NatureFest at Hagley Encourages Kids to Explore, Experience, and Enjoy our Environment

CONTACT:  Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                          (302) 658-2400, ext. 238  mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NatureFest at Hagley Encourages Kids to Explore, Experience, and Enjoy our Environment

Wilmington, Delaware- April 2012- Hagley Museum and Library presents a new spring event, NatureFest, on Saturday, April 28. NatureFest combines Arbor Day, Earth Day, and May Day celebrations. Hagley’s upper property will host hands-on activities and crafts for families from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission to NatureFest is $2 for members, $3 for not-yet members, and free for children five and under. Please use Buck Road Entrance off Route 100. NatureFest is an outdoor event, held rain or shine. Please dress appropriately for outdoor fun.

            Below is a sample of the activities offered at NatureFest:

·         Nature Walks: Visitors will be guided on nature walks in honor of the du Pont family’s annual tradition of searching for the first signs of spring at Hagley.*

·         Tours:  Experience E. I. du Pont’s formal French Garden; the Eleutherian Mills greenhouses; and Hagley’s champion trees, led by Hagley’s knowledgeable gardens and grounds staff.

·         Tree Climbing: Using a climbing harness, kids can scale one of Hagley’s trees.

·         Leaf Rubbings: Children will make rubbings from leaf plates and match them to trees on Hagley’s property.

·         Floriography: Families will discover a Victorian cipher tradition by creating tissue paper flowers in a variety of colors to send a “secret message.”

·         Capillary Action Experiment: Young scientists and their parents can see how capillaries work to transport water throughout a plant.

*Nature hikes are not suitable for strollers or people with difficulty walking.

            NatureFest will also feature hands-on activities, experiments, and displays by the American Chemical Society, 4-H, Girl Scouts of the USA, and Boy Scouts of America.

The Belin House Organic Café will be selling a selection of family-friendly outdoor favorites. Highlights of the menu include hamburgers, hotdogs, and Portobello mushroom burgers, fruit salad, blueberry lemonade, and more.

Hagley Museum and library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. For more information, call 302-685-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org.

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Community Celebration of Edward Loper, Sr., Debuts Film on his Life

CONTACT: Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                     (302) 658-2400, ext. 238    mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Celebration of Edward Loper, Sr., Debuts Film on his Life

            Wilmington, Delaware – April 2012 – Hagley Museum and Library invites the community to the Celebration of Edward Loper, Sr., on Sunday, April 29, 2 p.m., at the Baby Grand Theater in Wilmington. A new film, Conversation with Edward Loper: African American Painter, based on oral history interviews with the late Edward Loper, Sr., will be shown, followed by remarks from University of Delaware Professor Emeritus Dr. James Newton, and a light reception. Admission is free and families are welcome.

            This event is a collaboration of the Christina Cultural Arts Center, Delaware Heritage Commission, Delaware Humanities Forum, Delaware Historical Society, and Hagley Museum and Library.

About the Film

            In Conversation with Edward Loper: African American Painter , Mr. Loper reflects on growing up in Delaware, his education at Howard High School, early influences on his painting, and his painting philosophy. He is painting through much of the interview, filmed on a sunny, crisp fall day in Wilmington’s Brandywine Park. The footage is interspersed with stills of Mr. Loper's paintings, historic Delaware scenes (such as the Allied Kid leather factory where Loper worked as a young man) and famous national figures mentioned in the interview, such as Horace Pippin, Alain Locke , and Aaron Douglas.

            Conversation with Edward Loper: African American Painter is a short film created from a 1998 interview with Mr. Loper filmed as part of research for the film, A Separate Place: The Schools P.S. du Pont Built (2003).  

            DVDs of Conversation with Edward Loper: African American Painter will be available for sale at this event.

About Edward Loper, Sr.

Edward Loper, Sr., 1947

            Edward Loper, Sr., who passed away on October 11, 2011, was born on the east side of Wilmington on April 7, 1916, and lived in Delaware for his entire life. From 1936 to 1941, Loper worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Art Project, a New Deal program designed to provide work for unemployed artists. He then took a job at the Allied Kid leather tanning factory in Wilmington and continued painting after working hours. In 1947, he became a full-time art instructor. Loper taught at the Delaware Art Museum, Lincoln University, and Wilmington's Jewish Community Center, in addition to other places. His paintings are found in many of the nation's most prestigious art collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., Howard University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Clark-Atlanta University Collection of African-American Art. Locally, Loper's paintings are found in the collections of the Delaware Art Museum, the Biggs Museum, the University of Delaware's Paul R. Jones Collection of African-American Art, as well as private collections.

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware. For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org

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American Eagle Exhibit opens this weekend

CONTACT: Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                     (302) 658-2400, ext. 238    mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“The American Eagle: Symbol of Freedom and Enterprise to the du Pont Family”

            Wilmington, Delaware – March 2012 – The image of the bald eagle has been an important symbol in the history of the du Pont family. Hagley’s new exhibit, "The American Eagle: Symbol of Freedom and Enterprise to the du Pont Family," explores the role and significance this iconic bird has had on the du Ponts from the start of their journey to America. The exhibit will be on display from March 10, 2012, to January 6, 2013,  in the du Pont family ancestral home, Eleutherian Mills. Included in regular admission and tour and free for members.

            "The American Eagle: Symbol of Freedom and Enterprise to the du Pont Family” traces the theme of the American eagle from the du Pont family’s emigration from France in 1799 when they boarded a ship named American Eagle to the eagle motif found in the decorative arts collection of Louise du Pont Crowninshield, the last du Pont family member to live in Eleutherian Mills, more than 100 years later. Artifacts of interest include a portrait of the ship American Eagle by Stanley Arthurs, gunpowder cans with the eagle labeling, and ceramics with eagles depicted.

            “As a national icon symbolizing freedom, the American Eagle appears repeatedly throughout the history of the DuPont Co.’s gunpowder manufacturing and for the last du Pont who lived in Eleutherian Mills.  For more than 100 years, DuPont Co. made its highly regarded Eagle brand gunpowder and later Mrs. Louise du Pont Crowninshield, when furnishing the ancestral home, began collecting decorative arts specifically depicting eagles including ceramics, hooked rugs, wooden carvings and more” said Debra Hughes, Curator of Collections and Exhibits.

The exhibit is included in the tour of Eleutherian Mills, which is accessible by bus. Buses run daily, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is located in Wilmington, Delaware. For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org

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