endless marble corridors on fifth-grade field trips and led up to peer at pictures they had little knowledge of and less interest in. By going into the schools, Museum docents hope to make children's first experience of folk art a personal, meaningful one, either through "handson-the-needle" projects, or amplifying a slide show with word games and puzzles that amuse as they teach. Cynthia Schaffner, who has visited Brearley and Spence schools with an introductory lecture on folk art, found students' enthusiasm and knowledge high. Often the school's initial invitation was for something as simple as a showcase exhibition of hooked rugs and baskets. When interest was stirred by seeing the objects, the Museum was invited to visit the fifth and tenth grades, which were studying American history. "We took a large variety of objects for them to see and touch—quilts, decoys, samplers, baskets, a hogscraper candlestick." The newly-refined slide show of pieces from the Museum's collections, developed and pioneered by Cynthia, garnered "unbelievable enthusiasm. They knew The Peaceable Kingdom, loved the Flag Gate, and recognized it as a gate. When a fraktur was shown, one fifth grader started translating it, using her own knowledge of Yiddish."
Some new crossword puzzles and "find the hidden word" games underlined the vocabulary that was being used. And the students simply enjoyed the objects. "I think they had great visual excitement, took a lot of pleasure in seeing the folk art. They responded immediately to the `folky' quality— flatness, naivete." Cynthia adds, "I think children love the Museum—it's so friendly and cozy." Many return with their parents. Another lecture at Spence inspired the fifth grade to visit the Museum a month later. The school visits, which include trips to Rye Country Day and Berger Community College, are aimed at developing new enthusiasts for folk art. "Every contact you make eventually results in something for the Museum." In late spring, an ambitious program was developed by Marie Smith DiManno to support the spring show of folk art at the Goddard Riverside Community Center on the upper west side. Six hundred children from the first to the sixth grades were taught to stencil, with the help of Museum docents and the Center staff, experimenting with a theorem painting or decorating one of the 300 cigar boxes that Marie had painted ochre. She and other volunteers scissored heart, tulip, and bird designs out of old x rays, to be used with acrylics
to form the designs. Marie, who has a degree in art curriculum planning, also developed a "match the picture" game to increase the children's interest in the exhibition they would see. There have been expeditions for the docents—to Pie Galinat's quilt restoration workshop, to the New Haven Historical Society, to a special preview of the late Stewart E. Gregory's personal collection of folk art, and lectures from Pat Coblentz during a year that has seen the docent program grow and broaden. "Every docent seems to be doing the most she can," says Lucy Danziger, head of the Docent Committee. "I'd especially like to recognize Sudee Kugler, who's advised on art projects and 'spread the word' outside the New York area, and Phyllis Tepper, who represented the Museum so well at the Northeast Museum Council Conference. And, too, I'd like to commend the gallery docents— they're the backbone of the organization."
We are grateful for the fifteen Junior League women who participated in the Docent Program this year.
Active Docents as of April 1, 1979 Sue Ann Abernathy LeeAnn Aukamp Julia Baughman Hyla Bertash Priscilla Brandt Cathie Calvert Patrice Clareman Deborah Davis Davida Deutsch Marie Smith DiMann° Susan Earle Ellin Ente
Suzanne Feldman Migs Fiend Susan Flamm Betsy Flynn Irene Goodkind Heather Hamilton Louise Hartwell Ellen Howe Jean Hudson Gwen Kade Margery Kahn Dorothy Kaufman
Friends of the Docents Jana Klauer Susan Klein Sudee Kugler Wendy Lavitt Lane Maurer Susan Metcalf Sallie Nelson Diana Niles Sara Parter Maralyn Rittenour Lucille Rosen Cynthia Schaffner
Linda Schrader Karen Schuster Myra Shaskan Roberta Sieber Cathy Somer Phyllis Tepper Eleanora Walker Meryl Weiss Pilar Zuleta
Joyce Cowin Roberta Gaal Laura Henning Toby Landey Sally Lubell
NEWS FROM THE FRIENDS COMMITTEE Officers for 1979-1980
Active Members as of April 1, 1979
Marilyn Glass, Chairman Jana Klauer, Vice-Chairman, House Tour Joyce Cowin, Vice -Chairman, Benefits Dianne Butt, Treasurer Cynthia Schaffner, Secretary
Mama Brill Anderson Carol Bohdan Odessa Bourne Lillian Brahms Barbara Butt Alan E. Cober Daniel Cowin Lucy Danziger David Davies Nancy Druckman Burton Fendelman, Esq.
Helaine Fendelman Susan Flamm Sarah Frassinelli Danielle Gaherty Judy Garfunkel Irene Goodkind Ellin Gordon Kaaren Parker Gray Mrs. Richmond K. Greene Judith Guido Phyllis Haders
Barbara Hess Jay Johnson Joan Johnson Susan Klein Edward F. Knowles Sudee Kugler Pete and Anne Lowder Helen McGoldrich Mrs. Edwin H. Miller Samuel Pennington Lisa Puntillo
Ruth Raible Virginia Saladino Karen Schuster Myra Shaskan George Shaskan Scudder Smith Maureen Taylor Eleanora Walker Meryl Weiss Julia Weissman Riki Zuriff
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