A Melodrama for One ActorFor thousands of years, humans have made art to tell stories — from an illustration of a hunt on a cave wall, to a documentary photograph of a current event. But art is just one way to tell a story! Oral storytelling, writing, and acting can also convey the tales of our lives from the simplest of experiences to complex explorations of the unknown.
Melodramas are dramatic plays that feature exaggerated emotions and predictable characters. In this melodrama for one actor, you will be the star of Must Pay the Rent as you play three different characters using only one prop.
Jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger was inspired by the world around him, including nature in all of its forms. He shared this love of the natural world with Rachel Lambert Mellon, a friend to VMFA, who was a talented gardener and landscape designer. This butterfly bracelet is part of a pair he designed for Mrs. Mellon.…
A parfleche bag is used to hold items like hunting supplies or personal valuables and is typically made from a rawhide and adorned with different pigmented symbolic designs. The parfleche, (French for “to turn away arrows”) pictured here was created by the Yakama people who live along the Columbia River and on the Columbian Plateau…
Subject Area:History and Social Science, Visual Arts
Grade Level:K-5
Celebrate the Art of Brazil: The Queen of the Sea!
Afro-Brazilian people of the Candomblé religion gather on February 2 every year on the northern shores of Brazil to honor the goddess Yemanjá. The festival of Yemanjá begins with an offering to the sea queen, made by tossing blue and white flowers into the ocean. Followers of Candomblé, which was formed by the Yoruba people of Africa, believe that this mermaid-like deity protects boats crossing the ocean. Fishermen seeking protection and guidance attend this festival offering gifts of flowers, perfume, and soap to the goddess. Many Yoruba works are in the VMFA collection of African Art.
As a teenager, designer Yves Saint Laurent made his own paper dolls by cutting out figures from magazines of famous models and creating paper outfits for them. He then staged fashion shows with the paper dolls for his sisters. Download the PDF to create your own YSL-inspired paper doll and outfit!
