As a traveling mom, it’s always key for me to incorporate a few ingredients into our family trips: adventure, education, history, culture and solid bonding experiences. A recent trip to England took us to the northern city of York, located in the heart of Yorkshire, England and incorporated all of these elements. Known as one of England’s most historic cities, the experience provided two days of looking up and gazing at medieval architecture, walking down winding cobble streets, learning about its diverse and sometimes troublesome history and wandering into shops and restaurants.

We were relieved that the city was so cut out for family travel, offering an abundance of activity for all of us. It made it fun for our kids to become junior photographers, as they snapped away at the beauty of York. Within its ancient, encircling walls, York’s medieval street and buildings are beautifully preserved. Much of the city is traffic-free, making it easy to walk everywhere on foot. Every which way you look, there is something historical and important to see.

If you’re headed to York, here’s an easy list of what to do, where to stay and where to eat in York, with the kids in tow.

• Stay at the Hampton by  Hilton, a cozy, inexpensive hotel that’s just a five minute walk away from all the major sites. Rates come with hot breakfast, free Wifi and kids will be comfortable, most importantly.

• We had so many food options and ended up for sushi at at Yo! Sushi, lunch at the York Castle, Akbars for amazing Pakistani food, chocolate filled lunch at the Cocoa House.

• Walk the city walls, the longest in England, exploring York’s medieval walls. You can circle the city in two hours. Kids will love running up and down, through the mysterious walls.

• Venture into the Yorkshire Museum to learn the history of York.

• Pop into York Minster, the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe and gawk, along with your kids, at its medieval stained glass or roam through the tunnels underground and witness its Roman, Saxon and Norman history.

• Climb the steps at Clifford’s Tower for tremendous views of the city and pay tribute to the Jewish population that was wiped out several thousand years ago in 1190.

• Go Back in time at the York Castle Museum, the ultimate way to truly teach your kids the history of York and show them what life was like back in Victorian and Roman times.

• If your kids are chocolate lovers, take a tour of the Chocolate Story and learn the tale of York’s extensive love for the sweet. York has a long history of chocolate making from Nestle (formerly Rowntrees) to Terry’s (now owned by Kraft).

• Take a stroll down the Shambles, known as the oldest shopping street in Europe.

• Witness the only Japanese bullet train outside of Japan at the National Railway Museum, known as the largest in the world and a treat to kids of all ages.

• York was the trading hub of the Viking world, and kids can learn all about that time period at Jorvik, an attraction based on a real archaeological dig.

• York has more ghosts than any other European city. If your kids can handle a walking tour in the evening, take a guided walk to learn tales of the supernatural. Many pubs are meant to be haunted, too, such as the Black Swan and the Golden Fleece.

• If you’re headed to York for more than a day, think about purchasing the York Pass, a ticket that provides entry to all of the attractions mentioned above (30 total), as well as providing discounts on tours, restaurants and shopping. You can buy one for 1, 2 or 3 days and it will save you a lot of money. We found it really, really useful and a huge help as it came with a handy booklet and maps on what to do and where to go.

Disclosure: I was provided with a York Pass by the folks at Visit York to facilitate this review and others but all opinions are my own, as always.

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Elisa Contemporary Art presents My Hero, a new art exhibit focusing on Superheroes in today’s contemporary art. The exhibit runs though March 31st, 2012 and the gallery will be offering workshops to introduce the work to children later this month and in March.

From the days of Greek and Roman Gods and Goddess through today’s X-Men, Dynamic Duos, Fantastic Four and many others, we are captivated by the Superhero (male and female).  Is it their superhuman strength and power?   Or their seeming selflessness to put the greater needs of others ahead of their own wants and desires?  Or the fact that they may embody and magnify a single aspect of the human potential in each of us?  They captivate, engage and inspire us in print, on the big screen, under the Broadway lights… and now in Contemporary Art.

