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Mazza Museum Awards Medallion of Excellence

Mazza Museum Awards Medallion of Excellence

University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum’s Medallion of Excellence for Artistic Diversity is a biennial award to recognize an outstanding artist of children’s books. This year’s winner is artist and author James Gurney. Gurney is known for his illustrated book series “Dinotopia” in which he specializes in painting realistic images of scenes that can’t be photographed from dinosaurs to ancient civilizations. He is also a dedicated outdoor sketcher, sharing his adventures and insights as he paints with gouache, watercolor, casein, and oils. Gurney joins a list of other Medallion winners honored for their work of outstanding merit. The key criteria for...

Mazza Museum to Host its 26th Annual Weekend Conference

Mazza Museum to Host its 26th Annual Weekend Conference

The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum is hosting its 2023 Weekend Conference on November 10-11, 2023. Each year Mazza’s two-day educational conference welcomes some of the top authors and illustrators to meet and present to local teachers, librarians, and children’s book enthusiasts. Those individuals looking to attend the event can register online. The Weekend Conference will kick off on Friday, November 10 when Mazza welcomes its first two guest speakers to the stage. The event continues Saturday morning with refreshments, door prizes, and five more children’s book authors and illustrators.   This year’s featured guest authors and illustrators include (in order...

Mazza Museum Hosts Annual Art Camp

Mazza Museum Hosts Annual Art Camp

University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum welcomed more than 50 children to its annual art camp, July 24-28. Previously known as the Young Artist Workshop, the week-long camp allowed students in fourth through eighth grades to explore “Unusual Media.” Participants spent each day in one of five different classes, all offering hands-on opportunities with unique types of arts. While some students painted on non-traditional black canvases, others wire sculptures and hula hoop looms. Students were also offered the opportunity to see Mazza’s curator, Daniel Chudzinski, demo how to sculpt figures using monster clay, a medium used in for creating detailed sculpting....

Mazza Museum Holds Annual Summer Conference

Mazza Museum Holds Annual Summer Conference

University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum hosted its annual Summer Conference July 17-19th, welcoming children’s book illustrators and authors to campus to educate, inform, and entertain those in attendance. The three-day conference brought together teachers, librarians, and book enthusiasts from around the country to learn about the artists and to hear the stories behind their work. Mazza Museum’s Summer Conference serves as a “family reunion” for many guests, as Director Ben Sapp says that given the conference’s nearly 30-year run, the annual event is one people look forward to each year. For guest speaker and children’s book author and illustrator Matt...

Mazza Museum Invites You to Explore the Enchanted Brush Exhibition: “Hidden Worlds”

Mazza Museum Invites You to Explore the Enchanted Brush Exhibition: “Hidden Worlds”

University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum invites the public to the ninth installment of the annual Enchanted Brush Exhibition. The exhibition, “Hidden Worlds,” is on display from June 15 to September 15, 2023 in University of Findlay’s Lea Gallery. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Daniel Chudzinski, M.F.A. is the founder of the Enchanted Brush Exhibition and serves as the Curator for Mazza Museum. “It has been my honor to introduce visitors to the original art of some of the most iconic fantasy artists in the world,” said Chudzinski. “The pieces represent artists from across the world, from...

Aliens Have Landed at University of Findlay

Aliens Have Landed at University of Findlay

University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum welcomed nearly a dozen children in grades 5-8 for their annual STEAM Camp. The five-day forensics camp focuses on the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), and this year features an alien theme. Students start each morning with a debriefing about alien encounters or what animals scientists say might be alien life forms. On Monday they visited the University’s Newhard Planetarium, where they learned about space and how little humans have actually explored—only making it as far as Mars, and only with a rover. After leaving the planetarium, students suited up in...

“The Magic of Mazza” Receives Two Emmy Award Nominations

“The Magic of Mazza” Receives Two Emmy Award Nominations

“The Magic of Mazza” documentary has been nominated for two Emmy awards, recognizing the partnership and hard work of the University of Findlay Mazza Museum and WBGU-PBS. The hour-long documentary explores the history of Mazza Museum – the largest and most diverse collection of original picture book artwork in the world. “The Magic of Mazza” was unveiled at Mazza’s Weekend Conference event in November 2022, instantly creating excitement and bringing back fond memories. Benjamin Sapp, director of the Mazza Museum, recalled the exciting project. “All ten of the authors responded to my email request within a day. They were excited...

Mazza’s Funday Sunday Heading to the Toledo Zoo in April

Mazza’s Funday Sunday Heading to the Toledo Zoo in April

University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum will hold its next Funday Sunday event on April 2. The event will be held from 1-3:30 p.m. Unlike previous Funday Sundays, April’s event will be held in the Toledo Zoo’s Promedica Museum of Natural History, and in the Mazza Galleria in that building. The Funday Sunday program is free, but you will need to pay for entrance into the Toledo Zoo. The family-friendly learning extravaganza is designed to encourage artistic expression, enhance literacy knowledge, develop critical thinking skills, and introduce STEAM activities for the whole family. April’s Funday Sunday will welcome special guest Jim...