Springfield Museums

Last chance to explore #Animationland! Follow Tracey the pencil dog and her friends on an imaginative, scientific journey through the process of animation! This exhibit encourages visitors of all ages to experiment, learn, and tell their own stories through animation. Closing Sunday, May 5. https://lnkd.in/eBDzds7r In collaboration with the OMSI. #Animation #SpringfieldMuseums #Storytelling #FamilyFun #WesternMass #OMSI

Ring in May with our Free First Wednesdays #AtTheMuseums! May 1 is our next #FreeFirstWednesday, meaning everyone, everywhere gets in free to our five Museums, plus exclusive activities and entertainment. Plan your trip today: https://lnkd.in/eq4DDjV7 Generous support provided by the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program. #Art #History #Science #SeussInSpringfield #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass

Happy #WorldBookDay! Whether as a point of reference or a source of pleasure, books fuel the mind to enter new worlds or reflect on the spaces that already exist. The Museums are dedicated to our ongoing literacy initiatives and are proud to be a place that nurtures minds and sparks curiosity in the community. Help us expand these initiatives and support literacy and learning opportunities for all with a gift to our Annual Fund. https://lnkd.in/eNbWFth8 #AtTheMuseums #Books #Reading #Literacy #SeussInSpringfield #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass

Happy Earth Day to all! Celebrate the natural world #AtTheMuseums in the special outdoor exhibit Habitat. Learn more about topics related to habitats, their importance to life, and what people can do to help preserve them. Sections on topics such as fungi, dead wood, nests, and insects explore the critical role that many organisms play in creating and sustaining habitats, and how people can best protect them. https://lnkd.in/e8xZEGX7 Habitat was developed by Smithsonian Gardens and is made available by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Smithsonian affiliation generously supported by the MassMutual Foundation. #OurSustainablePlanet #Habitat #EarthDay2024 #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass #Smithsonian Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Affiliations

Join us for a free screening of the documentary short “Growing Up Ethan” #AtTheMuseums on Thursday, April 25 at 12:15pm Following the film, subjects Ethan Floquet and Cammie McGovern and filmmaker Josephine Sittenfeld will discuss how the project came to be, and the process of filming over a 12-year span! https://lnkd.in/e7C9XNHE This lecture is third in a special four-part #MALC series highlighting finalists from “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today.” Don’t miss the fourth and last part happening May 2: https://lnkd.in/eDXZg3Af The Museums are a proud affiliate of the Smithsonian, thanks to support from the MassMutual Foundation. The Outwin 2022 has been organized by the National Portrait Gallery. Sponsored locally by The Colvest Group, LTD, St. Germain Investment Management, William and Patricia Kelliher, and M&T Bank #TheOutwin2022 #AmericanPortraiture #SmithsonianWHM #Lecture #SpringfieldMuseums #MALC #Massachusetts #WesternMass #AtTheMuseums Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Affiliations Growing Up Ethan Artist: Josephine Sittenfeld Digital video with sound (15:20 min), 2019. Collection of the artist © Josephine Sittenfeld

One week from today: “Look Again: Portraits of Daring Women by Julie Lapping Rivera” opens #AtTheMuseums This exhibition pays homage to exceptional, pioneering women working across centuries. In a series of hand-carved, woodcut, and collage prints, Leverett-based artist Julie Rivera (American, b. 1956) highlights the lives and achievements of women who defied the status quo. https://lnkd.in/eTfxvcr5 Read the poetry that accompanies Rivera’s pieces on our blog: https://lnkd.in/ebRCmM2Y “Look Again” was originally inspired by the “Overlooked” project at The New York Times, which shares the achievements of women and other remarkable people historically overlooked by the newspaper’s obituary section. The “Look Again” exhibition is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and Season Supporter MassMutual. #LookAgain #Woodcuts #Art #JulieLappingRivera #BelleTownsleySmith #NationalPoetryMonth #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass Julie Lapping Rivera Belle Townsley Smith, 2023, multi-block color reduction woodcut by Julie Lapping Rivera. Collection of the artist.

Thanks to all who stayed up late with the Moon #AtTheMuseums last night! Evening visitors enjoyed science exhibits, a planetarium trip around the Moon, a look at the observatory telescope, dazzling photography of the Moon, and much more. Check out our calendar for more events in our Science Museum: https://lnkd.in/erQPYCU7 #StayUpLateWithTheMoon #Astronomy #FamilyFun #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass

School vacation week is halfway through but that’s plenty of time to Spark! Your Imagination✨ #AtTheMuseums! https://lnkd.in/eshppa2r Become a fashion designer, challenge your STEM skills, explore special exhibits, and so much more inspired by our Spark!Lab learning space, free with Museum admission! Spark!Lab is the flagship educational initiative of the Smithsonian Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Project supported by Berkshire Bank, Mass Cultural Council, Beveridge Family Foundation, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Eversource Energy, Hologic, Inc., Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, and Donald and Francine Pratt. Season supporter MassMutual. #SparkYourImagination #InventionSpace #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass #AprilSchoolVacation Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Affiliations

Say "Howdy" to our hospitality award nominees!   Welcome Center supervisor Henry Lockett and staff member Ann Norman-Harpin have been recognized for their outstanding customer service. We couldn't agree more... or be prouder to have them on our team!   Please show your support for Henry and Ann by casting a vote for the People’s Choice Award before Wednesday, April 24: https://lnkd.in/du3d4UzR   Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau for recognizing all the hospitality workers that go the extra mile.   #HowdyAwards #PeoplesChoiceAward #WelcomeCenter #Congratulations #SpringfieldMuseums #WesternMass #Hospitality

The Springfield Museums are saddened to learn of the passing of Faith Ringgold (1930-2024), one of the most influential artists of her generation. She was 93 years old. An artist, activist, and writer, Faith Ringgold was born and raised in Harlem, New York where she developed an interest in art at an early age. Her childhood memories of Harlem, including her father’s powerful storytelling and her mother’s work as a seamstress and fashion designer, influenced Ringgold’s artistic path. After earning a bachelor’s degree at the City College of New York, she went on to complete an MFA at City University of New York in 1959. In the 1960s, Ringgold created oil paintings and posters that advocated for the rights of African Americans and women. In the 1970s, she began to integrate textiles into her practice, sometimes with assistance from her mother. Often discussed as assertions of African American identity, Ringgold’s fabric dolls of this period drew inspiration from West African textiles and sculptures. By the 1980s, Ringgold was creating her now famous “story quilts” that conveyed imaginative narratives drawn from her lived experience as well as from collective histories of struggle and triumph. Through her dolls and quilts, Ringgold claimed sewing as a modality of fine art (rather than “craft” or “women’s work”), and in doing so challenged the Eurocentric canon. May she rest in peace, love, and warmth. Her legacy will live on for generations to come. Dancing on the George Washington Bridge II, 2020, Faith Ringgold, silkscreen on silk with pieced fabric border, Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Museum Purchase. 2022.D09.