ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Art Venture inside the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke.

ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

One of the many red wooden boxes contains the wooden puzzle Cubicus.

ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Thirteen-year-olds Erin Newman (from left), Jazmine Burnette and Hanna Martin play with the lumia lab.

ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Sofia, 7, her brother Andres, 5, and their mother, Clara Enriquez, paint and use rubber stamps.

With swooping and majestic rooflines, it's easy to see that the Taubman Museum of Art is a masterpiece from the outside. Inside, galleries are filled with media of all types meant for quietly contemplating from a short distance. There are even signs nearby reminding us to look but not touch.

For those interested in a more hands-on approach, the Taubman indulges kids of all ages. With a huge spectrum of creative programs and classes, there are options for budding artists, ranging from serious to not so serious. Parents might even be pleasantly surprised to find that prices and time commitments range greatly, too.

Art Venture

Bright yellow double doors on the first floor of the Taubman welcome children of all ages to create art of any kind.

The first time I entered the Art Venture gallery, I was impressed. When a woman named Miss Hillary introduced herself, I expected great things. Miss Hillary (Hillary Hardison, Art Venture gallery attendant) not only monitors the crafting going on in each of the room's seven stations, she also helps anyone attending a daily or drop-in program to complete the craft assigned for the day.

Miss Hillary gave me and my 12- and 8-year-old daughters the grand tour. The seven stations range from a puppet theater to an ink-stamping table to something called a lumia lab. During a daily or drop-in program, there are specific crafts available at one of these stations for kids to explore.

1. I brought my kids for different programs at different times, and each was drawn to a video and sound contraption near the entrance. Smiling into the small digital camera, my 12-year-old, Emma, and her friend spent a lot of time taking numerous pictures of themselves -- laughing at their own silly faces and poses. They soon learned they could make their own music to accompany these masterpieces, multiplying the creative outcomes.

2. A long white table, narrowed at the end, teaches kids about forced perspective. I know, many regular museum-goers have seen this before. But this was not your average art lesson. Made of a shiny, clean white surface, the table is surrounded by benches inviting kids to sit and create the most colorful works of art.

3. Storytelling is an art form, too. Large velvet curtains make up most of the puppet station, which invites puppeteers to tell their own stories with hand-crafted puppets. My kids were only interested in producing and directing, and they delighted in the large, furry puppets behind the curtains. They put on shows for each other and even other children, who took a break from their art projects.

4. In the lumia lab, my daughter and her friend took turns creating a light show. Here, children can rearrange reflective objects on a slow-moving turntable while turning on different colored lights. Other kids can sit on a bench nearby to enjoy the brightly colored light shows.

5. My 8-year-old, Madison, loved the stamping studio most of all. Kid-sized stools line up along a table, inviting you to stamp to your heart's content. With dozens of stamp designs (ranging from cute little animals to geometric shapes and even textures), different colored inks and a sheets of white paper, the possibilities are endless.

6. Next up is a stone palette meant for water painting. I really wondered how much fun this could be without actual paint, but my kids surprised me. They spent a lot of time exploring their brush strokes here. This even held the attention of my 12-year-old, who loved painting with different types of brushes and watching them dry.

7. My favorite of the seven Art Venture stations was the art boxes. Red wooden boxes are filled with your basic art lessons, like white paper and pencils. Interlocking blocks might teach someone how to design his or her own geometric shape. Picture cards and a ruler might teach someone perspective. Pulling a mirror and colored pencils from one box, I drew my own eye -- a work of art I could be proud of.

The daily programs

For those artists interested in exploring all media, the daily programs might be your best option. Not to mention, these programs are free for museum members or free with regular museum admission ($5.50 to $10.50). If you plan on attending one of these programs every week, you should consider signing up for a family membership ($70 and up). I also felt these programs were easy for many children to participate in without rules or too much structure.

Classes range from Mommy and Me Mornings (Tuesdays), meant for preschoolers, to Passionate about Printmaking (Fridays) for older kids. The programs meant for preschoolers are scheduled for mornings or early afternoons. A parent must attend these programs with children and may not simply drop their preschoolers off. The programs geared toward older kids are typically scheduled either after school or on the weekends, and caregivers aren't required to stay for these events.

Each week, the programs are the same, but the art project is different. The week I attended with my daughters, three or four kids joined them. Now that school's out, I've been told these programs should stay very busy. Scott Crawford, the Taubman's director of education, said weekend classes are typically the most popular. He added that about 50 to 100 children are expected to drop in during the summer programs.

I brought my 12-year-old and her friend along to The Art of the Family (Saturdays). Even though we aren't all related, we had fun creating art with contact paper, tissue paper and glitter. We worked at the long white table to construct items that could be hung in our windows at home. I loved watching the girls work with glitter -- I don't usually buy the stuff for my kids to use at home (I'm sure many mothers understand why).

As always, the Art Venture room was completely open. So, if the kids weren't interested in the art project du jour, they could have explored any other station in the room with unyielding freedom.

One afternoon, I took my 8-year-old to Comic Capers (Thursdays). Madison's a lively little girl, filled to brim with personality, and I looked forward to seeing what type of cartoon characters she would dream up. But as we sat and drew, she complained that she couldn't draw anything but stick people. Frustrated, she explained that she'd rather play with the stamps instead. It was this particular afternoon that I was glad she had the rest of Art Venture to explore. Madison spent most of her time carefully choosing different stamps and ink colors for her masterpiece and walked away satisfied and confident.

Summer programs

Of course there will be camps -- many camps. There are nine camps planned this summer, offering lessons ranging in basic painting to sculpting with clay for children ages 5 to 13. Cost is $195 each (or $165 for museum members). All camps will take place in the education and outreach studio, located adjacent to the Art Venture room (check the Web site for camp details).

Crawford said although he is looking forward to all of the camps, he is most excited by the July archaeology and architecture camps (aimed at middle school students), the result of a partnership with Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's home away from Monticello.

"Both camps will prove not only extremely fun, but also engaging and educational," Crawford said.

He added that the museum will offer drop-in craft days called Summer Art Escapades. From 10 to 11:30 a.m. Fridays, children ages 4 to 8 can watch a performance by a singer/storyteller, magician or puppeteer and make art to take home. This summer program is free to members and is included with admission to the museum.

I'm thrilled to see the daily programs will also continue during the summer (for a schedule, check the calendar at taubmanmuseum.org). However, the art clubs that have been going on during the school year will take a break and will return again in the fall.

IF YOU GO

Taubman Museum of Art

Where: 110 Salem Ave., downtown Roanoke

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday

Museum admission (includes Art Venture): $10.50 general; $9, ages 60 and older; $8.50, students; $5.50, ages 4 to 12. Annual memberships, which include unlimited museum and Art Venture admission (among other discounts), start at $35 for individuals and $70 for families.

Contact: 342-5760 or www.taubmanmuseum.org