David Macaulay Lecture and Family Fun Day at FOOSANER ART MUSEUM Sept. 17
MELBOURNE, FLA. —Acclaimed author and illustrator David Macaulay will give a lecture and gallery walk on Saturday, Sept. 17, 10:30 a.m., at the FOOSANER ART MUSEUM where his exhibition Building Books: The Art of David Macaulay is currently on display. The lecture, in the Harris Auditorium, is free with museum admission and open to the public. Macaulay’s lecture will explore the process behind his ability to convey complex ideas through his graceful drawings.
Trained as an architect, Macaulay’s curiosity and talent led him to creating a series of books exploring fields as diverse as art, architecture, history, engineering, and design. His genius, an “explainer,” he modestly calls himself, is for visual exposition. With elegant drawings, clear descriptions and wry humor, Macaulay transforms simple and complex structures and machines into educating and entertaining experiences for children and adults alike.
As a young boy in Lancashire, England, Macaulay was fascinated by the way objects are made and how they operate. Out of cigar boxes, he constructed elevators. Using yarn, he made intricate systems of moving cable cars. In 1988, using his remarkable talents for translating concepts and information to the printed page, he was asked to illustrate The Way Things Work: From Levers to Lasers. Macaulay has since expanded the book to include digital technology (The New Way Things Work). The artist’s books— Building Big, Unbuilding, City, Mill, Mosque, Rome Antics, Ship, Angelo, Shortcut, Black and White, to name a few—have sold over three million copies in the United States alone, and have been published in a dozen languages. His books Cathedral, Castle and Pyramid have been made into a PBS mini-series. In 2008 he released The Way We Work, a book about the functions of the human body, and 2010’s Built to Last revisited his classic architecture books, reimagining scenes and looking at new research.
Macaulay is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the Caldecott Medal and Honor Awards.
Family Fun Day will start at 2 p.m. Macaulay will give a drawing demonstration followed by a story-telling activity. The event is best suited to upper elementary school age children. Space is limited and reservations are required, call (321)242-0737; Family Fun Day is free to members and $10 for non-members.
Macaulay will also sign books. Books currently available in the Museum Gift Shop are The New Way Things Work, The Way We Work and Cathedral. The exhibition runs through Oct. 2, 2011.
Museum Visitor Information
Location: 1463 Highland Avenue in the Eau Gallie District of Melbourne.
(321) 242-0737
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m., and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays are free all day.
Admission: Adults $5; seniors $3; children and students with I.D. $2. Free for Museum members and for faculty and students of Florida Institute of Technology. Special rates and tours are available for groups of eight or more; schedule by calling Tina at 242-0737 at least two weeks in advance.
