J. Paul Getty Museum: Family Workshops

During the summer and fall this year I have been facilitating workshops for families at the Getty Center. These programs take place outside in the museum's courtyard and introduce families to exhibitions on view through hands-on activities.

Build-a-Beast Family Workshop, August 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

Build-a-Beast Family Workshop, August 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

Build-a-Beast Family Workshop, August 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

Build-a-Beast Family Workshop, August 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

At the Getty’s Build-a-Beast family workshop participants created their own medieval beasts at the pop-up print lab with artists Peter Foucault and Chris Treggiari from Mobile Arts Platform. They explored screen and block printing techniques to make real and imaginary animals. Inspired by the exhibition, Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World, artists from across the country created linocut printing blocks for families to use to produce their own prints.

Fun In The Sun Family Workshop, September 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

Fun In The Sun Family Workshop, September 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

Fun In The Sun Family Workshop, September 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

Fun In The Sun Family Workshop, September 2019. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson

In September 2019, parents and their kids harnessed the power of the sun to make one-of-a-kind photographic prints called cyanotypes. They arranged natural materials and stencils on light sensitive fabric to create unique compositions. Each sun-soaked print explored some of the earliest photographic processes. These workshops were in conjunction with the exhibition In Focus: The Camera and inspired by the work of Anna Atkins which is in the Getty's collection.