Edit

Biggs Museum Of American Art : A Note From our Director : June, 2023

Arts and Entertainment

June 16, 2023

From: Biggs Museum Of American Art

ArtVenture Camps

Even though the end of another school year is just days away, kids can keep learning all summer long at Biggs ArtVenture Camps. Aspiring artists will spend a week exploring the Biggs Museum, learning art techniques, and freeing their creativity. Each full-day camp is led by specially-trained museum staff.  We welcome kids ages 6 – 9 the weeks of June 19, June 26 and July 17 and ages 10 – 13 the week of July 24.   Through the generosity of Dover Federal Credit Union, we have scholarships available as well. For more information and to register, click HERE.

It’s Festival Season in Dover. You’re invited to enjoy Free Admission During Upcoming Festivals Courtesy of WSFS Bank

Delaware Pride

If you missed visiting our booth at this past weekend’s Delaware Pride Festival, please stop by the Museum for your collectible poster with art by Camp Rehoboth’s Founder, Murray Archibald. This is the first work purchased for the Biggs’ new initiative, A Vision of Pride, which aims to expand the museum’s collection and recognition of LGBT Artists. Read more here.

Comic-Con - June 17

Throw on your best costume and geek out in downtown Dover. Explore the Museum on the last weekend of our Rock & Roll Photography Exhibition Front Row Center Icons of Rock, Blues & Soul, and be sure to come early to sign up for the Super Smash Brothers Competition Hosted by Small Town Gaming happening in the ChildHelp Gallery.

Juneteenth – June 18 and June 19

In Honor of Juneteenth, the Museum will be hosting a special lecture on Art of the Amistad on Sunday June 18 from 2 – 3 PM entitled Finding Freedom Across Two Centuries: Artwork of the Amistad. Learn how artwork shapes historical memory. The story of the Amistad Africans was one of the few successful slave ship mutinies in American history. It led to a trial at the U.S. Supreme Court, and was the subject of multiple works of art, including prints, paintings, quilts, and monuments.  Program presenter, Laura A. Macaluso, PhD, is a researcher, writer and curator working with material culture, monuments, murals, and museums. She is the author of Art of the Amistad and the Portrait of Cinque, and recently was co-creator of the digital exhibit, “Street Scene: CETA Murals, New Haven, and the Late 1970s” with the Public Art Archive
 
On Monday, June 19, a Juneteenth Festival will be held on the Legislative Mall. The Biggs will be open for special hours on this holiday from 11 AM – 4 PM. The public is invited to explore the museum and check out the closing day of Front Row Center: Icons of Rock, Blues & Soul
 
Positively Dover – June 24

This event is an excellent meeting place for all ethnic groups to exchange cultural and artistic experiences and create a more diversified, tolerant and respectful attitude toward one another. The Festival offers the opportunity for visitors to explore the African and African American culture through vendor exhibits, and artistic entertainment in an atmosphere reflecting modern day African Outdoors Marketplaces. Stop by our booth or visit the museum for a hands-on art making activity and to learn more about exciting opportunities happening this summer at the Biggs.

The Biggs Welcomes Emerging Museum Professionals

The Biggs is pleased to welcome Victoria Kenyon of the University of Delaware and Rae Merson of Washington College to the team for the summer.

Victoria is a Ph.D. Candidate in Art History, who will be working as a Fellow for the Curatorial Department under Curator, Laura Fravel. She is interested in the history of photography, but has experience researching historic American furniture. At the Biggs, she will be researching our permanent collection and updating object cataloguing in preparation for the transition to a web-based collections database.

A Dover native, Rae is a rising senior majoring in English and minoring in museum, field, and community education. They will be interning with the Director of Marketing & Public Relations, Kerri Lacey, for the Marketing Department - focusing on social media, audience research, and community engagement. Rae comes to the Biggs with experience working directly with the curator of Washington College’s Kohl Gallery, a dynamic arts and exhibition space, where they assisted with events and exhibit curation.

Your Financial Support Is Vital and So Appreciated

A great collection and a talented staff are two key elements in providing a world-class art experience, but there is a “third leg to the stool” and that is the generosity of our members, visitors, corporations, and foundations in helping fund the work that we do.  We’ve got two weeks to go before we close out our fiscal year on June 30th and we could use some help closing a small fundraising gap.  If you’ve already donated this past year then let me say thanks one more time. If you haven’t had the opportunity to give, then please consider making a financial contribution.  I really wish I didn’t have to ask, but just like they say on PBS, our programming truly is made possible by supporters like you.  HERE is a link that will take you to the giving page on our website.