Children Put Stamp Of Creativity On Fraktur Exhibit During Hands-on Workshop At Allentown Art Museum

December 30, 1990|by MELANIE NOVAK, The Morning Call

All ages were invited to the opening of the recent Dietrich Fraktur exhibit at the Allentown Art Museum, but the children probably had the most fun.

Guides explained the basic colors and patterns found in many Fraktur works and pointed out the bright yellows and reds in the intricate documents as the children, some accompanied by parents, toured the exhibit on the museum's first floor. Each child also held a worksheet detailing the origin and history of the folk art form.

But the big attraction was in the basement, at the printing workshop. Here, the children tried their hands at decorating note cards, greeting cards and wrapping paper with Fraktur motifs.

Fraktur documents have been compared to medieval illuminated manuscripts. The stylistic documents mark events in an individual's life. Most documents are baptismal certificates or religious messages in unjoined or "broken" script. Traditional ornamentation, in vivid primary colors, includes birds, hearts, flowers, animals, angels and geometric shapes.

Fraktur also was used for student awards, bookmarks and bookplates, and marriage and death certificates.

In the basement workshop, guest teacher Sandra Burwell had cut basic Fraktur motifs --birds, tulips, hearts and leaves -- into gum rubber erasers. She explained the process of stamping the designs onto paper to a group of 15 or 20 children clustered expectantly around her large table.

As she carefully dipped the stamps into vivid poster paints and pressed out neat and meticulous designs, the children found it difficult to politely conceal their anticipation.

"Wait, that's just the first part. I have to show you how we clean the stamps," cautioned Burwell when the children sensed the opportunity to run to several large tables where pots of paint, paper, brushes and stamps beckoned. "We never use water, because that would hurt the stamps ... "

Finally, the demonstration was finished and the novice Fraktur artists were allowed to bang out patterns to their heart's content.

Meg Geneszko, 9, of Fogelsville, said her favorite designs were flowers and birds. "I like the downstairs part better," she said. Her fellow artists at the table agreed.

"The downstairs part is better," echoed 7-year-old Schelley Snyder of Allentown.

Geneszko fashioned a card of blue flowers and red birds, and wrote "Mary Christmas" on the inside.

At the next table, a little boy wearing a big fedora experimented with painting half of the stamp brown and the other half a color that he said was purple. "I'm not sure how you get purple," he said.

One boy wanted to know if he could paint the outline, not the cut motif, of the rubber stamp. Burwell, after some thought, said it would make an excellent border.

Another girl was busy with wrapping paper. She said she needed enough to wrap "about 50 presents" that she had made for her family.

The workshop and exhibit was one of the museum's Artventures, a weekend program that invites parents to explore current exhibits with their children and participate in the related craft workshops.

The Dietrich Fraktur exhibit continues through Jan. 6. For information on future Artventures, call the Allentown Art Museum at 432-4333.

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