February Family Sunday: feel the "Optical Impact"

HoMA’s Family Sunday  is coming up, this month with a mix of virtual and in-person art activities—and for the first time ever, we’ll be livestreaming! Our in-person event is still on hold, but expect engaging virtual programming, along with a Gallery Hunt which can be completed either at home or in the museum. 

This month’s theme is Optical Impact: I Spy, inspired by the current exhibition Optical Impact, which is dedicated to works of Optical Art (Op Art). Op Art developed as a segment of geometric abstraction in the mid-20th century. Artists focused on ideas of perception and visual phenomena, and images were intended to surprise the viewer and provoke visual confusion, much like an optical illusion. HoMA Public Programs Manager Mindi Gandara shared, “I remember as a child how I loved looking at optical illusions. Incorporating this exhibition as our Family Sunday theme seemed like an ideal way to connect youthful curiosity and fine art.”

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On Family Sunday, livestream programming begins at 11am with a “Ready Set Create” Art Workshop with HoMA Teaching Artist Janet Tran, who will teach us the art of Notan paper cutting. A livestream version of Storytime is scheduled for 1pm, with a reading of The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds from Cynthia Low, HoMA’s Director of Collections. 

“Through the livestreams, our guests can participate in an artmaking workshop and also ask our museum staff questions in real-time,” said Arminda Gandara, HoMA Public Program Manager. “The central goal is to maintain that immediate relationship with our audience, even if we cannot all gather together at the museum.”  

Families are also welcome to visit the museum on Sunday, Feb  21, to participate in the Optical Impact: I Spy gallery hunt. The gallery hunt is self-guided, can be done safely using a mobile device as an interface. Admission is free for kama’aina from 10am – 6pm. HoMA is grateful for the continued partnership and generous support of Bank of Hawaii Foundation.

Visit HoMA’s Family Sunday webpage beginning Saturday, Feb 20. If you post any of your family’s artwork, tag us @honolulumuseum. We love to see what you create!