Museum invites visitors to create own 'color fields'

Vermeer’s ‘Woman Holding a Balance’ (1664) will be on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts Aug. 8-Sept. 2.

At the Toledo Museum of Art from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, all ages are invited to paint "color fields," an abstract style that emerged in the mid-20th century and is characterized by large surfaces spread with solid color.

The Canaday Gallery features a show of paintings in this style by the late Jules Olitsky. Among methods offered will be spray-on paint and finger paint.

Never heard the glass armonica? Renowned musician Dennis James will play this instrument, invented by Benjamin Franklin, at a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Great Gallery of the museum. He'll punctuate the performance with humorous anecdotes about his 40-year-career as a musician.

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Call for artists: The Bean Creek Art Show seeks entries in several categories for a juried exhibit Sept. 7 through Oct. 8. Work must have been completed within the last five years and will be shown in the Thompson Museum's Visitor's Center in Hudson, Mich., in Lenawee County. Applications are at thompsonmuseum.org. Information: 517-448-8125.

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Pottery by Mary Dennis will be at Akimbo Gallery, 175 N. Main St., Bowling Green, beginning with a 5 to 8 p.m. reception Aug. 3 and continuing through Sept. 1. Entertainment will be by singer-songwriter Tim Tegge.

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Johannes Vermeer'sWoman Holding a Balance (1664) will be on view Aug. 8 through Sept. 2 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Vermeer, beloved 17th-century Dutch painter, is known to have painted only about 35 works. The painting is on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington. There is an admission fee. Information: dia.org.

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Life is good at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where a record-breaking 6.28 million people visited during the fiscal year ending June 30; almost 600,000 more than the previous 12-month period. The Met attributes the increase to new galleries devoted to Islamic art and its new American wing. Nearly 218,000 school visitors attended, 3,200 more than the previous year. Membership, at 170,000, is at an all-time high.

Send items at least two weeks in advance to tlane@theblade.com.