Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park is celebrating Youth Art Month with a display of artwork from Matewan Elementary School in Mingo County. The exhibit features a Chinese New Year dragon and lanterns made by the kindergarten students and a series of quilt block patterns from the first grade pupils. The show will remain on display through the first week of April.
The dragon, measuring more than six feet in length, is made of colored paper and wire and decorated with jewel-toned chips. The class constructed the dragon and a string of paper lanterns after a recent lesson on Chinese culture.
The children were inspired to create the display after learning that the Chinese New Year celebration traditionally ends with a Lantern Festival attended by children carrying colorful paper lanterns in a street parade. A dragon dance, performed by young men carrying a dragon made of paper, silk and bamboo, is frequently the highlight of the parade. In the most elaborate parades, the dragon can stretch more than 100 feet in length.
During Black History Month, the first graders learned how quilts often were used to send covert messages to escaping slaves through the Underground Railroad before and during the Civil War. The children then chose and decorated a quilt block pattern of their choice to demonstrate their understanding of its significance when used in a quilt. Patterns featured in their artwork include the Monkey Wrench, Flying Geese, Log Cabin and Sailboat among others. Visitors to the exhibit can see these patterns on actual quilts on display in the Museum in the Park.
For more information about Museum in the Park’s Youth Art Month exhibition, contact Elizabeth Williams, site manager for the facility, at (304) 792-7229.
The Museum in the Park is a regional cultural center showcasing the best in West Virginia history and the arts. It features changing exhibits and displays of artwork and historical items from the collections of the West Virginia State Museum and State Archives. One area of the museum is dedicated to local and regional history. It is operated and maintained by the West Virginia division of Culture and History and is located four miles north of Logan on West Virginia Route 10 at Chief Logan State Park. Museum hours are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, and 1 - 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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