On a windy early Fall day recently, Miss Hannah & I enjoyed a little excursion to view the open air exhibit of Niki de Saint Phalle’s sculptures on display at The Green (the whimsical little park across the street from the Mint and Bechtler museums in Uptown Charlotte). Read more about the exhibit here. If you’re not familiar with Niki de Saint Phalle, she is the artist who created The Firebird ~ the giant mirrored sculpture outside the Bechtler Museum in Charlotte.
We had recently completed a Niki-inspired papier mache project in our 9-14 yr. old classes, where the kids made oversized nana’s (as Niki called them). We were impressed by the detail of the mosaic tile work of her sculptures ~ it reminded me of the Antoni Gaudi sculptures that I loved in Barcelona.
Since there were only a few people in the park in the middle of a busy workday, we took the opportunity to act like four year olds so we could fully experience the interactive nature of the sculptures! We ended the afternoon on the patio of the Mint, sipping cappuccinos at Halycon. ~ A perfect day!
“The Firebird” ~ Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
The Mint Museum (adjacent to The Bechtler)
Some examples of the large papier mache Niki-inspired nana’s that our 9-14 yr. old classes created:
