Be a maker: Westmoreland Museum offers free mosaic, shadowbox art kits
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The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will offer free art-making kits to the public as a Community Art Week activity.
“Since the Museum has not been able to offer our free monthly in-person Community Days, where we typically presented a variety of art-making activities, we wanted to engage with our community by offering free art-making kits that they could do at home while still feeling connected to the Museum,” said Mona Wiley, the Westmoreland’s public programs manager.
The kits will be available for pickup from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 19-23, from plastic bins outside the main entrance of the facility at 221 N. Main St., Greensburg. A limited number of kits will be available each day.
“The art-making kits will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis,” said Maggie Geier, the museum’s manager of communications. “We encourage individuals to take as many art kits as needed for their family/friends and complete them together, but we also ask them to be considerate of other members of the community who may also want to participate.”
The museum will offer two kits, a Mosaic Glass To-Go Kit developed by Pittsburgh Glass Center and a Shadowbox Art Kit created by Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, the museum’s partners for the art-making opportunity.
Kits are geared toward use by adults, teens and children, although small children may require assistance from an adult.
Each kit includes step-by-step instructions and the supplies required to complete the mosaic or shadowbox. Participants can choose from five different basic mosaic shapes or a surprise shadowbox art activity consisting of various materials.
To help participants complete their projects, video tutorials are available on the museum website.
“Individual results will vary due to artistic interpretation, as well as differing materials and supplies provided in the kits,” Geier said. “If individuals want to use the contents of each kit to create something unique, they can absolutely do so if they desire.”
Participants are encouraged to share their efforts with the museum via social media by sharing photos of works in progress or finished pieces, using the hashtag #CommunityArtWeek and tagging the Museum @TheWestmoreland on Facebook or Twitter, or @WestmorelandMuseum on Instagram.
“There aren’t any plans for an actual physical exhibition of the mosaics and shadowboxes,” Geier noted.
Community Art Week received support from the McKinney Charitable Foundation and the Brooks Foundation through the PNC Charitable Trusts Grant Review Committee.
Details: thewestmoreland.org