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.
.JPG)
.JPG)