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

Big MAC attack!

Sunday is your last chance to see Mesa Encore Theatre perform The Music Man, which beat out West Side Story to win the 1958 Tony Award for best musical

Knowing the 2011 Tony Awards are right around the corner, I decided to go in search of local productions of Tony Award-winning musicals. I started with shows coming to the Mesa Arts Center after getting an e-mail alert that tickets for their 2011-2012 Broadway series, which includes four shows, start at just $95.

Watch the Tony Awards on CBS this Sunday night to see who wins best musical for 2011

The series includes “Rock of Ages,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “The Rat Pack is Back” — plus “My Fair Lady,” winner of the 1957 Tony Award for best musical. The 1958 Tony Award for best musical went to “The Music Man,” which is being performed at MAC by Mesa Encore Theatre through June 12.

I’ll have to share other Tony Award winners coming to Valley stages in a later post, because I’m experiencing a bit of a”big MAC attack” at the moment. Turns out there’s a ton of good stuff happening at the Mesa Arts Center, so I’ve got MAC on the brain instead.

The Mesa Arts Center has offerings in four main areas — shows, classes, events and museum exhibits. Upcoming shows sound plenty intriguing. There’s “Retro,” “Live Love Dance!,” and even Steve Martin and his banjo buddies. Events to watch for include fall and spring “out to lunch” concert series, the Mesa Arts Festival and celebrations of Dia de los Muertos.

This girl should have signed up for music classes through Mesa Arts Center

Mesa Arts Center offers classes in visual and performing arts. Think blacksmithing for the grown-ups and ceramic “mud pups” for children. Also American tribal dance and belly dance classes. Plus “scenes for teens” acting classes and a “dance sampler” for kids who want to explore various dance options.

Exhibits opening today at MAC’s “Mesa Contemporary Arts” space — a collection of five galleries — include “Picturing Maricopa” and “Women’s Work.” Other current exhibits include “Chicanitas,” “Vermilion Remains,” and “Wood & Substance, Substance & Spirit.”

Another snappy dresser from the Mesa Encore Theatre production of The Music Man

That’s a lot of art for an admission fee of just $3.50. Kids age 7 & under are always free — and admission is free for all on Thursdays (the museum is closed on Mondays). I’m going to have to move this to the top of my “me time” to do list. My grown children would enjoy the works, but they’re already off and running in a million directions this summer. Bummer.

— Lynn

Note: The Theater League 2011-2012 Broadway series also performs at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix

Coming up: Art meets science — with a twist of creative genius

Photo credit: Sarah Rodgers and Wade Moran