Animals have invaded the Ball State University Museum of Art.
A new exhibit, titled "MuZOOum: Animals in Art," features various artists' depictions of animals in a wide range of media. The family-friendly exhibit was created to involve children, as well as older family members, in viewing animal images from around the world.
To accommodate younger visitors, the museum will display the pieces in the exhibit 14 inches lower than usual. The exhibit will also offer younger visitors the opportunity to have their faces painted, make paw prints and participate in other arts activities.
However, "MuZOOum" is no playground attraction. It will showcase 75 pieces from the museum's collection -- including prints, sculptures and a painting from artists such as Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and John James Audubon -- to provide "a zoo's-worth of works of art," according to a museum press release.
Nancy Huth, the museum's assistant director and curator of education, said that while the exhibit is family-friendly, the materials shown will be of interest to all visitors.
"In my experience, family-friendly exhibits are just as appealing as others," Huth said, pointing out the presentation of the works. "Research shows that labels increase responses from all visitors. Parents, children ... everybody."
Of the artists whose pieces are being shown, Audubon and 19th-century French artist Charles Emile Jacque have the most works with four each. The majority of the pieces were produced with various print-making techniques like screen-printing and etching.
Huth began searching the museum's collection a year ago to help find the pieces that make up the exhibit.
"There's a lot of things that were discoveries for me," Huth said, referring to some of the folk-art pieces in the exhibit. "However, my favorite is a painting called 'Wheat' by Victor Coleman Anderson."
The exhibit will run from May 27 until July 31, and from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on June 4 the Muncie Art Students' League will sponsor the exhibit's family day.
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