Our Visit to The Hecksher Museum of Art

Visiting the Hecksher Museum of Art is a perfect way to spend an afternoon with your family. Just make sure to visit on a warm, sunny day to take full advantage of all the museum has to offer, including the 18 acres of green space at its doorstep.

Just last month the girls and I headed over to Huntington Village to visit Hecksher Museum of Art in Hecksher Park. Yes, despite spending a lot of my teens and twenties in Huntington, I can honestly say, I had never visited Hecksher before we arrived that day.

And, it was a gorgeous day! The weather did not disappoint. I mean, I definitely remember the girls running around without jackets. A big step forward (into spring) for us New Yorkers.

But, the weather took a turn for the worse the day after our visit. And, the poor weather has stuck around since. That is, until this upcoming week. Thank goodness!

Nevertheless, we arrived at the museum for our scheduled time, and pulled right into the parking lot without issue. But, you should know, the majority of the parking offered is on the street because, the one small lot beside the museum is usually full.

However, once we made it out of the car, the warmth of the sun put an instant smile on our faces. And, we took a look at the sculptures lining the walkway toward the museum. But before heading in, the pond caught our eye and encouraged us to view the beautiful greenspace before us. The girls were especially looking forward to having some fun at the playground after our museum visit.

PICTURE TALK AT THE HECKSHER MUSEUM OF ART

After reading more about Charlotte Mason, I decided to incorporate picture talk into our weekly homeschool schedule this year. However, I wanted to take the process slow to gain more experience, and see if the activity would pique the girls interest. And, guess what? It did.

Still, we haven’t studied masterpieces just yet. To be honest, I usually just google the term, picture talk to find an illustration that is on theme with our weekly lessons. But, I know that visits to our local museums (like Hecksher) will help to bridge the gap for our future picture talk sessions.

With this in mind, here are some of the questions I asked Nora and Sadie during picture talk at the museum:

What do you like about this picture?
Do the colors in the picture make you feel a certain way?
How would you feel if you were inside this picture?
What would you be doing if you were inside of this picture?
Who do you think that person is in the picture?
Where does this picture take place?
Which is your favorite work of art?

Think – who, what, where, why, how – sorts of questions to get started. They will encourage you and your kids to see the picture/painting/artwork from a different perspective.

During our visit to the Hecksher Museum of Art, we were also given an activity guide. A guide that led us on a hunt for the moon in different phases in the Moonstruck: Lunar Art exhibition. And, exploring the use of our five senses when viewing the vibrant landscape paintings of Richard Mayhew.

I can definitely say, the activity guide, digital action painting, and the opportunity for the girls to add their own artwork to the night sky of a temporary display were all highlights of our hour-long visit.

And, as you may have guessed, immediately after our visit at the museum, we ran straight to the pond, and followed its path directly to the playground where the girls were lost in play on our very first warm + sunny, spring day.