Georgia on your kid’s mind
When is Georgia only 60 miles from
Rochester? When her paintings are on exhibit at Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art
Gallery. Georgia O’Keeffe and New Mexico: A Sense of Placeruns through
May 8.
O’Keeffe’s landscapes hang next to
photographs of the scenes, which makes this exhibit very accessible. Rather
than copy desert views, O’Keeffe emphasized some details and deleted others.
What kid can’t relate to selective memory?
Straddling the line between realism
and abstract art, O’Keeffe’s style appeals to kids. It’s colorful, it’s
recognizable, and as with the Cracker Jack boxes of our youth, there’s a prize
inside each painting.
Sometimes the prize is a face hidden
on a canyon wall. But the best prize is an understanding of symbolism. Animal
bones aren’t necessarily sad. Bones can be beautiful because they show life
endures against all odds. It’s time kids realized Disney didn’t invent the
circle of life.
Organized by the O’Keeffe Museum in
Santa Fe, this exhibit is free for kids 13 and under, $10 for adults (includes
gallery admission). Audio wands, with tour options for kids and adults, are $5.
My kids loved the wands so much, they didn’t even try to use them as weapons.
The Albright-Knox, an outstanding
center of modern art, offers free admission on Fridays from 3 to 10 p.m. Fees
apply to the O’Keeffe exhibit. Family activities are planned one Friday evening
per month. Visit February 11 for a percussion workshop, dance party, and
cross-cultural puppet theater. For details, visit www.albrightknox.org or call
716-882-8700.
— Linda Kostin
(www.junkstorecowgirl.com)
This
week for families:
Annie Fri-Sun through Feb 5. Webster
Theatre Guild, Webster Thomas High School, 800 Five Mile Line Rd, Webster,
Fri-Sat 7:30 p.m., Sun 1:30 p.m. $14, $10 kids. 671-1781,
www.webstertheatreguild.org
Beauty and the Beast Thurs-Sun
through Feb 6. Junior Repertory Company, RAPA School of Performing Arts, 727 E
Main St, Thurs-Sat 7 p.m., Sat-Sun 2 p.m. $12. 325-3366
Brighton
Memorial Library Stories for pre-K: Mondays 10 a.m.; for toddlers: Mondays
10:30 a.m.; for families: Thursdays 7 p.m. | Through Feb 25: Alice B. Wilson
Literary Awards Contest, for Brighton residents grades 6-12. | 2300 Elmwood
Ave, 784-5300
Down
in the Valley, Two by Two Wed, Feb 2. Storytelling and singing, David
Anderson, Sankofa with Akwaaba, Wheatley Library, 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way,
3:45-4:30 p.m. 428-8212
From
Herzl to Homeland: A Family Extravaganza Sun, Feb 6. JCC, 1200 Edgewood
Ave, 1-4 p.m. Free. 461-0490, www.jewishrochester.org
Helmer
Nature Center Wed, Feb 2, what’s a whistle pig?, Helmer Nature Center, 154
Pinegrove Ave, 3:30-5 p.m. | Sat, Feb 5, team trivia, for adults, W Irondequoit
High School, 7-10 p.m. $8. | 336-3035
Henrietta
Public Library Stories for preschoolers: Wed, Feb 2 and 9, and Tues, Feb 8,
10:15-10:45 a.m. | Sun, Feb 6, Mardi Gras, music, games, 1-4 p.m. | Stories for
toddlers: Tues, Feb 8, 10:15-10:45 a.m. | Stories for families: Mon, Feb 7,
7-7:30 p.m. | 455 Calkins Rd. 359-7092, www.hpl.org
Interrupting VanessaSat-Sun, Feb
8-20. Big Theatre for Little People, recommended ages 5-12, Geva Theatre, 75
Woodbury Blvd, Sat 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Sun 1 and 4 p.m. $9-$12. 232-4382,
www.gevatheatre.org
Karate
Lessons City of Rochester Recreation Centers, ages 8-17. $5.Starting Wed, Feb 2: #42 School, 3330
Lake Ave, 3:30-4:30 p.m. (428-7829) | Starting Tues, Feb 8: Adams St. Rec
Center, 85 Adams St, 4-5 p.m. (428-7266) and Webster Ave Community Center, 530
Webster Ave, 4-5 p.m. (428-7828)
Musical
Feast: A Midwinter Carnival Sat, Feb 5. Intro to the sounds of the
orchestra, instrument petting zoo, kids’ games and activities, Hochstein
School, 50 N Plymouth Ave, 2-4 p.m. $5, $10 families. 454-4596
Paper
Stories and Crafts Sat, Feb 5. Arnett Branch Library, 310 Arnett Blvd, 2
p.m. Free. 428-8268
Rochester
Museum and Science Center 657 East Ave. Surprise!
