The Ohara Museum of Art is temporarily closed until around mid-August 2020.
Although visitors cannot view the works inside the museum, it is offering “Art at Home,” a program that lets people enjoy art and museums from home.
You can use an egg carton to create sparkling, colorful, mysterious patterns, or imagine what dogs were like in the past as you color in a picture of a dog statue made about 1,800 years ago.
Once you start working with your hands, you’ll soon be completely absorbed!
Why not put your artistic skills to work at home and turn your inspiration into something tangible?
Photography is normally prohibited inside the Ohara Museum of Art. Special permission was granted to take the interior photos in this article.
The information presented was current when this article was published in June 2020. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is Art at Home?
“Art at Home” is a hands-on art appreciation program offered by the Ohara Museum of Art.
For many years, the Ohara Museum of Art has continued its efforts to be a museum that everyone can enjoy, from young children to adults.
As of June 2020, it is temporarily closed from Saturday, April 11, 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Children’s Art Museum, commonly known as “Chirumyu,” which is held every August, has also been canceled for 2020.
In response, the Ohara Museum of Art is offering “Art at Home,” a program that people can join through its website and that helps develop thinking, imagination, and self-expression in an enjoyable way from home.
The program has two main parts:
- “Art at Home creation-assistance videos,” which show how to do popular past workshops at home
- “Coloring Lab,” coloring pages based on works in the museum’s collection
These activities can also be enjoyed in remote areas and hospital classrooms.
Participants are encouraged to post their creations on social media with the hashtag “#OharaMuseumAtHome.”
What kinds of things can you make?
Let’s take a look, along with examples of the activities.
Art at Home creation-assistance videos: Make art while watching YouTube
These activities let you try popular Chirumyu workshops at home.
The steps are shown in videos available on YouTube.
Young children should always do these activities with a parent or guardian.
Suzuchan, a fourth-grade elementary school student who also took part in Chirumyu in 2019, Okayama Utakko Suzuchan, tried the activity at home.
Make it with an egg carton!! The Magic of Light: Shining Egg
“Make it with an egg carton!! The Magic of Light: Shining Egg” is a project in which three-dimensional, mysterious patterns appear when held up to the light.
It was so popular at Chirumyu that participants had to be selected by lottery.
When I first saw it, I thought, “It’s beautiful, like a kaleidoscope.”
You will need:
- Thick paper
- Tracing paper
- Egg carton
- Cellophane tape
- Water-based markers
- Craft knife
- Glue
- Scissors
- Masking tape
You can also find tracing paper at 100-yen shops.
You can use permanent markers, but water-based markers are recommended because the smell can make you feel sick.
Ideally, use brightly colored pens that can write on plastic.
Watch this video to see how to make it.
It looks better if you leave little blank space and color it in thoroughly.
Try shining a smartphone light or desk lamp on it.
If you hold it up to the sun, be careful not to look directly at the sun.
The appearance also changes depending on the light source.
Suzuchan also wrote the words “Ohara Museum of Art” and colored them in.
A Shining Egg in gentle colors is complete!
For “Shining Egg,” you color the three-dimensional egg carton and hold it up to the light, projecting the pattern onto flat tracing paper.
It’s fascinating that a pattern on a flat surface looks three-dimensional!
The Ohara Museum of Art has works that are flat but appear three-dimensional, such as Enrico Castellani’s “Yellow Surface” and Victor Vasarely’s “Neptune II.”
You may also find it resembles the stained glass by Shinzo Kodani in the Crafts and Oriental Gallery.
It might be fun to think about what it resembles.
Make a pharaoh’s crown
The pharaohs, kings of ancient Egypt.
The Ohara Museum of Art has statues of pharaohs wearing crowns of many different shapes, including egg-shaped and cylindrical ones, as well as headdresses that reach down to the shoulders.
There are many mysteries surrounding pharaohs’ crowns. Although paintings and statues depict a variety of crowns, not a single actual crown has ever been found.
“If you were a pharaoh, what kind of crown would you want to wear?” Imagine the colors and shapes as you make one.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Thick paper (postcard size)
- Origami paper (gold, silver, etc.)
- Four-cut drawing paper
- Double-sided tape
- Cellophane tape
- Masking tape
- Craft knife
- Glue
- Scissors
- Rubber bands
Masking tape is optional.
Feel free to make your own patterns by coloring it, adding stickers, or sticking on cut-up origami paper.
Suzu-chan made a pattern using several kinds of masking tape.
The result was a pretty, colorful crown, accented with randomly placed diagonal strips of tape.
It looks great on you!
Make your own original crown, then take a photo and feel like a king!
We asked Suzu-chan what she thought of “Art at Home.”
More projects in the works
They’re also working on other craft videos, including “Climbing Paper Plate Dolls,” which can be made with paper plates and other materials.
Subscribe to their YouTube channel and stay tuned.
Coloring Lab: Color plates, dogs, and people
The “Coloring Lab” project lets you download PDF coloring pages of works in the museum’s collection.
You don’t have to color within the lines.
Use your imagination—for example, add birds flying in the sky or draw a rainbow.
Our top pick! Friends from the Oriental Gallery
The Ohara Museum of Art staff recommend the friends from the Oriental Gallery.
The “Crafts and Oriental Gallery” displays ancient works of art from the East.
It’s home to many fascinating and valuable pieces.
The “Gray Pottery Figure of a Foreigner with Painted Decoration” is distinguished by its powerful fist.
The staff apparently call it “Guts-san.”
That powerful victory pose makes it look dependable!
The “Green-Glazed Dog” was made in China about 1,800 years ago.
What kind of dog might it have been?
Imagine things like “What kind of dog would I want as a pet?” as you draw its face and color it in.
After coloring, you can play with the figures, too.