In the latest Elisa Contemporary Art exhibit, you will see see the influences of Pop Art from the 1960’s and explore how five contemporary artists bring modern heroes to life in a whole new way.  You’ll see Superheroes including Superman, Wonder Woman and Captain America and meet some new characters.

The gallery is offering a few upcoming events that appeal to families.

Two Art Workshops for Children (age 5+).  Each workshop will be led and inspired by the work of one artist.

• Saturday, February 25^th from 1-3pm Super hero Collage paintings with Oliver Peterson  (ages 5+).
• Sunday March 25^th from 1-3pm.  Super hero in action illustrations with Jerome Walford (ages 8+).

RSVP Required.  Limited Space.

The gallery is located at 5622 Mosholu Avenue (near 256^th Street), Riverdale NY 10471.  For more information, visit the website at www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com.

Disclosure: I was not compensated to feature this information.

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This event is free with Museum admission.  Adults are asked to accompany their children.  For further information, the public may call 212.423.3337 or visit the Museum’s website.  The museum is located at 1109 5th Ave at 92nd Street.

The Maira + Matisse Family Day is made possible by New York City Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick.

MAIRA + MATISEE FAMILY DAY SCHEDULE

12:30 pm and 2 pm

CONCERTS: BASH THE TRASH

Maira Kalman’s love of music and the beauty and potential of everyday objects will be celebrated in these performances. Found objects will be used to create music in the spirit of performances by Kalman and composer Nico Muhly that used such items as egg beaters and teacups.

Bash the Trash Environmental Arts combines music and environmental awareness through performances, educational programs and social initiatives.  Whether performing with musical instruments built from trash, building artworks from found objects or consulting on environmental arts education, BTT always focuses on how the arts and science work together.  Bash the Trash currently reaches about 50,000 students, teachers and adults per year through performances, workshops, festivals, professional development sessions and other events.

12:00 noon to 4:00 pm

DROP-IN ART WORKSHOP: COLLECTED WONDER BOXES

Families can design and personalize colorful collage boxes inspired by the works of Maira Kalman and Henri Matisse.

1:00 to 3:00 pm

DROP-IN ART MAKING STATION: PAINTED WORLDS

Families can paint colorful miniature scenes with watercolor soluble crayons, using vivid color to depict a favorite room or place.

All day

SELF-GUIDED FAMILY TOURS

A specialized gallery hunt will highlight the way Henri Matisse inspired and is featured in Maira Kalman’s work.  Gallery guides will also be available for exploring Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) as a whole.

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Symphony Space kicked off the session with the writer, Amy Wilson, the creator of the one-woman show, Mother Load.   She also just wrote a book that is right up my alley called When Did I Get Like This, a book I can already tell I’m going to adore and will be reviewing here on this blog.  She talked about how we start out with an idealized notion of what kind of parent we want to be (My thoughts: yes, me, me!).  As parents, we over think (me again, how did you know?).  She said that in NYC, we live in a do more/have more atmosphere and fall short (yes, I feel that way in Westchester!).  I could relate to Amy in more ways than one, and admittedly, when she spoke about her weekends with the kids at Symphony Space, I felt that perhaps I had missed out on bringing my kids up in the city.  They would have made great city babes, but we moved to Westchester when my oldest was in utero.

Nonetheless, I know that I am lucky to live a short drive away from the city, and the theater, and I was eager to hear Madeline Cohen, the Education Director, speak the about the theater’s offerings.  They offer family programming that includes concerts, theater and culturally diverse performances every Saturday.  Upcoming performers include Justin Roberts, Rocknoceros, Suni Paz with Elizabeth Mitchell, Thunderbird Dancers and Sugar Free Allstars.  They also offer the Curriculum Project which integrates the arts with public school curricula, giving thousands of students insight into the social studies curriculum through interaction with the arts and artists.  She talked about the Thalia Kid’s Bookclub which features in-depth conversations with authors, a reading from the book, a writing activity and a book signing.  Upcoming authors include Laurie Halse Anderson, Lincoln Peirce and John Flanagan.  They also offer a Global Arts Camp which invites kids aged 8 to 12 a chance to learn about culture via artist presentations and hands-on activities during spring break and summer sessions.  It all sounds like an incredible way to introduce and immerse a child into the arts world, but in a really fun, easy way.  I also spoke to Ms. Cohen about Theater Education and will be writing an article about what I learned in a future post right here, as well as about my own efforts to obtain support to promote theater education in my own elementary school.

