Welcome to Share the Wonder 2021, the Farnsworth Art Museum’s winter celebration! Please enjoy the activities below and follow along in the Share the Wonder activity booklet, available for download on this page.
Share the Wonder 2021 is sponsored by the Wyeth Foundation and by First National Bank.
Week 1
Gift-making inspired by art
MAKE A PICTURE!
Join Studio and Public Programming Coordinator, Jude Valentine, as she shares a drawing/painting activity inspired by the Farnsworth collection’s painting by David Driskell: Cold Night, Falling Trees.
Supply List:
- Watercolor paper
- Pastels
- India ink and brush or black magic marker
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
David Driskell
Cold Night, Falling Trees
2005
Oil and collage on canvas
2006.10
Driskell’s collage of a nocturnal forest scene captures the cool, moist world of Maine’s abundant woods. These woods have become one of the artist’s most frequent subjects.
STORYTELLING: SAIL AWAY
Listen to award-winning, internationally acclaimed storyteller Antonio Rocha read from Sail Away—a celebration of mermaids, wildernesses of waves, and the creatures of the deep, featuring poems by Langston Hughes and cut-paper collage illustrations by 2022 Farnsworth Maine in America award-winner Ashley Bryan.
Week 2
Gift-making inspired by art
MAKE A PENDANT!
Join artist and printmaker Sherrie York as she creates jewelry from simple materials inspired by Louise Nevelson’s jewelry and sculpture. Make your own Nevelson-inspired jewelry to wear or to give away!
Supply List:
- Cardboard, mat board, and poster board
- Beads, bottle caps, popsicle sticks
- Scissors
- Liquid glue
- Craft paint— black or white
- Paint brush
- Yarn or string, a twist tie to be able to wear it
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
Louise Nevelson
Jewelry
Painted wood and gold metallic overlay
Gift of Louise Nevelson, 1985
Between 1981 and 1985, Nevelson and other members of her family donated more than eighty paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, and pieces of her jewelry to the Farnsworth. With subsequent gifts and purchases, the Farnsworth has one of the world’s most significant collections of Nevelson’s work.
STORYTELLING: HERSHEL AND THE HANUKKAH GOBLINS
Rabbi Lily Solocheck from the Adas Yoshuron Synagogue in Rockland reads this Caldecott Award-winning book for you! A band of frightful goblins has taken over the synagogue, and the villagers cannot celebrate at all! Can one man alone stand up to the goblins, save Chanukah, and live to tell the tale? Join us and find out!
STORYTELLING: THE COMING OF LIGHT
Listen to a reading of the poem by Mark Strand called, “The Coming of Light,” read by poet Ellen Goldsmith.
Week 3
Imagination in action!
THINGS I LOVE TO DO!
Mime, storyteller, and musician, Scot Cannon shares his creative talents and shows you how he comes up with all his fun ideas and how you can, too! Here we are featuring two of his four-part video series of “Things I Love to Do!”
Mime!
Learn some basic pantomime moves like pushing on things you can’t push; lifting things you can’t lift; pulling things you can’t pull; and leaning on things that aren’t there!
How to Tell a Story with Stuff
A great game that you can play alone or with others. Get a bunch of stuff, put it on a table; you’ll need a clock, and recording device. Follow along with Scot as he shows you how to create a story on the spot— inspired by your stuff!
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
Bernard Langlais
Rockland, Maine
1970s
Bernard Langlais created more than 3,500 indoor and outdoor works of art during his lifetime that are unique and imaginative–including this scene of Rockland!
LISTEN
Enjoy a reading by Paul and Jen Hodgson of Dahlov Ipcar’s My Wonderful Christmas Tree— a charming and delightful book for children of all ages about discovering the colorful and curious creatures of New England during the winter season.
Week 4
Gifts made with paper
EGG CARTON ORNAMENTS
Join artist Christina Thibault as she walks you through how to make simple and elegant holiday ornaments out of egg cartons!
Supply List:
- Egg cartons
- Water
- Strainer
- White glue
- Cookie sheet to dry Your Ornament in the oven
- Hot glue gun
- Sandpaper sponges
- Cookie cutters
- Acrylic paints and brushes
- Sewing needles
- Awl, or thick knitting needle
- String
- Scissors
- Blender is optional for a finer mash
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
Rockwell Kent
Untitled (Greenland)
Oil on canvas on panel
Circa 1930s
Bequest of Irene von Horvath, 2009.2.2
The harsh but beautiful icy, snow-covered landscape of Greenland was a frequent subject of Kent’s work, and he sought to capture the eerie light of this far northern island. As he wrote in his 1935 book, Salamina, in Greenland he found “as though for the first time…the beauty of the world…”
ORIGAMI FLAPPING CRANE
Artist Autumn Heil shows you how to make flapping cranes with origami.
Week 5
Gift-making inspired by art
CREATE A SCROLL STORY BOX!
Scroll Stories are an unusual method of storytelling and quite a lot of fun to make! You can write and draw your own stories or illustrate traditional stories. Document your progress on a drawing created over time or come up with a sequence of images to tell a story. Watch and learn how to make your own scroll story box with artist Hélène Farrar.
Supply List:
- Cereal or similar sized box
- Paint and paint brush
- Scissors and mat knife
- Pencils
- Ruler
- Two paper towel tubes
- Roll of lightweight paper
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
Lillian Wescott Hale
Daffy Down Dilly
1908
High tints give the impression of spring pastel light filtered through window drapery, silhouetting the woman’s profile and the furnishings that surround her. The model for the painting was Rose Zeffler, whose relationship with the Hale family was recalled by the artist’s daughter, Nancy, in the book, The Life in the Studio (1969).
THE GIFT INSIDE with SCOT CANNON
The story about a boy who lost his voice and could not talk or speak. He spent so much time worrying about his problem that he fell asleep for 10 years. When he wakes up, he finds it is the month of December. He has no idea why people are celebrating these December holidays. Find out what happens and what Scot learns!
Week 6
Gift-making inspired by art
FOUND OBJECTS
Follow printmaker Sherrie York as she leads you through a found object printmaking project.
Supply List:
- Cardboard
- Found objects like buttons, can lids, clothespins, etc.
- Paint
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
Stephen Pace
Untitled, 58-22
Oil on Canvas
1958
Dividing his time between studios in New York City and Stonington, Maine, Stephen Pace returned to figural art, working in a style characterized by simplified forms, broad brushwork, and imaginative colors. He most often painted his immediate surroundings, finding inspiration in the coastline and fishing village of Stonington, where he chronicled the working waterfront.
KWANZAA “RESPECT” with ANTONIO ROCHA
Kwanzaa (Dec 26– Jan 1) is an annual celebration of African-American culture that is held from December 26th to January 1st, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually held on the 6th day. Visit the Tree House Story Telling Show with master storyteller, Antonio Rocha, to learn about his travels in Africa, and watch him perform an animal tale from Kenya on the topic of “respect.”
Week 7
Gift-making inspired by art
TUNNEL BOOKS
Follow along with teaching artist Tara Morin as she shows us how to make a tunnel book inspired by a painting in our collection.
Supply List:
- One sheet of cardstock paper
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Ruler or straightedge
- Pencil
ON VIEW AT THE FARNSWORTH
Rockwell Kent
Maine Coast
Circa 1907
Made during Kent’s stay on Monhegan in the winter of 1906–07, Maine Coast shows snow-covered fields and a thick stand of trees with one of the island’s mountains in the distance and a glimpse of the sea beyond. Its blue-tinged shadows on the white snow and stormy gray skies—freely and expressively painted—reveal the attraction the scenic island held for Kent and other Henri Circle artists.