During the weekend of April 13-14, The Walt Disney Family Museum is offering an unprecedented array of programming to celebrate the end of our first major exhibition, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic. Artists from the California Watercolor Association have been invited to demonstrate their craft in various places throughout our museum on Saturday, the 13th. In addition to working in the Main Lobby, on the front porch, and in Gallery 8, five of the artists will also be leading a Learn from the Masters workshop and the Open Studio experiences.
This unusual invitation was extended because animation scholar Donald Crafton will mention during the afternoon feature program how artists working for the Disney Studio on the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were members of a local watercolor group, the California Water Color Society. These artists, who include Lee and Mary Blair, Phil Dike, and Hardie Gramatky, had a huge impact on the look and feel of many of the animated films produced by the company.
- Learn from the Masters: Water Media with Myrna Wacknov, Sat. 4/13, 10am-2:30pm| Myrna Wacknov, the Gold Winner from the 2011 CWA National Annual Exhibit. Wacknov continues to explore watercolor’s limitless range of possibilities with a special emphasis on color, dramatic impact, and textures.
- Talk: The Artistic Vision of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Donald Crafton, Sat. 4/13, 3pm | Historian Donald Crafton comments on the variety of fine art traditions that culminated in the film’s consistent “look and feel” and highlights the contributions of those members of the Disney staff associated with the California Water Color Society.
- Art Live! Sat 4/13, 10:30am-2:30pm | Several members of the CWA will be working with water media in various locations of the Museum where visitors can observe them freely and ask questions.
- Open Studio Demonstrations, Sat. 4/13 10:30am-2:30pm and Sun. 1-4pm | Guests are welcome to pick up a brush themselves and paint with watercolor on both Saturday and Sunday in the Learning Center. Two CWA artists will be on hand to demonstrate and provide simple critique.
About the California Watercolor Association
The California Watercolor Association, based in the East Bay, has grown into an organization of over 700 members, many of whom live outside the state and abroad. Founded in 1967 and incorporated in 1975 as a non-profit charitable corporation, the CWA is now one of the top ten art organizations in the country. As part of its mission to foster and sustain interest in the art of water media painting, the CWA holds numerous shows, most notably their annual National Exhibition, which attracts entries from all over the world and is presided over by jurors who are internationally recognized artists and teachers.
If you haven’t already planned a visit to The Walt Disney Family Museum this coming weekend, it’s time to reconsider. You don’t want to miss this amazing chance to see the Museum alive with art!
Mary Beth Culler
Public Programs Coordinator
at The Walt Disney Family Museum