Then Darren Critz, their Programming Director, gave us the inside scoop on live kid’s events: music, theater and dance.  He’s in the middle of planning next year’s events, and has already lined up Billy Jonas, Aga-boom, Elizabeth Mitchell (she is so awesome, they have her every year), Gustafer Yellowgold (with a full orcestra), Justin Roberts and more.  Then he introduced Andrew Nemr, professional tap dancer who proceeded to perform for us.  It was an intimate, classic performance so that we could all experience the magic of Symphony Space.

Lastly, we were taken on a tour of Symphony Space, an art deco  theater built in 1915 by Vincent Astor.  Built as a market to promote good food, it later became an ice-skating rink and later a movie theater.  In 1978, a group of local musicians put on a special performance which paved the way for the new and improved theater.  That particular show was a 12-hour marathon Wall to Wall concert which they’ve continued to keep up today.  From Gerhwin to Sondheim to Miles Davis, they salute a different artist or type of music every year.  This year they are honoring Latin culture.  The Thalia is an old film house.  As I remember it from my first, formative years living in NYC, a foreign film house that I saw Woody Allen and Diane Keaton enter in my favorite movie “Annie Hall”.  Back then, it was a dump.  Since then, it’s been renovated and is now state-of-the-art.  It features films, kid’s shows, recitals and readings.  While we were there, a musical playgroup was coming out.

Symphony Space is truly a theater a that takes kids seriously.

Disclosure: I was not compensated by Symphony Space for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

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1. Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre (started February 28th)

Based on the 1994 movie, this musical centers on three friends—two drag queens and a transsexual—who hop aboard a battered lavender bus named Priscilla and take their show to the middle of the Australian outback.  It’s playing through Sunday, December 18th, 2011.  Priscilla Queen of the Desert had its world premiere in Sydney in 2006 and has gone on to become the most successful Australian musical of all time. Tickets cost $50-125.

2. Admission Discounts: Museum Discovery Pass 2011 (Tuesday, March 1st – May 31st)

Receive two-for-one admission at eight great NYC museums. The wallet-sized pass can be printed from each museum’s Web site and is also available at NYC & Company’s Official NYC Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets.  The museums include: American Folk Art Museum, Asia Society and Museum, International Center of Photography, Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of Chinese in America, Noguchi Museum and the Rubin Museum of Art.

3.  SciCafe: The Cultural Origins of Medicinal Plants at the American Museum of Natural History (Wednesday, March 2nd)

During her talk, Dr. Ina Vandebroek leads an ethnobotanical tour from the Bolivian Amazon to New York City as she traces the importance of medicinal plants in primary healthcare among indigenous peoples and immigrant communities. Taking place on the first Wednesday of every month, the free, after-hours SciCafe features music, drinks and thought-provoking conversation. Free admission, 7pm.

4. Cultural Diplomacy from SoHo to Harlem (April 25-May 1)

Joint ventures between organizations as diverse as the Studio Museum of Harlem and the Goethe-Institut New York create opportunities to view the arts and culture from unusual—and foreign—perspectives. The Pen American Center partners with New York consulates, culture centers and even the High Line to mount this year’s annual World Voices Festival of International Literature, featuring 100 writers from 40 nations. Chaired by Salmon Rushie, the Pen festival has always advocated freedom of the press and pen, and is particularly relevant during this year of popular uprising in the Middle East.

