We welcome you to the "Meet the Artists" reception sponsored by Chesapeake Utilities highlighting this important group exhibition of African photography, traditional African artwork and authentic African pieces collected by the local community on their travels. Admission is free for this reception as well as for the First Saturday celebrations on February 2nd from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. where family-friendly hands-on art projects always reinforce exhibition themes in the drop-in community studio. The exhibit will be on display at the Biggs Museum February 1st - March 24th. The museum is open Tuesday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Sundays 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. www.biggsmuseum.org . If you are interested in submitting artwork for the exhibit at the Biggs Museum, please see the "Call to Artists" by following this link and navigating to the "Photo Gallery" section.

Baskets can be made and used in all different ways. Come to the Biggs and make a basket that reflects your personal style. This activity is geared toward children ages 4-10

To explore the array of weaving traditions from the mid-Atlantic, this first lecture series in a new program highlighting exceptional emerging scholars in American art will explore the net making traditions of the Native Americans of the Mid Atlantic. Over the course of three workshops, University of Delaware Senior, Annabelle Fichtner, will examine net making tools, materials, and techniques. Each program will address a different aspect of the process and some will offer participants the chance to try their hand at net tying. Fichtner conducted her research for these workshops as part of her senior thesis in collaboration with the Lenape Tribe of Delaware Cultural Mapping Program. Pre-registration is recommended for all three programs and is free to the public in conjunction with the Biggs’ free First Saturday program.

Join the Biggs and the Gibby Center for the Arts in a celebration of art students from Alfred G. Waters Middle School. These students participated in this year’s Junior Docent and Adopt an Artwork programs, which both promote art analysis, public speaking, and visual literacy skills. Through these programs, students adopt, research, write about, and create art in response to a work of art from the Biggs. During this event at the Gibby, students will present readings of compositions they wrote in response to the painting Compensation and other images from the Biggs’ collection. This event will be held at the Gibby.

In a special lecture, the Biggs welcomes Dr. Lucy Fowler Williams, Associate Curator and Senior Keeper of the American Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr. Fowler Williams’ talk will focus on the craft traditions of the native peoples of the Southwest and Northwest Coast regions of North America, many of which are featured in the Biggs’ current traveling exhibit, Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America.” Pre-registration is recommended by February 27th.

Join the Biggs staff and the Delaware Department of Education for a series of workshops as part of our "Adopt an Artwork" program. In this program, participating teachers adopt an artwork from the Biggs, recieve a reproduction of the work for their classroom, and write curriculum around their adopted work. Over the course of three sessions, teachers will learn about the program, receive in-depth training on the Arts Standards website, and will begin to create curriculum around a work of art they'd like to adopt. All sessions include pizza dinner and up-close-and-personal experiences with the Biggs' collection. Professional development clock hours are also offered for all session attended and for time spent writing curriculum.

Did you know the state flower of Delaware is the peach blossom? Create your own colorful peach blossom tree at the Biggs and see how many peaches you can find in the paintings in our collection! This activity is geared toward children ages 4-10

To explore the array of weaving traditions from the mid-Atlantic, this first lecture series in a new program highlighting exceptional emerging scholars in American art will explore the net making traditions of the Native Americans of the Mid Atlantic. Over the course of three workshops, University of Delaware Senior, Annabelle Fichtner, will examine net making tools, materials, and techniques. Each program will address a different aspect of the process and some will offer participants the chance to try their hand at net tying. Fichtner conducted her research for these workshops as part of her senior thesis in collaboration with the Lenape Tribe of Delaware Cultural Mapping Program. Pre-registration is recommended for all three programs and is free to the public in conjunction with the Biggs’ free First Saturday program.

As part of a partnership with The Music School of Delaware, the dynamic “Mosaic String Duo”*** will perform a program that highlights the diversity of American cultures, as reflected in the Biggs’ exhibit “Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America.” The performance will take place amidst the exhibit and will build a bridge between the musical and visual arts of our nation. Pre-registration is required by April 19th. Doors will open at 6:30 pm. ***please note, this performance was advertised to feature the Great American Songbook performed by Colin Armstrong and Alexandre Abdoulaev, but, due to unforeseen circumstances, the program and performers have changed. Doors will open at 6:30 pm.

