IDABEL, Okla.-Being told to "go fly a kite" may not sound very nice, but now that it's spring with warmer weather and windy days it's surely the right time for this time-honored pastime.
In Idabel on Saturday, you can join the Mary H. Herron Memorial Kite Festival at Booker T. Washington Community Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Organized by staff at the Museum of the Red River, the kite festival provides an opportunity to make kites and join other enthusiasts to unfurl a kite so it can fly in the sky.
It starts with a morning workshop, and then after lunch participants can fly their kite creations together. Annually, the festival attracts about 80 kite-makers and kite-fliers, but organizers hope for an even bigger crowd this year.
"It's a really simple workshop. Basically, you can bring your own kite or we'll tell you how to make one," said Brian Hendershot, head of communications and outreach at the museum. This will be a diamond-shaped kite and kids often construct a couple of them for the festival. In the case of rainy weather, the kite flying would be canceled, but at this time of year the weather is variable in Southeast Oklahoma.
The festival is named for a former director and curator, Mary H. Herron. The Idabel Minority Action Committee has helped it become a successful event, say museum staff.
In other MORR news, the museum's newest exhibit is "Arts of the Pacific Northwest," which just opened this past week and runs through June 3. Much of the art native to the Pacific Northwest consists of carved wooden objects such as masks, tools and bowls.
"Those are the big three," Hendershot explained. In all, this exhibit showcases more than 100 artworks created by Pacific Northwest Native Americans.
The MORR's collection focuses on ethnographic art from North, Central and South America, although items come from all over the world. Ethnographic art in the collection that originates from the Northwest is unique, said Hendershot, with its similarity to fine art and qualities of striking geometric lines, exaggerated features and colors. He suggests that if you look at it and then look at modern art, you can see a connection.
"It's very different, but you can see how people drew their inspiration from that," Hendershot said.
Art in the exhibit bridges the gap between older ethnographic art, which is functional, and more contemporary art, Hendershot said, citing one glass sculpture as an example. Made in the Tlingit style by the artist Preston Singletary, it appears to be both hat and glass sculpture.
(Admission is free for both the Mary H. Herron Kite Festival and the "Arts of the Pacific Northwest" exhibit. The Booker T. Washington Community Center is located at 1000 NW Haskell Place. Museum of the Red River is located at 812 E. Lincoln Road. More info: MuseumOfTheRedRiver.org or 580-286-3616.)