The Cleveland Museum of Art Celebrates Holiday Season with Winter Lights Lantern Festival December 4-13
Released November 03, 2009
CONTACT:
Jim Kopniske
216-707-2261
Event Culminates with Annual Holiday CircleFest Sunday, December 6
CLEVELAND (November 3, 2009) — Celebrate the holiday season at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) as it presents the 16th annual Winter Lights Lantern Festival, Friday, December 4 through Sunday, December 13, 2009.
Inspired by centuries-old cross-cultural traditions of ceremonial lighting displays, this festival is the
centerpiece of the museum’s contribution to Holiday CircleFest, a day of seasonal music, gift shopping, workshops and refreshments hosted by the University Circle community.
Beginning Friday evening December 4, CMA will present the collaborative art installation Environment of Lights on Wade Oval by Ian Petroni, Mark Jenks, Patty Jenks and event director, Robin VanLear. The installation will remain on view through December 13. Lantern installations will also be on view throughout the museum. Guest lantern artists include: Debbie Apple-Presser, Roaidi Cartaya Carbajal, Tracy Doran, Wendy Mahon, Nancy Prudic, Jesse Rhinehart and Story Lee Cadiz.
Holiday CircleFest
On Sunday, December 6, as part of Holiday CircleFest (1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.), the Lantern Festival will climax with a Procession of Lights to Wade Oval, where it will encircle and wind through the Environment of Lights. Open to everyone, the procession will begin from the museum’s North Entrance at 5:30 p.m. Dancers from Inlet Dance Theatre will join other dancers and puppeteers as giant puppets, dancers and the guest artists with their own specially created lanterns, lead the crowd into and through the installation. As part of its CircleFest offerings, the museum will provide an opportunity for visitors to create simple, Asian-inspired lanterns to carry in the lantern procession. Handmade lanterns constructed by Womens Council volunteers will be for sale. Proceeds benefit the Winter Lights Lantern Festival and the Department of Community Arts.
CircleFest events at CMA include:
+Lantern Making Workshops from 2 – 4:30 p.m. Asian-inspired lanterns. Make a simple lantern to carry in the procession.
+Wanna Be in Pictures? – Use technology to picture yourself in CMA works of art from 1 – 3 p.m.
+Tours of CMA’s 1916 and East Wing at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
+God's Trombones - Enjoy an excerpt from Karamu Theatre’s production at 1:15 and and hear a gallery talk on Aaron Douglas' painting at 1:45 p.m.
+Musical performances by The Townsmen Orchestra and Motivation through Excellence
+View lantern displays inside the museum and visit the Environment of Lights artist installation on Wade Oval, featuring illuminated sculptures
+Browse early American, European and contemporary art in the 1916 and East Wing galleries. FREE.
+Tour Gauguin: Paris, 1889. Admission charge. Exhibition Tour 2:30 p.m.
+Enjoy the breathtaking Winter Lights Lantern Festival procession on Wade Oval, led by illuminated dancers, giant puppets, and guest artists with lit lanterns beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Shopping and Refreshments
Unique gifts will be available for purchase in the Museum Store, including items inspired by the museum’s current exhibition Gauguin: Paris, 1889. The store offers a selection of fine French soaps, linens and Quimper Pottery. Visitors are invited to enjoy seasonal refreshments in the Museum Café.
The Winter Lights Lantern Festival is sponsored by Medical Mutual of Ohio, a CMA Community Arts Partner. The Cleveland Museum of Art is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Holiday CircleFest is presented by University Circle Inc. For more information about Holiday CircleFest, visit www.universitycircle.org. For more information of the Winter Lights Lantern Festival and CMA Holiday CircleFest, visit www.clevelandart.org/lantern.
About The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of America’s leading comprehensive museums with a collection that spans 6,000 years of creative achievement in the arts and is world-renowned for its quality and breadth. Currently undergoing a multi-year expansion project that will re-imagine the museum, it is a significant international forum for exhibitions, performance, scholarship and art education.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has a membership of nearly 25,000 households and is generously supported by a broad range of individuals, foundations, and businesses in Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio. The Cleveland Museum of Art is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Additional support comes from the Ohio Arts Council, which funds CMA with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. For more information on the museum, its holdings, programs, and events, call 1-888-CMA-0033 or visit www.ClevelandArt.org.
###
***Images are available upon request
Download News Release (pdf file)