Creating your own magic at Disney World’s new art festival

My daughter was posing in front of the Mona Lisa. She had seen so much fascinating art throughout the day, and made it a point to imitate the subject of each piece. Now, she had Mona Lisa’s famous smirk down pat, with one side of her mouth curled up and an eyebrow cocked just so. But her sparkly princess dress made it difficult to fully replicate the purple dragon’s posture.

We clearly weren’t at the Louvre in Paris, even though the Eiffel Tower was just a short walk away. And although we were admiring an original Mona Lisa, it was not a DaVinci – it was a Disney.

That purple posing dragon, that was Figment, Walt Disney World’s cartoon embodiment of the imagination. And his likeness was not just instilled into the Mona Lisa. He was also bellowing on a bridge in Munch’s The Scream and crossing the Delaware with George Washington in Emanuel Leutze’s masterpiece.

Figment has been a fixture around Walt Disney World’s Epcot for years, starring in rides and encouraging kids to create. But this winter, Figment took center stage as Walt Disney World introduced its inaugural International Festival of the Arts, hosted at Epcot from January 13 through February 20, 2017.

The International Festival of the Arts was the newest addition to Epcot’s growing slate of seasonal happenings, and it filled the mid-winter gap in the same way the International Food and Wine Festival highlights the fall and the International Flower and Garden Festival brightens up the spring. With new lands, rides and offerings under construction at other Walt Disney World properties, these types of special events give Epcot an enticing freshness.

The arts festival, though, was unique in that it endeavored to enable as well as entertain, infusing every detail with an inspired dose of the imagination.

By opening day, vibrantly colored signs, vendor stalls and performing areas had popped up. Each character meet and greet photo spot was now adorned with a specialized painting of the spot’s character. A Figment topiary greeted guests near Spaceship Earth. And scattered around the park were enlarged, life-sized renditions of some of history’s greatest paintings – with a twist. They were layered and open-backed so that guests could enter the frames, pose for a photo and become a part of the art.

The festival brought together an array of creative mediums – from painting and drawing to music and singing to performance and culinary art – to celebrate all art forms and the power of the imagination.

Sidewalk chalk artists – a la Bert from Mary Poppins – scribbled their way around the pavilions’ pavement. Moving statues ringed the Fountain View stage. Booths highlighting artwork from Disney artists encircled the central World Showcase lagoon. A flash painter, with rapid and precise brush strokes, created a Donald Duck portrait within moments in front of a cheering crowd. Acrobats flipped and tumbled in China while School groups sang in the Odyssey pavilion.

Food vendor stalls were transformed to serve innovative dishes and flamboyant fare. There was a slice of color-blocked almond cake and a deconstructed Reuben sandwich arranged in a ring of puff pastry. Of course, inventive alcoholic beverages abounded as well, from coffees to margaritas.

In the America pavilion’s theater some of Disney’s own Broadway stars held a series of medley shows. We enjoyed Ashley Brown, who played Belle in Disney’s 2005 production of Beauty and the Beast and then the original Mary Poppins in 2006; and Josh Strickland, who starred in the title role of Disney’s Broadway rendition of Tarzan. They performed songs from Frozen, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid and others.

Walt Disney World’s daily park shows already employ some extremely talented performers. But to hear professional Broadway stars was an elevated plane of excellence: a rare and mesmerizing treat that captured almost every patron who strolled past the outdoor stage.

Yes, art was everywhere – but not merely finished products. The theme of the festival revolved more around engaging in the process rather than the framed result. The festival featured an extensive schedule of demonstrations, classes and workshops, as well as interactive experiences for younger guests.

We searched for Figment Mona Lisa and the other Figment-ized paintings as part of Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunt, which encouraged kids to explore each Epcot country and engage with artists who showed off the methods and styles of their homelands. For a nominal fee, we purchased a map and stickers to guide us around the World Showcase and once we found all of Figment’s paintings, we received a souvenir magnet.

The art installations in progress were also fascinating features.

For example, lining one of the walkways was a long, blank canvas about six feet high that curved with the path itself. On opening day, light pencil sketches swooped over the white surface. Later in the day, two artists were furthering the outlines and filling in with bright blue and green paint. I stopped to chat with the painters and learned that they were locals hired to work outside for the duration of the arts festival, painting each day on this expansive backdrop. They showed me a template of what the final, massive painting would be – a beautiful, bright abstract painting of peaks, valleys and wave-like designs, very much in theme with Epcot and its focus on nature and technology.

