Open Studio From Home:
Alexander Calder
Sat, June 12, 2021
11 am–12 pm
Alexander Calder, Clown from Calder's Circus, 1926–1931. Galvanized steel wire, painted wood, cloth, yarn, leather, metal, and button, 10 1/2 × 7 3/4 × 5 3/4 in. (26.7 × 19.7 × 14.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from a public fundraising campaign in May 1982. One half the funds were contributed by the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust. Additional major donations were given by The Lauder Foundation; the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.; the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc.; an anonymous donor; The T. M. Evans Foundation, Inc.; MacAndrews & Forbes Group, Incorporated; the DeWitt Wallace Fund, Inc.; Martin and Agneta Gruss; Anne Phillips; Mr. and Mrs. Laurance S. Rockefeller; the Simon Foundation, Inc.; Marylou Whitney; Bankers Trust Company; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth N. Dayton; Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz; Irvin and Kenneth Feld; Flora Whitney Miller. More than 500 individuals from 26 states and abroad also contributed to the campaign 83.36.3a-h. 
2021 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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Families with kids of all ages
You are invited to Open Studio From Home, free weekly online art classes with Whitney educators! Participants will experiment, create, and learn together with at-home art materials.
Alexander Calder began creating Calder's Circus in 1926 after seeing a real circus performance. Using everyday materials, he built his own miniature one equipped with dozens of performer figurines. Calder carried his circus in suitcases and performed it for his friends in Europe and America.
Together, we will gather unique materials from around our homes. Then, we will build our own miniature circus performers!
Materials:
- Scraps of paper and cardboard
- Materials from your recycling bin, like bottle caps and plastic containers
- Wire
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Tape
- Rubber bands