Special to The Leader

Head to downtown Orange for the biggest day of fall fun this year at Stark Cultural Venues’ Community Fun Day at the Stark Museum of Art on Saturday, October 21, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Enjoy loads of activities throughout the Museum, on the porch and in the newly opened Walter G. Riedel III Education Center. Bring family, friends and neighbors to enjoy a full day of FREE fun, including free lunch, arts and edible crafts, balloon twist artists, live animal shows, outdoor nature activities, fall face painting, Orange Fire Department truck, coloring contest, music, gallery scavenger hunt, photo ops and more!

Visitors of all ages will have the opportunity to explore the brand new, special exhibition, Paul Kane: Intrepid Artist and Adventurer, and “step into the painting” in a larger-than-life, 3-D scene of canoes along the Winnipeg River. Step in and take a selfie to post online and hashtag it with #FamilyDay! Design your own sweet and tasty artwork at our edible craft station and set up a trap for a delicious treat! Create a weaving that you can use as a bookmark or coaster and paint your own watercolor scene in a sketchbook in our hands-on crafts area. Discover local history and create a craft with the Eunice R. Benckenstein Library & Archive. Request a custom work of art from one of our two Balloon Twist Artists. Go on a scavenger hunt through the Museum and win a watercolor set to use at home!

Don’t get too tired before heading out to our courtyard outside the Walter G. Riedel III Education Center! Get in touch with nature by visiting six different booths sponsored by Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. Enjoy live animal shows, visit the earthworm and snail terrariums, discover what kinds of insects are living in our new courtyard with insect netting, plant a seed for the garden at home and make a nature greeting card.

With all this fun, folks will want to refuel, and we’ve made that extra easy! Just step outside onto the Museum’s porch and enjoy FREE LUNCH thanks to our friends at the Kiwanis Club of Orange, Kroger and Sysco. Lunches will be available for the first 1,000 guests (while supplies last) and will include a hot dog, chips, cookie and drink.

The fun just keeps on rolling at Community Fun Day where families can explore a fire truck from the Orange Fire Department or get in touch with their competitive side and enter the Neighbors Emergency Center Coloring Contest. Need a dose of cute in your life? Stop by and meet Scrubs, the cuddly Neighbors Emergency Center mascot! And don’t forget to get in tune with the good music spun by a guest DJ or the special performance from the Country Strong Band! Visitors can enter a raffle to be drawn at 11am, Noon, 1pm and 2pm with gift basket prizes ranging in value from $10 to $100 (must be present to win).

Curator of Education, Jennifer Restauri Dickinson stated, “We are looking forward to throwing the doors wide open and inviting the community to Community FUN DAY. Staff members from across the STARK Cultural Venues are rolling out the red carpet to make this day the biggest and most exciting event we’ve ever hosted at the Museum. From balloon twist artists to live animal shows, free lunch to live music, arts & crafts to outdoor nature activities, there really is something for everyone at this celebration of our community. We hope families and community members will enjoy being able to take a break from the hard work of hurricane recovery and have some care-free and creative fun with their loved ones!”

Community Fun Day is designed for families with children of all ages and is in conjunction with the opening of a new special exhibition, Paul Kane: Intrepid Artist and Adventurer. The exhibition will include over 100 works of art by the artist, including original sketches that Paul Kane made as he traveled and experienced differing landscape regions of North America.

Stark Museum of Art is located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas, and is open Tuesday -Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit starkmuseum.org.