Decompress: Mindful Museum Musings

This event does not require registration; see further details below.

Fall is a busy, chaotic time. Come to the Harvard Art Museums and enjoy an afternoon of mindful interactions with works of art and relaxing, art-focused activities. Offered by staff from the Harvard Art Museums and the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, these talks and activities encourage us to take a break and learn about ways to rest our minds, reflect on positivity, and go slow.

Whether it’s by listening to a curator talk about a painting you can take comfort in being around or learning about a sculpture that has ties to meditative practices or spending a sustained session drawing in a gallery, we invite you to find time to decompress in our spaces.

Each talk or activity below is about 30 minutes long. Join us for as much or as little as you like!

1pm
Sounds, Sights, and Moods
Explore a 19th-century painting, with Miriam Stewart, Curator of the Collection, Division of European and American Art, Harvard Art Museums

1:45pm
Mindful Drawing
Sketch in the Silver Cabinet gallery, with Rebecca Miller Brown, Assistant Director, Graduate Student Programming, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University

2:30pm
A Study in Slowing Down
Take a deep dive into a contemporary sculpture, with Jen Thum, Associate Director of Academic Engagement and Campus Partnerships and Research Curator, Division of Academic and Public Programs, Harvard Art Museums

3:15pm
Scaling Mountains
Closely examine scholars’ rocks across a variety of media, with Yan Yang, Assistant Curator of the Collection, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art, Harvard Art Museums

4pm
A Colorful and “Comfort-Full” Composition
Find tranquility within a contemporary painting, with Sarah Lieberman, Cunningham Fellow in Academic and Public Programs, Division of Academic and Public Programs, Harvard Art Museums

Please check in with museum staff at the Visitor Services desk in the Calderwood Courtyard to request to join any of these activities. You may drop in at any time after checking in. Each activity is limited to 18 people and available on a first-come, first-served basis; no registration is required. Please note that space is limited for the drawing activity.

The Harvard Art Museums offer free admission every day, Tuesday through Sunday. Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museums.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.