It’s Science, through May 2005 | Rochester’s
Frederick Douglass, through January 2006 | Live Science! demos and theater, Sat 2, 3 (sign-interpreted), 4
p.m.; Sun 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 p.m. | Ongoing exhibits include: AdventureZone, Carlson Inquiry Room, At the
Western Door | Hours: Mon-Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m. Tix: $5-$7.
271-1880, www.rmsc.org
Seneca
Park Zoo 2222 St Paul St. Wednesdays, book and beast, 11 a.m. Hours: daily
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tix: $5, $4 seniors, $2 kids. 467-9453, www.senecazoo.org
Strong
Museum 1 Manhattan Square. Wed, Feb 2, Wednesdays for Tots, 9:30 a.m. $7,
$5 kids. | Tues, Feb 8, Tuesdays for Tots, 9:30 a.m. $7, $5 kids. | Adventures with Clifford the Big Red Dog,
through May 1. | Long-term exhibits include National
Toy Hall of Fame, Can You Tell Me How
To Get To Sesame Street? and Super
Kids Market. Hours: Mon-Thurs 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat 10
a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m. Tix: $7; $6 seniors, students; $5 children. 263-2700
Swimming
Lessons Saturdays through Mar 21. Ages 7-13, various recreation centers and
schools. Free. 241-4443
Wednesdays
For Tots Wed, Feb 2. Songs with Bart and Kevin, Strong Museum, 1 Manhattan
Sq, 9:30 a.m. $7, $5 kids. 263-2700
Gadgets and school: value-addled
technology?
My fourth grade teacher ruled her
classroom with an iron fist. We all knew the rules: If we had anything other
than a textbook, a No. 2 pencil, and a composition book on our desk, it would
be taken away. Her desk drawer was filled with Garbagepail Kids trading cards,
squirt guns, peashooters, packs of Juicy Fruit gum, and other contraband seized
from hapless students. If you were lucky, you might get your treasure back at
the end of the school year.
Districts are now wrestling with
issues of a generation of high-tech
gizmos. What today’s student is allowed to bring to school varies, and many
parents and teachers wish there were clearer guidelines. Just about any
high-tech tool can be turned into a toy that can interfere with classroom
decorum. A cell phone that serves as a parent’s link to a child can also stream
video, play MP3s, send and receive text messages and email, browse the web, and
take digital pictures. The phone then becomes more of a distraction than an
aid, especially when the polyphonic ringtone sounds during class.
A PDA (personal digital assistant)
used for scheduling can become a portable media player when you add a memory chip
and a pair of headphones. Handheld gaming devices may help students pass the
time on long bus rides, but impede socialization skills that students need to
develop. Children spend less time interacting with their peers and are “jacking
in” to their gizmos more often.
So, how many high-tech toys are
headed for storage in the teacher’s “June Box?” Apparently, not that many; as
long as gizmos stay in the backpack, they’re safe. The number one item? Trading
cards… some things never change.
— Stan Merrell
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2005.
