First Friday brings art lovers out to museum

Ashlyn Bradshaw couldn't quite get the look she wanted.

"I'm trying to find something to represent my mouth," said Ms. Bradshaw as she created a self-portrait out of items such as strands of beads, paper clips, silk flowers and wire. "I'll know it when I see it."

The self-portrait project was the arts activity for the Morris Museum of Art's First Friday celebration last week.

Each First Friday, the museum provides entertainment, refreshments and a hands-on arts activity, with a different theme each month. Friday's theme was Karaokatures.

"Originally, it was a way to de-stress and make art like a kid," said Tania Beasley-Jolly, the museum's marketing and public relations director.

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However, more families have started coming out to the First Friday activities, with the hands-on art project a major draw for children.

Jennifer and Tiffany Adams, pupils at Greenbrier Middle School, decided to forego ice cream in order to take a trip to the museum.

"They had come to see the exhibits before," said their mother, Sharon Adams. "Now they are hooked."

Tiffany, an eighth-grader, said her favorite project has been tie-dyeing.

Jennifer, a seventh-grader, entered her printmaking project from the museum in the Georgia-Carolina State Fair and won a first-place ribbon.

"It's fun," she said. "It's something to do with art."

While others created self-portraits, artist Xavier Jones drew caricatures of museum patrons, and disc jockey Tim Grant opened up the karaoke mike.

"I came when they had the Elvis impersonator," said Mary Dickey, from Martinez. "I like music like that."

First Friday activities at the Morris Museum of Art are held from 5 to 8 p.m.

There will be a poetry reading and a concert by the band Fossil in February. Ten poets will be chosen at an audition at the Paine College Odeum at 8 p.m. on Jan. 29. The art project will be making a book.

There won't be a First Friday event in March because of the museum's annual fund-raising gala; however, it will pick back up in April with a jazz theme.

For more information about the Morris Museum of Art or its events, call 724-7501 or visit www.themorris.org.

Reach Charmain Brackett at (803) 441-6927 or czbrackett@hotmail.com.