5. The Orchid Show: On Broadway (March 5th-April 25th)

Broadway stretches north to the lush tropical galleries of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory in this display by Tony Award-winning set designer Scott Pask, image-maker Drew Hodges and New York Botanical Garden curators. The Orchid Show features thousands of orchids arranged to re-create iconic architectural elements from legendary Broadway theaters. NYC Arts is giving away two tickets – go here to enter.

Disclosure: This information was provided by and can be found on the NYCArts web site, one of The Culture Mom’s partners. They publish information on the arts and cultural events in New York City as well as studies highlighting the importance of the arts to the economy and to education.  Join their Facebook page for their updates.

www.NYC-ARTS.org

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When I walked in, there were adults sitting on giant bean bags in front of a huge video screen.  I got comfy and found out the details for the day.    First we learned the basics about the museum’s new structure (pictured on right).  We found out that the new wing of the museum features solar panels, a “green” roof, a wind turbine and recycled materials were used during construction.  This focus on conservation, reusable materials and energy-themed education extends throughout the museum’s exhibits and programming.

We wondered through the museum’s exhibits including Build It!, Healthyville and Rainforest Adventure, as well as the exciting new exhibit Energy Lab,  a futuristic, wet and windy environment that will inspire children to explore and invent while learning about the science of energy and energy sources.   My son will surely never leave this area as he has a fascination with how things work.  The museum will now also feature the  Multimedia Gallery designed to help prepare children for a changing world.   

I have vivid memories of taking my own kids when they were much younger to Tot Town, so I was happy to see that it has been renovated and inspired by the latest research in early childhood development and play and designed to promote literacy for little learners. 

Here I am with my small group that I toured the museum with, all of who’s company I enjoyed thoroughly: Laura Giammattei from WEBE, Kathryn Kavicky at Stepping Stones and Mindi Miller at Westchester Family Magazine.  We were “kids for a day” together and it was fun..until I had to leave to go to work, anyway.  I’m looking forward to bringing my own kids back to the museum soon.

Stepping Stones will open its doors to the public Saturday, November 20 at 10 am. With the newly renovated museum comes new opening days as Stepping Stones will be open 7 days a week from 10 am-5 pm.

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Some interesting facts about the Center for Puppetry Arts before launching into what we saw and learned on the tour:

*It is the largest non-profit organization in the U.S. dedicated to puppetry.
*It teaches more than 500K people annually through its live performances.
*It is the headquarters of UNIMA-USA, the American branch of the international organization Union Internationale de la Marionette, the world’s oldest theater organization.
*It was chosen by MSN.com as one of the top 10 children’s museums in the country.
*It was picked as one of the top 25 experiences every Atlantan should have by Atlanta Magazine.
*It has educated more than 130K students and teachers through Distance Learning, an innovative teaching tool offered by a two-way interactive video conferencing network.
*It provides over 40K and 140K greatly discounted tickets annually to underserved audiences.

To sum it up, it’s an amazing place.

The Center was founded in 1978, when Kermit the Frog, accompanied by his creator, Jim Henson, cut the ribbon to officially open the Center (there’s a video in the museum to mark the ceremony’s significance0).  Founded by Vincent Anthony, it’s mission is to entertain and enlighten audiences.  Housed in a three-story building on Spring Street, the center is, indeed, magical.  When my children walked in, they were instantly intrigued and ready to roam the exhibits.  Underwood explained that historically, the center serves 3 functions: as a theater, as a museum and as an educational center.  First, we explored the museum.

The museum includes 2,000 objects from all over the world.  We saw all types of puppets in this exhibit from wooden to fabric to animatronic (remote control).  We went into a storage room and learned about string puppets, hand & glove puppets, shadow puppets and body puppets.  We saw old puppets, as well as more contemporary puppets.  Underwood explained that “anything can become a puppet in the right hands.”  He defined a puppet as any inanimate object that’s brought to life through human and mechanical means.” The kids loved activating “Trash Phoenix,” an animated figure that unfolds two “wings” from a heap of scrap metal and flashed red and white lights. They also enjoyed operating a large praying mantis with levers that made the creature disappear.

