SAN DIEGO—The San Diego Museum of Art welcomes parents and children of all ages to a free Family Festival celebrating American art and culture on Sunday, September 19, from noon to 4:00 p.m. Presented in conjunction with the Museum's current exhibition American Beauty: Painting and Sculpture from the Detroit Institute of Arts 1770-1920, families will enjoy hands-on art-making projects, free admission to the Museum, storytelling of American folk tales, a pie-eating contest, and live performances by Westwind Brass, the Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra for Silent Films, and a barbershop quartet.

Children and grown-ups alike can clap their hands and make some noise for SDMA's most popular community event. Throughout the festival, live entertainment will complement art-making activities and gallery visits to give participants a rounded experience of this nation's cultural traditions. Westwind Brass, San Diego's favorite brass quintet, will perform early American music including Shaker hymns, Civil War marches, spirituals, ragtime, blues, and Dixieland at both noon and 1:00 p.m. The Fog Nozzle 4 barbershop quartet, part of the San Diego Sun Harbor Chorus, will also present early American music, including folk songs and American favorites, from 3:15 to 3:50 p.m.

In addition, the Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra for Silent Films adds to the fun with two performances of classic silent film music at 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. The performances accompany historic films of Balboa Park and short slapstick comedies of the era. Kids can interact with the orchestra by helping with the sound effects and will take home free noisemakers.

Young artists can also learn easy tricks used by professional artists to make their own watercolor landscape painting. Other art-making activities include learning how to draw the human figure in motion.

Participants are encouraged to take advantage of the Museum's all-day free admission and gallery tours to visit American Beauty, an exhibition featuring 91 masterpieces from one of the finest collections of American art in the world. American Beauty explores the vibrant and diverse history of this nation's visual culture and includes iconic works by such greats as John Singleton Copley, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and Frederic Remington. The gallery tours will be offered in both English and Spanish, with docents scheduled for every half hour between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.

Drawing more than 3,000 visitors, SDMA's free Family Festivals are quarterly events organized by the Museum's education department and are designed to foster an appreciation and understanding of the fine arts for the entire San Diego community.

This program is made possible by Sempra Energy.

Museum Information
San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado, Balboa Park
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 122107
San Diego, CA 92112-2107
General Information: (619) 232-7931 / Facsimile: (619) 232-9367
Group Sales: (619) 696-1915
Web site: www.sdmart.org

The historic San Diego Museum of Art provides a rich and diverse cultural experience for more than 400,000 annual visitors. Located in the heart of beautiful Balboa Park, the Museum's nationally renowned collections include Spanish and Italian old maters, South Asian paintings, and 19th-and 20th-century American paintings and sculptures. In addition, the Museum regularly features major exhibitions of art from around the world, as well as an extensive year-round schedule of supporting cultural and educational programs.

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