Featured Mariposa artist Kevin Blythe Sampson and several of his sculptures now appearing at our NH museum in the exhibit Freedom Songs! will guest star in the Arthur episode, ‘George Scraps His Sculpture’, from PBS Kids and PBS Kids App! When George’s sculpture accidentally gets taken to the dump, he learns from Kevin that you can find all types of art in surprising places! Tune in for an all new episode of Arthur featuring special guest artist Kevin Sampson, March 10th on PBS KIDS and the PBS KIDS Video App!
We hope you will feel inspired enough to get creating yourself. If you are an experienced artist, we would love to see a photo of what you are working on. And for the new artists among you, inspired by Kevin and George, we hope you will get started on your own creative project.
And sign up for the Mariposa's mailing list to be the first to learn about our upcoming Call for Entries in a virtual exhibit of found object sculpture. We will be seeking art made by artists of all ages and abilities.
Artist Kevin Sampson Stars in Arthur
Arthur, which premiered in 1996, is based on the children’s books by Marc Brown and is one of the longest-running animated series for children, winning seven Emmys over 23 seasons. The series follows the everyday adventures of an anthropomorphic young aardvark, his friends and family. “Arthur,” a PBS Kids series, is produced by WGBH in Boston. Marc Brown, the author of the Arthur books, and his wife, author and artist Laurene Krasny Brown, wanted to include outsider artists in the TV series. When producers contacted the American Folk Art Museum in NY a curator suggested Kevin Blythe Sampson.
Kevin was turned into a cartoon for the episode. He knows it was "on point," because his granddaughter Nora, age 6, recognized him right away in the still shot from the episode he sent her! Kevin, who grew up in Elizabeth, NJ, has been living in Newark since 1993. He worked as a Scotch Plains, NJ police officer and was the first African American sketch artist in the U.S. After leaving the police force, he went to art school and started teaching. Mentoring young artists is his passion.
We will be sending families and groups who sign up some basic information about creating found object sculpture, and we will also invite classrooms and groups to book Kevin for live zoom sessions to bring expert coaching and Q&A into art-making experiences inspired by Kevin's work and the Arthur episode!
Education Programs at the Mariposa
Our educational programs touch 3,000 people each year and promote our vision of peace and understanding across cultural boundaries far beyond the Monadnock region, welcoming schools from across New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the Mariposa in Peterborough, and sending outreach programs to dozens of libraries, schools, and other museums within a 75-mile radius. We work with students of all ages, from pre-school to high school and beyond, offering free workshops to teachers and college students around diversity in the classroom, enrichment programs for developmentally disabled adults, cooking classes that allow homeschoolers to get a taste of what it’s like to live in another country, research opportunities for students and Scout troops, and a chance for seniors to travel the globe from an armchair or even a wheelchair with one of our nursing home visits. We would be happy to tell you more about any of the following programs! And thank you to all of our supporters whose generous contributions allow us to offer these fabulous educational opportunities to the people of our region and beyond.
Library Outreach
We develop an outreach program each year to complement the theme of the national summer reading program and offer this program at hosting libraries across New Hampshire. In 2019, our program – “The Stars of Egypt” – will explore the mysteries of how the constellations connect with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt and teach participants about Egyptian history through artifacts and textiles from the Mariposa’s collection. To learn more, click here.
Senior Discounts
Seniors, come visit the Mariposa as a group of 5 or more and receive 10% off in the gift shop along with our senior discount admission rate of $6.00 per person.
Teacher Workshops
Our most recent teacher workshop, Techniques for Exploring Culture, Identity, and Community in the Classroom, brought together teachers and teachers-in-training with immigrant high school student “consultants” from Manchester West High School and Genevieve Aichele of the New Hampshire Theater Project, to teach techniques for eliciting stories as a way to build a connection between students of diverse backgrounds. Future workshops will continue to target teachers of all grade levels with an interest in better understanding the experiences of immigrant students in New Hampshire and in using immigration and diversity of all kinds as a learning resource for all students. Our teacher workshops are free and offer Continuing Education Units!
Youth Empowered Through Service (YES) Program
Piloted in partnership with ConVal High School’s social studies department, YES provides a classroom-ready curriculum for implementation in partnership with high school teachers. Students work in teams to research a local non-profit organization that works to address the social needs of the local, regional, or international community, then present their case to a panel of school and community judges in competition for a $3,000 charitable grant to the nonprofit of their choice. This exceptional unit encourages young people to step beyond the familiar, engage with a world of difference, and see through the eyes of others with backgrounds and points of view different from their own. YES welcomes interest from other schools interested in its proven track record of fostering compassionate citizenship!