In the exhibit titled “Global World of Puppetry,” we saw puppets with intricate designs from Asia and India where puppets are sometimes used for sacred ceremonies.  We saw original versions of Punch & Judy.  We also learned how puppets are manipulated and sometimes take up to 3 persons to execute a puppet’s movements.  In addition, we learned that it can sometimes take puppeteers up to 30 years to learn to manipulate a puppet.  There are also original puppets on display from the first film ever to use puppets, Jim Henson’s The Dark Knight.

Henson is clearly a star that shines bright in this museum.  There are three fascinating exhibits that focus on his puppetry matery:

1. “Wonders from His Work Shop” features Big Bird, Fraggle Rock, his work with George Lucas and his use of technology in modern films and in PBS’ “Sid the Science Kid,”

2. “Jim Henson: A Man and His Frog” about Kermit’s humble beginnings in a 1950s show Sam and Friends

3. “Jim Henson: Puppeteer” – The exhibit features many puppets that Jim performed and created including Ernie, Rowlf the Dog, the La Choy Dragon, Dr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef, Bugsy Them and others. In addition to these puppets the exhibit features personal archival photographs, seldom seen designs and doodles, sketches, quotes and a behind-the-scenes video.

The museum really does a terrific job of celebrating Henson’s legacy.  I absolutely loved introducing my kids to the Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth and all my favorite muppets from the series and films.  Underwood said that Henson was making shows primarily for adults.  This being said, I’m a big kid at heart and appreciate everything that he did for the puppetry world.  His vision shaped this museum, and I’m sure it shaped the history of the industry.

Cameras were not allowed in the Henson exhibit.  My children were pretty tuned in during the entire tour.  We didn’t get to see the current production, “Rumpelstiltskin” as we came off-season when all of Atlanta is back in school. It plays until September 12th on weekends.  After that, they will be showing “Wake Up Your Weird,” “Charlotte’s Web,”  “The Nightingale,” and “Rudolph and the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the timeless tale of Rudolph and his “misfit” friends.  The Center also offers programming for teens and adults, including puppet shows, workshops and films.   They offer Create-a-Puppet workshops, preschool workshops, shadow puppet invention workshops, as well as distance learning for pre-K to 12th grade.

You can order tickets online at www.puppet.org or by calling the ticket sales office at 404.873.3391.

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I really got a kick out of introducing Dali’s work to my two young children, ages 5 and 7.  I can honestly tell you that they really concentrated on Dali’s work.  It was a combination of the colors he used, various images they could point out in the paintings and the immense amount of detail and humor to discuss in each one.  His famous icons included melting watches, double images and everyday objects set in odd contexts  I’d like to think that the experience will encourage my children to view the world differently moving forward.  My seven year-old daughter left the exhibit proclaiming her new found profession that she wants to undertake as an adult: ARTIST.  The exhibit must have had an effect on her.  As for my five year-old son, he stopped at each painting for several minutes with my husband to discuss the detail.  He has never paid so much attention in a museum in his life.

The exhibit explores Dali’s legacy.  It features 40 paintings, drawings, videos and other Dali works.  This exhibit is actually the first major exhibition devoted exclusively to his later career, and some of the paintings (“Assumpta Corpuscularia Lapislazulina.” “Christ of St. John of the Cross,” “Santiago El Grande”) haven’t been publicly displayed since the late 1950s.  For example, “Assumpta  Corpuscularia Lapislazulina” is a large painting that features Dali’s wife, Gala, as the Virgin Mary dematerializing into Heaven and hasn’t been on view since 1959.   The exhibit explores his adventures into Catholicism, his concept of “nuclear mysticism,” his fascination with optical effects, his relationship with his wife,  and his parlay into Hollywood (remember Hitchcock’s dazzling dream sequence in “Spellbound” and a movie that took 40 years to complete, “Destiono”?) and pop culture (particularly his relationships with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Williem de Kooning).

