New partnership brings second location of The Makery to Bellefonte Art Museum
A new partnership between the Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County and The Makery of State College is bringing a second location of The Makery to Bellefonte.
The Makery at the Museum children’s art studio opened last week and is located on the second floor of the Bellefonte Art Museum.
“This new endeavor is a mutually beneficial partnership and allows for two creative outlets to join forces and work hand-in-hand to provide enrichment to our communities,” a press release stated.
The space will mirror the creative aesthetic of its sister studio, The Makery, a nonprofit community art studio based in downtown State College, according to the release.
Amy Frank, founder and director of The Makery of State College, said in an email their mission is to bring “joyful, inspiring art experiences to Centre County children and their families.” For seven years, The Makery of State College has served the community by providing summer camps, children’s workshops and independent activities. Frank said they wanted to serve other communities in a similar way.
After partnering with the Bellefonte Art Museum during the summer for its annual Imagination Celebration, they created two interactive galleries for families, Frank said, which was popular with the museum’s patrons. When it ended, the museum directors started conversations about creating a permanent studio within the museum, she said.
“This new partnership with The Makery of State College will further enhance our programs and our community reach,” museum directors wrote in a press release.
The studio is open from noon until 4:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday for self-led making experiences that reflect the exhibits in the museum’s main galleries, Frank said.
“For example, the Museum is currently hosting a show entitled ‘African Designs’ with a wide variety of African textiles and jewelry designs. In the Makery at The Museum studio, children and their families can create their own paper-based Kente Cloth, a colorful, meaningful Ghanian textile and they can participate in a community fabric weaving project,” she said.
There will also be a special children’s book, “The Spider Weaver,” about Kente cloth available for families to learn more while they are in the studio.
Organizers hope to bring other instructor-led classes and celebrations to The Makery at The Museum in the future. The activities in The Makery at The Museum will rotate quarterly and all art materials are provided.
The self-led art activities will allow families to “more fully explore the images and items they observe in the rest of the Museum,” Frank said, while hopefully engaging families and encouraging them to return.
The free creative experiences are open to children and their families; children under 14 must be supervised by an adult at all times. The Bellefonte Art Museum is located at 133 N. Allegheny St., Bellefonte. For more information, visit https://www.bellefontemuseum.org or http://themakerypa.com/.
