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Ms. Cheap: The Frist’s Martin ArtQuest is great for kids and adults




The Martin ArtQuest area, on the second floor of the Frist Art Museum, features more than 15 stations, including printmaking.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

The Martin ArtQuest area, on the second floor of the Frist Art Museum, features more than 15 stations, including printmaking.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

When the Martin ArtQuest area first opened at the Frist Art Museum 20 years ago, I was thrilled to hear of a place where children could go make art with knowledgeable and patient art educators and not make a big mess at home.

I thought, What a gift to parents and grandparents, as well as the kiddos who are loving it!

And now, 20 years later, Martin ArtQuest is still that kind of place, and a whole lot more as it has evolved into a place offering not only hands-on art-making opportunities but 21st century learning skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.

The hope is to use ArtQuest to engage museumgoers with current exhibits and maybe even inspire them to interact with the gallery art by creating some art of their own.

“The intent is to be a space where people of all ages and abilities can have a creative experience,” said Samantha Andrews, experiential learning director at the Frist. “It’s a way to connect people with the exhibitions and also with the world.

A visitor to the Frist Art Museum experiments with animation at the Martin ArtQuest shadow play station.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

A visitor to the Frist Art Museum experiments with animation at the Martin ArtQuest shadow play station.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

“It is not just a children’s space, and it is not just for ‘art people,’ ” said Andrews, who said part of the goal of MAQ is to “bring the exhibition concepts to our visitors for fun, informal interpretation. It is very tactile.”

The MAQ area, on the second floor of the museum, features more than 15 stations (including printmaking, animation, drawing in the round, digital drawing, painting, a giant weaving loom, the EverBright wall and a shadow play area), which are manned by volunteer and staff facilitators who help visitors make art that they can take home with them.

ArtQuest has been a mainstay for the museum since the Frist’s beginning, providing a creative space that offers art-making experiences using high-quality materials and artistic encouragement.

“You can know nothing about art and come here and have a wonderful afternoon,” Andrews said. “Artistic skill or experience is not required — just a willingness to explore new, creative ways of expression.”

A visitor to the Frist Art Museum enjoys Martin ArtQuest’s EverBright wall.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

A visitor to the Frist Art Museum enjoys Martin ArtQuest’s EverBright wall.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

She said children clearly love it (MAQ is often named as the best place to take children on a rainy day) and parents find the hands-on approach a good way to introduce their children to museum going. Andrews said some families have been regular Frist visitors for years, “making it a regular part of their quality time together.”

How often does Martin ArtQuest change?

The Frist’s ArtQuest area is reconfigured about three times a year, so that the projects it offers can be appropriately paired with current exhibitions.

“Everything in MAQ can be connected to the current exhibition,” said Andrews, who said some of the featured elements might be subtle, like colors and textures of fabric that were chosen to reflect what you see in the galleries, while other art projects are more obvious in their connection to the exhibition.

For example, the current art nouveau exhibit, “Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style,” is in the galleries through Sept. 12, and MAQ features a station where you can use stencils to create a Mackintosh-inspired art nouveau poster, as well as a station where you can create your own version of the Mackintosh-designed house.

A visitor to the Martin ArtQuest area of the Frist Art Museum experiments with stencils to create an art nouveau poster.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

A visitor to the Martin ArtQuest area of the Frist Art Museum experiments with stencils to create an art nouveau poster.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

Coming up in October is “American Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918-1939,” which features a number of art deco pieces (decorative arts, fine arts, architecture and design, including a 1930 Ford Model A). The exhibition, which also pairs well with the Frist’s art deco interior, will also include some ArtQuest offerings like making your own art deco object.

The Frist plans to offer some other family activities like a performance of Wishing Chair Productions’ “Ellingtown” and a Nashville Jazz Workshop “Jazz A.M.: Ella Fitzgerald” performance.

A few things to know about the Frist and Martin ArtQuest

Anyone 18 years old and younger is admitted to the Frist for free. MAQ access is included in adult admission. However, visitors need to request a MAQ ticket at Visitor Services when they arrive.

A visitor to the Frist Art Museum’s Martin ArtQuest area constructs a house inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

A visitor to the Frist Art Museum’s Martin ArtQuest area constructs a house inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House.Courtesy / Frist Art Museum/mainstreet-nashville

Plan to spend an hour to an hour and a half in ArtQuest. The best scenario is to visit the galleries and then enjoy some connected creative time in MAQ.

Check the Frist website (fristartmuseum.org) before you visit to check exhibits, events and protocols for the day you plan to visit. Some days offer lectures, concerts, tours and other special events.

The original ArtQuest opened with the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in 2001. The space underwent a major renovation in 2018.

During COVID-19, the Frist was closed for four months and MAQ was closed for eight months. Both reopened in November 2020.

If you want more art projects and other activities for children, including trilingual storytimes, see fristkids.org.

Adult admission to the Frist is $15, or $10 for seniors. Memberships, which include unlimited admission, two guest passes, access to special events, discounted parking and discounts at the gift shop and on classes and workshops, start at $40 for seniors and $50 for individuals.

Mary Hance

Mary Hance

The Frist is currently open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1-5:30 p.m. Sundays. MAQ is open 1-5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, but the museum’s hope is to welcome back school groups in the mornings and to add more hours and days to the museum schedule.

The Martin ArtQuest area is named in honor of Ellen H. Martin, Charles N. Martin and the Martin Foundation.

The Frist is rebuilding its volunteer force for MAQ and other areas of the museum after COVID-19 shut things down. If you are interested in volunteering, see fristartmuseum.org.

On-site parking for Frist visitors is $2 per hour.

Details: fristartmuseum.org

Mary Hance, who has four decades of journalism experience in the Nashville area, writes a weekly Ms. Cheap column. She also appears on Thursdays on “Talk of the Town” on NewsChannel 5. Reach her at mscheap@mainstreetmediatn.com and follow her on Facebook at Facebook.com/mscheap.

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