SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College will hold Frances Day on Saturday, July 20.
According to a press release, the annual summer open house is a family-friendly event that honors the museum’s namesake, Frances Young Tang, Skidmore College Class of ’61. Beginning at 2 p.m., there will be many ways for visitors to explore the museum’s collection of contemporary art exhibitions and events. Frances Day will feature tours, art-making activities, food, music, giveaways, and more.
Featured at the museum this year is “Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld,” a new exhibition that fills the museum’s largest gallery spaces with large-scale painted and sculptural works addressing humankind’s strained relationship with the environment and its vast ecological consequences.
In addition to guided tours of the exhibition, visitors can learn about sustainability, take a tour of the trees on the museum’s grounds, and engage in multiple art-making projects inspired by the exhibition, including Recycled Earth form Crayons, Illuminated Landscapes, Bug Boxes, and Recycled Map Flowers.
At 5 p.m., Capital Region musician and performance artist Taína Asili and her ensemble will play a concert. Asili was previously at the Tang as part of the 2018 Upbeat on the Roof concert series.
The day includes a timed schedule of events as well as ongoing activities both inside and outside the Museum that visitors can drop in on at any time.
Drop-in Activities, running from 2 pm to 5 pm:
– Block print your own nature-themed tea towel
– Try your hand at art-making activities inspired by Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld: Recycled Earthform Crayons, Illuminated Landscape, Bug Boxes, Recycled Map Flowers
– Have your picture taken in our Polaroid photo booth in “Yvette Molina: A Promise to the Leaves” with props based on work on view
– Learn from Skidmore’s Office of Sustainability about their campus tree inventory, composting tips, and efforts to reduce the College’s ‘environmental footprint’
– Draw with sidewalk chalk and make bubbles (including a bubble-making machine!) outside the Tang
– View the exhibitions: “Yvette Molina: A Promise to the Leaves,” “Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld,” “Vorágine: Yente and Cecilia Biagini,” “Elevator Music 49: John Cage—Water Walk,” “Hyde Cabinet #25: Kashi Kari Celebrating Tradition and Craftsmanship from Pakistan”
Timed Activities, scheduled from 2:15 pm to 6:30 pm:
– 2:15 pm: Tour of “Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld.” View the new exhibition with Tang Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator Rachel Seligman
– 3:15 pm: Collections Tour. Get a rare, behind-the-scenes view of some of the more than 18,000 objects that make up the museum’s collection with Dayton Director Ian Berry and Collections Registrar Nora Riccio
– 4 pm: Tour of the Trees of the Tang. Interns in Skidmore’s Office of Sustainability will lead a tour of the trees around the museum, based on their sustainable landscapes efforts and campus tree inventory work
– 4 pm: Tour of “Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld.” View the new exhibition with Tang Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator Rachel Seligman
– 5 pm: Taína Asili in Concert. Enjoy Asili’s energetic fusion traversing salsa, rock, reggaeton, Afrobeat, and other global sounds
Refreshments will include lemonade, water, and cookies during the day. During the concert, more substantial food will be available. Beer and wine will also be available for purchase via Visa or Mastercard.
All events are free and open to the public. Plenty of free parking is available in lots adjacent to the Museum. In case of inclement weather, activities will be indoors. For more information, visit http://tang.skidmore.edu or call the Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080.