Celebrate Delaware's history during Dover Days and make your own colonial paper doll inspired by the Biggs’ collection. This activity is geared toward children ages 4-10

To explore the array of weaving traditions from the mid-Atlantic, this first lecture series in a new program highlighting exceptional emerging scholars in American art will explore the net making traditions of the Native Americans of the Mid Atlantic. Over the course of three workshops, University of Delaware Senior, Annabelle Fichtner, will examine net making tools, materials, and techniques. Each program will address a different aspect of the process and some will offer participants the chance to try their hand at net tying. Fichtner conducted her research for these workshops as part of her senior thesis in collaboration with the Lenape Tribe of Delaware Cultural Mapping Program. Pre-registration is recommended for all three programs and is free to the public in conjunction with the Biggs’ free First Saturday program.

Kick off your summer with the Annual Delaware By Hand Member’s Day Outdoor Show at Zwaanendael Park in Lewes, DE. Nearly 50 Delaware By Hand artists will display furniture, wood, metal, glass, ceramics, photography, fiber, sculpture, baskets, prints, jewelry and paintings for sale. Admission to the Delaware By Hand Spring Member’s Day Show is FREE. This event will feature vendors including: Connie Ballato, glass Carol Beck, candles Denise Bendelewski, basketry Anna Biggs, jewelry Linda Bolt, jewlery Anne Buck with Ginny Barney, watercolor Kathy Buschi, painting Brenda Butterfield, ceramics Lesley Campana, fiber Katie and Jeanne Casale, jewelry Robert Casseday, painting & ceramics Jacquline Chmiel, beaded jewelry Gary Crowl, mixed media sculpture Susan Donohoe, photography Lisa Edmunds, painting Joan Fabri, watercolor Kevin Fleming, photography Carl Forsberg, photography Nettie Green, ceramics Judy Hagen, sculptor Ania Hawley, jewelry Deny Howeth, photography Gilda Jennings, jewelry

Celebrate how music and art work together by making and decorating your own kazoo! This activity is geared toward children ages 4-10

Bigg(s) Earth July 8th - 12th Young artists, ages 6 to 9, can spend a week in July at art camps designed to inspire creativity. Each camp will be led by museum staff in the Child HELP Foundation Gallery Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. Children will explore the museum during these camps and discover many different types and styles of art such as painting, sculpture and drawing. Please make sure children wear old clothing and bring a snack each day. If you camper is a future ecologist, botanist, or zoologist, then this session is for them. During this week, campers will learn about the environment and create different eco-centric crafts!

Biggs Beach Week July 15th - 19th Young artists, ages 6 to 9, can spend a week in July at art camps designed to inspire creativity. Each camp will be led by museum staff in the Child HELP Foundation Gallery Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. Children will explore the museum during these camps and discover many different types and styles of art such as painting, sculpture and drawing. Please make sure children wear old clothing and bring a snack each day. Is your camper a little beach bum? If so, bring them into the museum this week for summer themed crafts including paper lanterns, cardboard castles, and a sailboat mural. We’ll sea you at the museum! Pre-registration is required.

Tweens Art Camp July 15th - 19th NEW THIS YEAR! Tween age artists ages 10 to 12 can spend a week in July at an art camp designed to for older campers. This session will only be offered one week in July and will be led by museum staff in the Child HELP Foundation Gallery, Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Tweens will develop their art observation skills to dive into more advanced projects. Pre-registration is requied.

Color Explosion! July 22nd - 26th Young artists, ages 6 to 9, can spend a week in July at art camps designed to inspire creativity. Each camp will be led by museum staff in the Child HELP Foundation Gallery Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. Children will explore the museum during these camps and discover many different types and styles of art such as painting, sculpture and drawing. Please make sure children wear old clothing and bring a snack each day. Fill your camper’s week with color during this session at the Biggs. Campers will learn about the color wheel and experiment with multiple mediums. Each day will be filled with unique, colorful crafts! Pre-registration is requied.