Springfield Museums, à la Carte Lectures

About this event

The Springfield Museums’ lecture series Museums à la Carte celebrates 47 years of curiosity and learning. Beginning in 1979 as “Art à la Carte” with just a few dozen attendees, this popular program has reached thousands of people over the years and expanded its reach beyond the walls of the Museums when it began offering lectures digitally via Zoom in 2020. Sep 10, 12:15 pm – 1:30 pm Drawing Meaning: A 25-Year Reflection on Trauma and Children’s Art After 9/11 As images of smoke and flame appeared on televisions across the world on September 11, 2001, many children saw what adults saw. Some witnessed even more. Within hours of the attacks, children were already using art to express thoughts and feelings that were too big for words. This talk will examine how these young artists found meaning in the confusing and tragic events of 9/11 and its aftermath and used their work to help and heal themselves and others. In a recent exhibit, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum’s drew on their extensive collection of children’s art to showcase an assemblage that encompasses the wide range of emotional responses that children had in the wake of the attacks. In art therapy programs, school projects, and their personal art, children expressed the fear, sadness, and anxiety that so many experienced after 9/11. But their pieces also show the hope and inspiration that they took from witnessing acts of charity and generosity in the aftermath. The talk will focus on the ways the exhibit team drew out how children used their art to learn about themselves and reach beyond their own experience. Some made colorful drawings that were treasured by rescue and recovery workers, while others worked to understand the political and social responses to 9/11. The children who made this art are all adults now, but this show captures a moment that helped shape them, and how they used their paints, crayons, and colored pencils to become active participants in it. Museums a la Carte Lecture $4 Sep…

Description from explorewesternmass.com