “grazed” over, with a quick glance. Slow Art Day aspires to change that practice just a little, with hope of evoking trends of seeing not simply looking. The plan is a series of well orchestrated opportunities to take a long look at art.  Slow Art Day is the global all-volunteer event with a simple mission: help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art.

 

Why Slow? When people look slowly at a piece of art they make discoveries.  The most important discovery they make is that they can see and experience art without an expert (or expertise). And that’s an exciting discovery. It unlocks passion and creativity and helps to create more art fans. At Slow Art Day, we like to believe that we are in the business of making more art fans – by helping people discover their own ability to look at and love art. Age, educational background or other becomes unimportant when the pace is slowed, the looking is intentional, and the shared discussion is about discovery.

 

Five glass art objects will be removed from their display cases and put on a table, Close inspection will be encouraged. The objects range from a contemporary young artist’ glass work from in Hawaii to internationally acclaimed contemporary glass artists. Five diverse objects will be featured. After the hour of viewing the group will reconvene to share a lunch and discuss the experience. Lunch is the responsibility of the individual but participation with or without partaking in the food is welcomed. Go to www.slowartday.com and click on participate, find the Weston event and register yourself. Join others at the 240 plus locations around the world in looking and seeing.

 

That’s it. Simple by design, the goal is to focus on the art and the art of seeing. In fact, Slow Art Day works best when people look at the art on their own slowly and then meet up to discuss the experience.

 

Questions? Call the Museum of American Glass at 304.269.5006

 

The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia is open daily Memorial Day through Labor Day noon to 4:00pm.  The balance of the year the museum is open daily noon to 4:00pm and closed on Wednesday and Sunday. Admission is free. It is easily accessible off I-79 exit 99 onto US 33 West for two miles to Main Avenue. A left turn onto Main and the museum is on the left at 230 Main Avenue. Begun in 1992, the museum relocated to its present location in 2007 and occupies 12,000 square feet with over 12,000 pieces of glass on permanent display. The museum is home to the National Marble Museum and The American Flint Glass Workers Union Archives.  The museum holds an annual marble festival and numerous special exhibits throughout the year.  More information can be found at http://magwv.com/. Questions about programs or the museum can be directed to 304-269-5006.