The beauty of bookmarks

Bookmark created during the 2012 Arizona Humanities Festival

I hadn’t fully appreciated how telling watching someone create can be until I landed at this year’s Arizona Humanities Festival with my stash of 200 blank bookmarks and oodles of stickers, stamps and ribbon. Felicia Bond could easily pen a new “If You Give a Reader a Bookmark” story for her series that’s already imagined moose munching muffins and pigs porking out on pancakes.

Bookmark artist at the Arizona Humanities Festival

My first surprise was the number of grown-ups who rocked the bookmark vibe. I’d planned the activity for kids, but should have known that adults drawn to various humanities would delight in the chance to create and converse together too. It’s all good in my world. Especially when those making bookmarks demonstrate such remarkable skill at dancing while they work.

Some parents like to stand by while their kids get crafty, and it’s fascinating to see the way their approaches differ. Some simply watch while others offer frequent ideas or suggestions. The beauty of bookmarks is the fact that there’s no right or wrong way to make them. And no two people ever end up with the same design.

Bookmark artist sharing one of his works

I’m fascinated by the fact that people come up with such diverse creations. Some favor the symmetry of three single objects placed neatly atop a bookmark in a straight line. Others layer stamp after stamp in a whimsical assortment of colors. Some plan before they begin, and others tackle the task with wild abandon. It’s fun to imagine how such styles might translate into their everyday lives.

I took several types of hole punches along — figuring people could make a hole at the top of their bookmark, then thread a piece of ribbon through it. But this was a humanities crowd, and there was a lot of thinking outside the box. One person punched a whole row of holes, then laced a ribbon in and out. Another used the ribbons to make an elaborate braid for her bookmark.

Another bookmark artist shares her work

We hear so much these days of children who struggle to pay attention or fail to use good manners. But I saw youth with extraordinary levels of concentration, persistence and genuine politeness. They stayed calm when materials they’d chosen presented a challenge, and engaged in serious problem solving while doing a craft some would consider too simple to build much brainpower.

Spending the day with so many different people sharing the common experience of creating bookmarks has me wondering more about the role bookmarks can play in bringing people together. It’s easy to imagine an exhibition of bookmarks, made by artists and everyday readers. Hint, hint…

— Lynn

Coming up: More musings on the Arizona Humanities Festival, Art meets librarian, Author tales

Art meets grandparents

Ian’s Corner at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix

Grab a grandparent (gently) this weekend and celebrate National Grandparents Day together with a lovely bit of arts and culture. Museums with special Grandparents Day activities include the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa.

The Children’s Museum of Phoenix offers free admission to grandparents this Sun., Sept. 9. The museum’s art studio is open 10am-3pm for children who’d like to make a refrigerator magnet, a little something grandparents can never have enough of.

There’s plenty to explore beyond the art studio as well — including cozy spaces for reading together, a child-size supermarket complete with carts and cash registers, a giant climber (best to let the kids climb while the grandparents admire them), hands-on exhibits and more.

You can even treat the grandparents in your life to some time in the Children’s Museum of Phoenix gift shop. Perhaps they’d enjoy being pampered with some new books for storytime, a feathering wand and sparkling tiara, a nifty piece of scientific equipment or some puppets for rainy day playtimes.

The Phoenix Art Museum opens an hour early (at 11am) for members this Sunday, and there are several special activities taking place from 11am to 3pm (others can enjoy them starting at noon). A newly installed PhxArtKids gallery, described by the museum as “a visual exploration of how color, math, science, and art intersect,” opens at 11am.

A new scavenger hunt will be available from 11am to 3pm, as will opportunities to “make a paper silhouette portrait of your family” and “sketch collaboratively.” Thirty-minute family tours take place at 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm and 2:30pm — and storytimes are scheduled for 11:30am, 12:30pm and 1:30pm. The museum’s cafe is offering a free kids meal with every adult entree purchased.

Arizona Museum for Youth also offers free admission for grandparents on Grandparents Day, and has special activities planned from noon to 3:30pm. It’s also the last day families can enjoy the “Extreme Pets” exhibit featuring animal-inspired art and hands-on activities. They’ve also got a multigenerational tea party for mothers, daughters and granddaughters scheduled for Sat, Sept. 15.

The City of Mesa currently offers free admission to three museums the first Sunday of each month thanks to a “3 for Free” program presented by Target. Participating museums include the Arizona Museum of Natural History, Arizona Museum for Youth and Mesa Contemporary Arts (located at the Mesa Arts Center).

Click here to learn more about National Grandparents Day, which was inspired by Marian McQuade of West Virginia and established by President Jimmy Carter during the late ’70s, here to explore facts about grandparents in America and here to find additional family-friendly events taking place this weekend and beyond.

— Lynn

Coming up: Cross one off the bucket list