In museums, we always see the final product behind a frame. But to witness artists at work, and watch the painstaking process of planning, sketching and precision evoked a deeper appreciation. What was to become of the gigantic piece of art? According to the painter, at festival’s end it would be sliced up, mounted and put up for sale.

That wasn’t the only enormous, blank canvas on site, though. Another canvas ran along the main walkway, and it had a different purpose. This second one was a paint-by-number landscape for guests to fill in. 

Cast members handed guests small foam brushes and specific cups of paint. Each paint color corresponded to numbers on the canvas. By the end of the day, the mural was still unrecognizable, even though color splotches scattered across the elongated canvas. But a couple days later, the scene had taken form – an abstract, vibrant landscape of Epcot itself, complete with the golf ball Spaceship Earth, a swooping monorail and other noticeable landmarks.

Most every guest takes something home from Walt Disney World, but this was the first time my family and I got to leave something behind (other than the contents of my wallet). It was my family’s favorite festival offering.

With the International Festival of the Arts, Walt Disney World, with some help from its guests, chiseled out a masterpiece – a memorable way to be part of the magic.

 

 

 

 

A Starry Night at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum

During the evening an artistic air wafts over Amsterdam’s museum-studded park Museumplein. The magnificent Rijksmuseum, recently restored and renovated, is warehouse of historic masterpieces, and the exterior’s sweeping grandeur, spotlighted from the surrounding gardens, is a work of art in itself. Tourists and locals play and pose amongst the oversized, recognizable, “I amsterdam” letters, which take on ethereal form from nighttime mood lighting. The entire scene shimmers and distorts in an elongated reflecting pool. And at the far corner of the park, past the gardens, café and outdoor art exhibits, the Van Gogh museum inhales the artistic air and transports visitors to the world of a virtuoso.

 

Vincent Van Gogh had the rare ability to capture viewers with his paintings; leaving them somewhere between genius and madness, flush with vivid colors, distinctive techniques and deep emotion. Fittingly, his museum works from that same palette.

The Van Gogh Museum weaves the artist’s trademark individuality and layered emotions into its exhibition space. And like many of Van Gogh’s paintings, a quick glance does not do the museum justice. Luckily, the museum offers late hours until 10:00pm on Friday nights, complete with cocktails, moody music and interactive activities. The result, much like a Van Gogh painting, is a multidimensional and somewhat hazy experience that reveals the deeper stories behind the artist and his works.

The building itself is not filled to the brim, as you might expect from a museum dedicated to one person, and some famous pieces like The Starry Night are not located here. Regardless, the museum houses the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh works, including well-known masterpieces such as the vibrant Sunflowers and The Bedroom, and the colorful but mournful Wheatfield with Crows, one of his last paintings.

Large portions of the works are grouped chronologically, while other sections focus on comparing pieces and highlighting specific aspects of his work. The collection ranges from early works to his final masterpieces, and also displays sketches and writings. Taken all at once, the collection demonstrates his artistic evolution and personal devolution.

The Potato Eaters from 1885, for example, is a dark, intricately detailed scene where Van Gogh plays with light and shadow. But by 1889, Undergrowth portrays Van Gogh’s trademark heavy brush strokes and use of color; varying shades of green, yellow and blue are pulled from the underbrush up the twisting trees, adding a fluid, wave-like motion to a dense forest landscape.

The contrast of Van Gogh’s own works is, in many instances, stark and shocking – bright colors versus stormy landscapes, detailed sketches versus harsh brush strokes. The range of paintings shows the range of Van Gogh’s skill, as well as his cutting-edge use of novel techniques, and how his own emotions so vividly play out in color on a canvas stage.

The Van Gogh Museum tells the story of the artist’s tormented history through his artwork, and also pays special attention to his influences. As a complement, they include paintings by contemporaries and friends of Van Gogh, and in some cases written correspondences. In many instances, works from friends like Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin are placed in sequence next to Van Gogh’s own interpretations. The same is done with the international cultures that influenced him, from France to Japan. The result on many walls is a seamless transition that explains, without words, a surprising array of inspirations.

Van Gogh’s Almond Blossom, for example, painted in 1890 as a gift for his newborn nephew, displays very clear Japanese influences, with delicate, wispy branches set against a vivid color scheme.

As an artist Van Gogh evolved, and true to form, his museum also has not been content to remain static in its aesthetics. The main building opened in 1973 but renovations updated and modernized the structure with a new exhibition wing in the late 1990s. Mobile apps, classes and special events were developed for a more inclusive experience. A new glass entrance building is slated to open in the summer of 2015.

So while his painting by the same name is brilliant and beautiful, spending an actual starry night in Amsterdam is a much more fitting way to experience Vincent Van Gogh.