Bring on the beads!
The Toledo Museum of Art is collecting handmade beads from artists, enthusiasts and community members as part of “The Bead Goes On,” a project culminating with the installation of a 10,000-bead curtain at the Museum. Contributors are invited to give as many as five original beads made of glass, metal, felt, kiln-dried wood or other non-organic materials. The completed work of art will be unveiled at the Museum’s Starting Place Gallery, and later permanently installed in the museum’s Glass Pavilion.

“I wanted to find a way to show off even the smallest forms of art,” says glass artist Robin Schultes, who teaches at the museum and who came up with the idea for the community art project. According to Schultes, bead-making is not only one of the oldest art forms known to man, but also a popular hobby for people of all ages.

“The ideal beadmaker is anyone and everyone,” says Schultes. “It doesn’t have to take a lot of time and effort, only as much as one wants to put into it.”

The project has already collected a wide variety of unique beads. Strands of the beaded curtain are hung in the Glass Pavilion Flameworking Studio as they are completed, and visitors are encouraged to come see the curtain’s progress. Visitors can also make beads of their own in one of the many hands-on activities, workshops and studio sessions at the museum.

For complete guidelines, submission information and an entry form, download the prospectus at www.toledomuseum.org/events/community.

Admission to the TMA is free. The museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to  6 p.m. and Sunday noon-6 p.m.; closed Mondays and major holidays. Friday evening hours are made possible by Fifth Third Bank.

Upcoming activities include: (“Family” designates activities open to all ages. Other activities are open to those 14 and older)

Free hands-on activities

Gordon Parks Inspired Beads - Feb. 5: 7-9 p.m., Libbey Court.

The Bead Goes On at the Family Center - March 7, 9 and 11: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Family Center. Make your own good luck charm using Model Magic ™ and add a bead to The Bead Goes On!

Batik Beads - March 26: 7-9 p.m., Libbey Court. Use fabric, watercolors and crayons to make dyed, batik-like beads.

Whistler Watercolors on Wooden Beads - April 11: 2-4 p.m., Libbey Court. Using the Whistler exhibition for inspiration, decorate wooden beads with watercolors.

Bead a Butterfly, Bead a Bee - April 23: 2-4 p.m., Libbey Court. Create insect-shaped beads.

Classes and workshops
The Bead Goes On Workshop - Saturdays (March 27, April 24): noon to 4 p.m. Make unique glass beads using a torch and soft glass. ($60 per session for Museum members/$75 for nonmembers).

The Bead Goes On Mardi Gras Workshop - Feb. 13: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and repeated at 2 to 6 p.m. Use molds to create glass beads in vibrant shapes and colors. ($60 for Museum members/$75 for nonmembers for each workshop)

Bean Cast Beads - Feb. 19: 6 to 9 p.m. Combine dried beans with melted bronze, then buff to a shine for unique, Swiss cheese-like patterned beads. ($50 for Museum members/$60 for nonmembers).

Beginning Glass Beadmaking - Ten Wednesdays beginning Feb. 20: 6-9 p.m. Get comfortable with a flameworking torch while learning bead designs, shapes and techniques. ($375 for Museum members/$400 for nonmembers)

Metal Beads Part II - Five Tuesdays beginning Feb. 23: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Fabricate more complex beads from sheet metal and wire. Metal Beads Part I is a prerequisite. ($105 for Museum members/$120 for nonmembers).

Metal Bead Casting - Five Thursdays beginning Feb. 25: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Shape wax into a bead shape to make a mold, and then inject the mold with liquid bronze. Polish and voila! ($105 for Museum members/$120 for nonmembers).

Felt Beads - Feb. 26: 6-9 p.m. Make unique beads out of wool felt. ($50 for Museum members/$60 for nonmembers).

Visit www.toledomuseum.org for the latest information about activities related to the Bead Goes On community art program.

The Toledo Museum of Art is collecting handmade beads from artists, enthusiasts and community members as part of “The Bead Goes On” project. (Photo courtesy of The Toledo.

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