Please Touch: SMU Meadows Museum and
Bush Center's Native Texas Park celebrate the senses

DALLAS (SMU) – Families will step inside artist Joaquin Sorolla's seaside landscapes April 12 through sight, sound, touch and scent at SMU's Community Day at Meadows Museum. Their sensory experience will continue at the natural wildflower landscape at the nearby Native Texas Park at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Community Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Activities at both locations are free and open to the public as part of SMU's Founders' Day weekend.

Activities complement the Meadows' exhibition "Sorolla and America," which features the beach scenes, landscapes and portraits of Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla, known for his mastery of color and sunlight. The exhibit runs through April 19.

Kids can paint outdoors like Sorolla did, or create their own seascapes using textured papers. They can learn traditional Spanish dances to the click of castanets. In a multisensory scavenger hunt, families will explore Sorolla’s garden or beach scenes through the scent of flowers and ocean water, the sound of birds and crashing waves, or through reproductions that replicate the composition or texture of Sorolla's paintings. Student performers will also bring Sorolla’s works to life through guitar music that evokes the spirit of Spain.

Presentations will include demonstrations by John Bramblitt, an accomplished artist who is blind. He will show how he creates colorful paintings using only the sense of touch. In turn, participants may experience the texture of Sorolla's paintings by touching an oil-painted canvas or a three-dimensional landscape inspired by one of Sorolla's paintings.

Spring's first wildflowers will be in bloom at the 15-acre Native Texas Park at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a short walk or shuttle ride from Meadows Museum. Families can hunt for blooms on a wildflower scavenger hunt, plant wildflower seeds to bring home and enjoy SMU student musical performances at an outdoor terrace near the Hall of State. SMU mascot Peruna will be on hand for photos.

Free spring activities will continue inside the Bush Library with spring crafts direct from the White House Easter egg roll and a dog's view of spring from the Barney Cam. In addition, the Situation Room will be open for tours. With an admission ticket to the museum, visitors also may view the library and special exhibition, The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy.

A complete schedule of activities is available online. 

SMU Founder's Day, a spring homecoming, is an opportunity for alumni and friends to reconnect with professors, classmates and current students. This year's event occurs doing SMU's centennial celebration and the Year of the Faculty. http://www.smu.edu/100/Events/FoundersDay

Spring's first wildflowers will be in bloom at SMU's Community Day at the 15-acre Native Texas Park at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a short walk or shuttle ride from Meadows Museum.

At SMU's Community Day, families can hunt for blooms on a wildflower scavenger hunt, plant wildflower seeds to bring home and enjoy SMU student musical performances at the Native Texas Park at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

At SMU's Community Day at Meadows Museum, artist John Bramblitt will show how he creates colorful paintings using only the sense of touch. In turn, participants may experience the texture of Joaquin Sorolla's paintings by touching an oil-painted canvas or a three-dimensional landscape inspired by one of Sorolla's paintings.

Media Contacts:

Nancy George
214-768-7674
972-965-3769 (cell)
ngeorge@smu.edu

Carrie Hunnicutt
214-768-1584
214-517-6943 (cell)
chunnicutt@smu.edu