Preparing For Dinosaur Day at the Newark Museum

In the main science lab, teen-aged Science Explorers are unpacking fossils, creating identification boards, collecting model magic and pipe cleaners needed to make model dinosaurs and generally getting ready for Dinosaur Day at the Newark Museum on Sunday, May 1 from 10 am to 4:30 pm.

4th annual Dinosaur Day at the Newark Museum will be held on Sunday, May 1 at 10 am to 4:30 pm.

The most popular single-day festival on the Museum’s calendar brings fossils hunters, face painters and scientists to downtown Newark, where families can touch real dinosaur bones, learn about geological disasters and talk to professional geologists about what they study. 

There are lots to do at the Newark Museum Dinosaur Day!

This is the fourth year that we’ve presented Dinosaur Day and we learn something new every year.  This year, because of what’s happened in Japan, we’ll be focusing on Natural Disasters.  Rutgers University will be bringing their Tsunami Tank, Kean University will investigate lightning strikes. There  will even be a Hurricane Tunnel, where visitors can step inside and feel how strong hurricane-strength winds really are –  75 miles per hour!  I can’t wait to try it myself.

Hands-on activities, such as the Tsunami tank allow young scientists to learn about what an earthquake does underneath the ocean.

It takes a lot of people working together to pull off a festival like this.  The tent is being set up in the sculpture garden and most of the supplies have been ordered, except for the Dry Ice that’s needed for making comets in the Cool Comets demonstration.  Kevin Conod, the Manager of the Planetarium, will pick that up that morning, on his way in.

 It takes months to prepare for one day, but when the museum is filled with families, everyone having a great time, together, it’s worth it.  Especially when it has to do with dinosaurs!

Susan Petroulas is the manager of science education at the Newark Museum.

To find out more about events and activities at the Newark Museum, visit newarkmuseum.org.

Bringing a Painting to Life

The Newark Museum’s Education Department sponsored a series of

Winslow Homer, Near Andersonville, 1866, Oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Hannah Corbin Carter; Horace K. Corbin, Jr.; Robert S. Corbin; William D. Corbin; and Mrs. Clementine Corbin Day in memory of their parents, Hannah Stockton Corbin and Horace Kellogg Corbin 1966 66.354

conferences for American teachers in 2010 that focused on ways to use American art to teach history and culture, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The conferences have resulted in various new activities and curriculum resources for schools. 

During the April 2010 conference, the Museum invited an actress named Tia James to portray the young woman in Winslow Homer’s famous 1866 painting, “Near Andersonville.”  Before her performance at the Museum, Ms. James read various narratives and historical accounts about the lives of enslaved African Americans during the Civil War era.  This research enabled her to create a script that introduces us to the character which she named “Charity.”  Wearing an exact replica of the clothing in Homer’s painting, Ms. James’ “Charity” expresses her fear and anxiety about the progress of the war and what the future might be. 

 In January 2011, we invited Ms. James back to the Museum to professionally film her performance.  This 10-minute production was developed with the Museum’s Education and Information Systems Departments working in partnership.  The finished film is now available on YouTube and used by schools that are seeking connections to the Museum’s American art collection.  The film will be the central component of a new curriculum for schools that addresses the 150^th anniversary of the American Civil War (available in Fall 2011).   

 To learn more about school programs the Newark Museum offers, visit newarkmuseum.org.

 This article was written by Ted Lind, Deputy Director for Education, Newark Museum. 

Video created by Raymond Stivala, Manager of Web / Multimedia Development, Newark Museum.

Unexpected Connections

As a Grant Writer, I’m always looking ahead – raising money for next season’s exhibitions or school programs. Right now my focus is on the Museum’s work to help keep kids healthy.

 Did you know that more than one-third of U.S. children are considered overweight or obese? Or that, on average, children gain six, unhealthy pounds each year?

 Statistics like these have galvanized the Museum into action. Through its upcoming fall exhibition – Generation Fit: Breaking the Cycle of Childhood Obesity - children and families will learn the science behind weight gain as interactive activities and compelling animation teach them how to eat better and exercise more.

 And this is only the beginning. Over the next two years, the Museum will work with partners across Newark and New Jersey to host community walks and runs, coordinate a weight loss contest, run programs for schools and teachers, organize outdoor learning experiences to get families hiking, and more.

 I’ve already benefitted. Just reading and writing about the science behind this exhibit has inspired me to eat healthier and exercise more.

 Yet, as I worked on this project, a walk through the Museum’s galleries

Charles Willson Peale, "Colonel Elihu Hall, 1773," Oil on canvas, Purchase 1963, The Members Fund, 63.127

reminded me that our concerns about health and appearance and nutrition, and all that they symbolize, aren’t all that new.

I can’t help but wonder what Colonel Elihu Hall, whose portrait hangs in the Museum’s American galleries, would make of Generation Fit: Breaking the Cycle of Childhood Obesity. Painted in 1773 by Charles Willson Peale, he was a member of the growing merchant class in the American colonies who commissioned portraits to flaunt their prosperity and social position. How best to indicate that he was a man of means? Pretend to be overweight! Experts say Colonel Hall may have padded his stomach for the portrait because fat was associated with wealth and health.

Robert Henri, Portrait of Willie Gee, 1904, Oil on canvas, Anonymous gift 1925 25.111

 The striking Portrait of Willie Gee, painted in 1904 by Robert Henri, gives a different view of health and wealth. I learned that the apple the young newspaper boy holds is more than just a piece of fruit. Because it served as an inexpensive source of nutrition for a wide swath of the population, it also served as a symbol of democracy.

 It’s one of the things I love most about the Newark Museum – the unexpected connections and surprises I find every time I walk through the galleries and what makes working here so compelling.

For more information about the Newark Museum, visit newarkmuseum.org.

Anu Malhotra is a Grants Writer at the Newark Museum.