Findlay is definitely a food town. My ever expanding waistline is definitely a testament to that. But did you know that we’re pretty awesome with the arts as well? With so many galleries in town, I found it difficult to choose where to go first.
I decided on the Mazza Museum on the University of Findlay campus. It intrigued me because a college campus is not exactly where you might think to find a museum full of artwork from children’s book illustrators. And well, I maybe have the maturity level of a five year old sometimes, so yeah… I felt like this was probably right up my alley.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that there were shelves of books all along the bottom of the wall throughout the museum. They were all at kid-level and they were all placed under the artwork you would find within them. After another quick glance around the room, I found a slew of chairs set up. Two seats were already taken up by a little girl and her grandmother happily reading the book that they had selected. Unlike other galleries, kids are definitely encouraged here and you can spend hours just listening to your little one reading you story after story with no one bothering you. How cool is that?
As you look at the works themselves, they are all grouped with the types of techniques used. From the more traditional watercolors to the less traditional cross-stitching, you can find a little bit of many different kinds of artwork throughout the museum. I personally loved see
ing the works that took you step-by-step through what the work looked like up until they reached the final product. That inspired me to want to make something beautiful myself.
The Mazza Museum is a great stop for adults and kids alike. Adults can relive their childhood with some of their favorite characters, as well as discover some great artists that are newer to them. The little artist and the little reader can have a fun time learning about what goes into making the books that they so cherish. It’s definitely a great rainy day activity for all!