The Children’s Museum of the Arts is celebrating the innovative artwork of Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria with an exhibition dedicated to their children’s book The Black Book of Colors. Winner of the 2007 New Horizons Award at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the book teaches sighted children how people without sight can experience colors through sound, smell, touch and taste. As part of the educational programming inspired by the exhibition, CMA has partnered with Lighthouse International, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing critically needed vision and rehabilitation services, to explore art projects with their Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten students. The original artwork created by the children will also be displayed at CMA.”

via minordetails

Xavier had these wool swatches lying around (resources for an upcoming project). The first thought I had, when I saw them, was that these would be amazing tools to enhance a child’s curiosity and creativity – A tool for introducing “new” colours and encouraging children to seek out colours that may be out of the ordinary : Steel Blue, Ivory, Light Moss, Ice Aqua… Take this even further by designing a colour wheel with found objects and why not create names for the colours you have.

…with the gift that arrives once a month! My first 25 colours will be arriving very soon and yes, I am having a hard time waiting. Stay tuned, I am going to post updates each month as my collection grows and I get my art-on.

“It’s human to have favorites. To be drawn to certain colors, to have others surprise you. We believe the greatest beauty of 500 Pencils is that you don’t receive all of them at once, but over the course of 20 months. It gives you new focus as an artist, working with color families and feeling the precious nature of each pencil. We send 25 pencils a month, crafted to order. As you build to 500, the pencils become your story and experience. It’s about enjoying an unhurried creative process, and the artist – that over time – you become.

WOW someone you love with color.

There’s no gift in the world quite like 500 Colored Pencils. Encourage a young artist, surprise a child, thank a mentor or inspire a creative soul with a gift they can hold in their hands, and heart.

Each month when the pencils arrive, they become a new gift to unwrap, a new present every month for 20 months reminding someone special that he or she is in your thoughts: a dramatic gift any one would remember for life.”

Moomah: An amazing place for both children and adult — Art & Nature Classes, Gallery, Cafe and Interactive Exhibitions — in NYC of course!

Bedtime! Photo by Francis Chan