Oriental plates
These are Turkish painted plates from around the 16th to 18th centuries, displayed in the Main Building.
What kinds of food did people eat from plates with these patterns back then?
I colored mine with colored pencils.
It was fun to think about things like “What color combinations would look beautiful?” and “What would I want to eat from this plate?”
Western paintings
Popular Western paintings are available as coloring pages, too, including Amedeo Modigliani’s “Portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne” and Henri Rousseau’s “View of the Outskirts of Paris: The Village of Bagneux”!
I especially love Modigliani!
Jeanne Hébuterne was a painter and Modigliani’s lover.
In Modigliani’s painting, she wears simple clothes, but it might be fun to try changing them and see how it affects the impression.
What inspired “Art at Home,” a project that lets people enjoy art from home?
We spoke with Masako Takemoto and Shizuka Teramoto of the Ohara Museum of Art’s Community Engagement Department.
Why did you start “Art at Home”?
Takemoto
I usually work with preschool-aged children.
Many preschool-aged children used to visit the Ohara Museum of Art.
But in March and April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of graduation trips and other events, and none of the young children and elementary school students who had been expected to visit could come.
We considered “what we could offer” and thought of activities people could do at home, for times when they could no longer spend time engaging with art or getting to know the museum.
People in different fields are also coming up with a variety of other projects.
Teramoto
Schools are in a situation where they “would like us to come give an outreach lecture, but can’t gather everyone in the same place as before.”
At the request of schools, we’re also making lecture videos that can be used in classes and homeroom.
We plan to keep them available even after the museum’s closure period ends.
Even if people can’t come to the museum, all of us on staff feel that “we should offer everything we can, without holding back.”
This is a program that people from all over Japan can take part in, including those who have lived too far away to visit the Ohara Museum of Art.
Teramoto
That’s right. We’d be happy if it inspired people to think, “I’d like to visit the Ohara Museum of Art someday.”
Is “Art at Home” a program for children?
Takemoto
Our concept is “fun for everyone, from young children to adults.”
When children make something, we hope parents will join in, too. It might give the family more opportunities to talk together.
At the Chiru-Myu activities through last year, we found that when parents made things together with their children instead of just telling them what to do, the conversation flowed and new discoveries emerged. People really appreciated that.
Why did you choose these programs for the videos?
Takemoto
We chose programs from Chiru-Myu that use materials people can gather at home and can be done without having the Ohara Museum of Art’s works right in front of them.
They’re also popular at children’s clubs and hospital classrooms.
“Shining Eggs” is more like an experiment than drawing, perhaps. You can make something fun and easy to create using everyday scrap materials.
Teramoto
The plates from “Coloring Lab” and the works in the Oriental Art Gallery are not very well known.
That was one of the reasons we chose them.
People tend to associate the Ohara Museum of Art with Western paintings, don’t they?
But we want people to know that it has things like these, too.
The works in the Oriental Art Gallery are also very interesting and appealing.
Takemoto
Takemoto
When you look closely, they have such fascinating expressions.
Some people say the gray pottery figure of a woman on horseback with painted decoration looks like she’s holding a microphone and singing.
It’s fun to imagine and dig deeper together, wondering, “Why is she posing like that?” and talking it over.
Children can enjoy “Art at Home” during summer vacation, too.
Takemoto
Since summer vacation is short in 2020, some parents may not have time to go out.
There may also be less time in class for making things and thinking.
“Art at Home” is a program that inspires imagination, creativity, and new ideas.
Although Chillmyu was canceled, we hope you’ll enjoy the shortened summer vacation.
Ohara Museum of Art content to enjoy while the museum is closed
In addition to “Art at Home,” the Ohara Museum of Art introduces content that lets you learn about the Ohara Museum of Art and enjoy works in its collection even while it is closed.
For example, on “Google Arts&Culture,” you can view high-resolution images of some of the works.
The museum has also released artwork data for Nintendo Switch’s “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”.
You can decorate your room in the game with paintings by Segantini and Gauguin.
It also shares videos on YouTube, including a lecture with Maha Harada, author of the novel Canvas of Paradise.
Show off your artistic skills at home
“Art at Home” is an easy way to create art at home.
The program is easy for children to enjoy, and the time spent coloring with a clear mind is sure to refresh adults, too.
Why not take part at home and post on social media with the hashtag “#うちでの大原美術館”?
- Model: Suzu-chan (Twitter)
Articles About the Ohara Museum of Art
Ohara Museum of Art Information
| Name | Ohara Museum of Art |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1-15 Chuo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-422-0005 |
| Parking | None |
| Opening hours | [December–February] 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. (last admission: 2:30 p.m.) [March–November] 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (last admission: 4:30 p.m.) |
| Closed | Mondays Open when a Monday falls on a public holiday or substitute holiday Closed during the winter; occasional temporary closures |
| Admission (tax included) | [General admission] Adults: ¥2,000 High school, junior high school, and elementary school students (under 18): ¥500 |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Available Reservations are not required for individuals |
| Smoking | Entirely smoke-free |
| Restrooms | Western-style toilets, accessible toilets |
| Childcare facilities | Nursing room, diaper-changing tables, stroller rental Nursing room in the Crafts Gallery Diaper-changing tables on the second floor of the Main Building and in the Crafts Gallery |
| Accessibility | Wheelchair rental, ramps, accessible toilets, elevator |
| Website | Ohara Museum of Art Official Website |
What would you like to know about Kurashiki?
Enter a search term to find articles on this site
It was hard to draw the pattern on the Shining Egg so that it looked the way I imagined. It looks mysterious when you hold it up to the light, and the pattern looks different from different angles, which is fun!
I had fun making the pharaoh’s crown by sticking on lots of masking tape. It was easy and fun to make with things we had at home. I want to make another version, too!