(Philbrook, 2727 S. Rockford Rd.) In 1898,Claude Monet (1840-1926) exhibited works from a series of paintings entitled Mornings on the Seine to great critical acclaim. These paintings were the culmination of the artist’s lifelong investigation of the visual and expressive potential of light and his longstanding attachment to the river Seine. This summer, Philbrook will mount an elegant and focused exhibition that brings together works from throughout Monet’s career on loan from prestigious international collections such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Presented in conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this exhibition will shed both a scholarly and poetic light upon one of the great masters of French Impressionism. (Description taken from Philbrook Museum of Art website.)
This exhibit was a really special experience for not only the participants and their care partners but for the Tulsa community as well. That being said, no photographs were allowed in the gallery and that is why the only visuals you'll see in this post are pictures of the artwork taken from Philbrook's website.
In the gallery...
One of our findings from hosting this program throughout the years is that the participants tend to respond in a more positive way to artwork that have realist qualities and beautiful or visual pleasing aesthetics. This is why we thought the Monet exhibit would be such a lovely experience for the participants. And it was. Everyone loved listening to Andrea Wamble talk about Claude Monet life and also the painting's content. Everyone also very much enjoyed being able to walk around the gallery by themselves or with their care partner and have the opportunity to view the river paintings on their own.
In the studio...
In studios Andrea lead the group in a simple pastel landscape art project. Step by step she lead the group in creating a beautiful river scene made out of soft colors using only chalk pastel. Although chalk pastel is messy to work with it is also a very attainable material. Chalk pastel focuses on the big picture rather than the details, which works well for this group of people. Whenever we work with chalk pastel the participants leave happy and satisfied with their artwork because their subject matter is recognizable. This also happened to be Andrea's last day working at the museum before she moving out of state, so overall it was a very special day.
Fun New Happenings:
Fun New Happenings:
- A mother and daughter who live in Pryor, OK informed us that they drive a hour every month to attend this program because they love the experience.
- First time Legend (a resident facility) attended the program.
- First time Brooke Dale (a resident facility) attended the program. After they had lunch at LaVilla and continued to visit the museum's galleries.
- Gail, a woman who has been coming to the program for over a year to volunteer, brought her daughter because she is interested in volunteering for the program.
- LaShondia, our contact at The Alzheimer's Association: Oklahoma Chapter presented Andrea with a nice farewell speech in front of everyone in the studios and also gave her a beautiful goodbye gift. Some of the regular participants wrote her sweet goodbye notes and cards.