9-02-2009

The Fred Jones Jr.Museum of Art’s Art After Hours program, which offers the community an in-depth look at a specific area of the museum’s collections, will be sponsored by Arvest Bank for 2009-2010. Arvest’s support will enable the museum to expand its outreach through additional promotions and bring guest speakers to campus to provide an enriched learning experience.

“We are grateful for Arvest Bank’s support of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and its community outreach,” said FJJMA Director Ghislain d’Humieres.  “The generosity of Arvest Bank will ensure the continuation of Art After Hours and allow us to further our mission of enriching the cultural life of our community.”

The Art After Hours program, held at 6 p.m. onFriday once a month, features 45-minute talks by museum curators about works in the museum’s permanent and temporary exhibitions.  Upcoming topics include discussions on artists Armand Guillaumin on Sept. 25,Odilon Redon on Oct. 30, and Pierre Bonnard on Nov. 20.

“We at Arvest Bank are strong supporters of education and we believe a solid,well-rounded education is extremely important for the futures of our children and our communities. We are pleased to support the university and to help encourage everyone, especially students, to appreciate the importance of art in our lives,” said Becky Franklin, executive vice president and sales manager, Arvest Bank, central Oklahoma.

Along with Art After Hours, the museum is seeking community support for four other arts-enrichment programs designed to provide a stimulating environment for the larger community. The goal of these free outreach and community projects is to enrich the quality of education for children, students of all ages and adults,and also help foster an appreciation of the arts for future generations of students and local residents.

Programs include:

    * Family Days, hosted six times a year on Sunday afternoons, during which families are admitted free to tour the galleries using an interactive family guide and then enjoy a variety of art activities for the entire family.

    * Art “a la CART,” a partnership FJJMA began with the Norman Arts Council’s new Second Friday Circuit of Art, a monthly Cleveland Area Rapid Transit (CART) route that connects the Norman downtown and campus area art galleries and performance venues.  FJJMA has become a favorite stop for participants, often drawing 200 visitors for hands-on art activities,live music by local musicians and short independent films from the deadCENTER Film Festival.

    * Art Adventures, a program to foster art appreciation in preschool children through weekly programs for 3- to 5-year-olds and their parents,grandparents and caregivers.  Activities revolve around art appreciation books written for preschoolers and related art projects.

    * Sooner Museum Quest, a partnership between the FJJMA and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History to bring underserved audiences to the two museums in June.  The program, which will return with eight days in the summer of 2010, focused on young people and senior citizens who have little opportunity to visit a museum and, in the case of many of the children, have never been to a museum of any kind.


For more information on Art After Hours and other educational programming, log on to the museum’s Web site at www.ou.edu/fjjma or call (405) 325-3272.  For information on sponsoring one of the museum’s programs, contact (405) 325-8528.