The Children’s Art Festival, an event within Springville’s annual week-long Art City Days, welcomed children to create their own works of art outside of the Springville Museum of Art on Friday, June 7.
Children and parents within the community worked with pipe cleaners, watercolors, marbles, ribbons and more at booths hosted by various Utah Valley organizations, making bracelets, paintings and crowns.
Emily Larsen, the director of the Springville Museum of Art, said the Children’s Art Festival is a family tradition and a great way to let children make art.
“One of our main goals as a museum is to be a community center, to be a place where our community comes together,” Larsen said. “The Children’s Art Festival is one of the great examples of that where, you see, we have thousands of kids here all making art on the museum grounds.”
Gina Woolf, the event coordinator for the Springville Museum of Art, said the Children’s Art Festival offers storytelling and exhibitions for children.
“We want to have everybody in the community be able to come and do art activities,” Woolf said regarding the Children’s Art Festival. “Do art outside, (then) go inside and experience art.”
Woolf said Art City Days is a community celebration with booths, a parade and the Children’s Art Festival. Visitors can also participate in a color run, carnival, outdoor movie, celebration of Latino culture, rodeo, balloon fest, car show, tournaments, concerts and more, according to Springville.org.
“For Art City Days, it’s just for the whole community,” Woolf said. “For Springville to celebrate Springville.”
The event invited the BYU Museum of Art to host a booth titled “Fancy Frames.” Hanna Mosher from the BYU Museum of Art said this booth allowed children to choose a postcard of a work of art and decorate a frame for that postcard.
“It’s something we do at the museum as well,” Mosher said. “We’re just here because we love art and we love just bringing joy.”
More children’s art projects and activities at the Springville Museum of Art will be available every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning on June 20 until Aug. 1. These projects are intended for children ages 2 to 12 but will be open to anyone of all ages.
Further information about events at the Springville Museum of Art can be found at smofa.org.