It all starts out with a history of Dali’s signature mustache. It played a central role in his success and the exhibit has a chart of its evolution from a thin to thick.  It seemed to get thicker as he got more successful and he treated it in jest.  It was really part of his burgeoning art enterprise.  Then the exhibit launches into a series of incredible photographs for Dali taken by photographer Phillippe Halsman.  One of my favorite of these photos is on the left, Dali Atomicus. The photographs are an intimate look into the life and career of Salvador Dali, and they are wacky and wonderful).

Then the exhibit moves into some earlier works to give visitors some background, such as “Femme Couchée” as well as those most associated with the Surrealist movement, including “Morphological Echo” and “Transparent Simulacrum of the Feigned Image.”  From there, the exhibit progresses to Dali’s exploration of “nuclear mysticism,” which reflects two recurring influences on Dali’s late work — his return to the Catholic Church and nuclear physics.  “The Madonna of Port-Lligat”” and “Santiago El Grande” illustrate this concept.

The final section of the exhibition centers on Dali’s pop art period.  It features portraits of American high society figures, films, holograms you view with 3-D glasses, jewelry, magazine covers and even a chess set in which the pieces are molds of his fingers.  I really enjoyed reading and hearing about Dali’s profound effects on Hitchcock, Warhol, amongst many other famous figures.  Seeing the dream sequence that he created for Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” again definitely left a mark on my mind.  I went through a Hitchcock-obsessed period as a teenager and loved seeing the scene again, with quotes by Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck about the master himself written on the walls.

Before we left, the kids paid a visit to the Greene Family Learning Center.  They happily played in a spacious room divided into the following sections: Building Buildings, Making a Mark, Telling Stories, Sculpting Spaces, and Transforming Treasure.   The museum has an abundance of activity for kids listed on their web site.

Dalí: The Late Work remains on view at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta through January 9.  Ticket information is posted here.

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My kids were raised on Music For Aardvarks, a hip music class that originated in Brooklyn and found its way to the suburbs of Westchester.  How grateful was I to find myself singing songs about taxi rides, walk-ups, in-laws, copycat kids and all aspects of NYC life.

Beginning September 14, The Jewish Museum presents Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals, a weekly music class for toddlers on ten Tuesdays through November 16.   This class is being taught by Mike Messer, lead singer of the Dirty Sock Funtime Band.  Two sessions are offered, the first from 10:00 to 10:45 am, and the second from to 11:00 to 11:45 am.  Toddlers ages 6 months to 4 years and their parents will enjoy singing, dancing and jumping in this interactive program with musical instruments, props, bubbles, parachutes and other surprises.  They will learn songs celebrating the lives of kids in the city, as well as more traditional and universal themes.  A stimulating and fertile musical environment, positive role models, and gentle guidance and encouragement provide an enriching and vital experience.  The classes help young children gain a sense of themselves and a connection to the world they live in. A free trial class will be offered on Tuesday, August 24 at 10 am.   To reserve a space, parents may call 212.423.3289.

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art is now hosting the first major U.S. exhibition of Picasso’s works in a long time – 300 pieces, which includes paintings, photographs, drawings and excellent videos that explain his artistic techniques.  If you are not familiar with his art, you will be after a visit to the this comprehensive, educational exhibit.

The Met has curated all of his paintings, drawings, sculptures from the beginning to end of Picasso’s mind-blowing career.  His career had various periods in his artistic endeavors: the Blue Period, the Rose Period, Cubism, classicism and surrealism and the works displayed speak to each one. The exhibit runs from early masterpieces like “Gertrude Stein” to mid-size portraits like “Head of a Woman.”  It’s a real look into his life and career and a lesson in curation.

Picasso was an amazing artist who’s works changed the face of the art world.  Go see it while you can.  Your kids will enjoy it, too.  It closes in two weeks.  Suggested admission is $20 a person.

Here are some of the pieces of art you will see:

Dora Maar in an Armchair 1939

Seated Harlequin 1901

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