Jisu Sheen Photos
Fernanda Franco engaging a new generation.
Jonathan Bower, Myra, Caleb, Louise Umutoni, and Estelle gather together for a quick moment before exploring what to draw next.
Aristocratic portraits lined the walls of the Yale Center for British Art on Day 2 of its grand reopening weekend Sunday, accompanied by the low din of museum-goers walking around, pointing out famous pieces. But the kiddos knew where the real action was at. They were on the fourth floor, sitting on the carpet being mesmerized by local literacy org New Haven Reads’ art-themed storytime.
“I love green,” said Fernanda Franco, New Haven Reads community engagement director and storyteller extraordinaire, taking a quick detour from The Day the Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers and Drew Daywalt. She sang her next sentence: “It’s my favorite color!”
Franco then asked the young audience to raise their hands if their favorite color was purple, pink, yellow, and so on. She walked around the space in dramatic turns and half-lunges, the stage presence of a true performer. And she is one.
Local music fans from the pre-pandemic days might recognize Franco from her showstopping band FaTE, or Fernanda and The Ephemeral. Rocking the stage at Cafe Nine or the State House, the band of self-described “deeply creative neo-soulmates” played the jazzy, R&B, neo-soul soundtrack to countless New Haven nights. It has been a few years since the band last released new music, but Franco hasn’t stopped singing.
In her bright yellow cardigan and impromptu melodies, Franco had fourth-floor story-listeners in the palm of her hand. Every time a kid shouted out in excitement, she responded with a graceful remark before turning to her own exclamations from the book. When she was done with her book, she leaned down to look at some of the drawings her eager audience had been working on.
Among those young artists was 4‑year-old Abigail, whose specialty is drawing lines of all kinds. It was her mother Stefanie Bivona’s second time at the museum in two days. Bivona and her friends had been having a post-Claire’s‑Corner-Copia stroll on Saturday when they noticed the museum’s opening weekend festivities and wandered in. Bivona was so impressed by the variety of kids’ activities that she brought Abigail the next day. “I’m having the best time,” Bivona said.
Stefanie Bivona and 4-year-old Abigail enjoying the family-friendly atmosphere.
This was exactly what Hanna Wirta Kinney, head of education at the Yale Center for British Art, had in mind.
Her goal for this opening weekend was to “bring families in” and find ways to signal that “early learners” are welcome. While the building has been closed, she said, the center has been active off-site, holding art and imagination programs at youth mentoring org LEAP and the New Haven library branches. Now, Wirta Kinney’s job is to bring that energy back to the museum itself.
Hannah Wirta Kinney: "Creativity, imagination, and fun."
Her ideas have been both practical and intellectual. For example, one of the tables in the refreshments area on Sunday was a low, kid-sized table, with kid-sized plastic chairs. And because Wirta Kinney knows the walls of portraits of stiff British people might feel boring or outdated — ”our collection has its challenges” — she and her teammates are working on ways to highlight material that is more engaging to today’s tastes. An upcoming exhibition on Hew Locke, a Guyanese British sculptor, will focus on overturning symbols of Britain. (If kids appreciate anything, it’s a good overturn.)
In the meantime, siblings 7‑year-old Caleb, 4‑year-old Myra, and 2‑year-old Estelle found fun in their own creations. Using drawing pages and clipboards supplied by the museum, the three youngsters scribbled and sketched their afternoon away.
Estelle, 2, with drawings of "frogs and flowers."
Myra, 4, showing drawings of her and her friends.
Caleb, 7, with sketches he made of the artwork on the walls.
Estelle borrowing my reporter's notebook.
The family had watched Franco’s storytime earlier and loved it. According to the trio’s mother, Louise Umutoni, it was “fantastic,” very engaging, and the perfect type of book. “The proof is in the pudding,” she said, “and the pudding is finding the right book.”
“What was your favorite part?” I asked Estelle, about the storytime or perhaps the museum in general.
“Purple,” she said, pointing to Myra’s purple hairtie.
It made sense then, the importance of the low kids’ table or Franco’s efforts to lean down to child height when commenting on the drawings. Sometimes what we see best is what is closest to our eye.
