The Queens Museum of Art (QMA) will be celebrating its third annual Halloween event by going under the sea as a part of its “Boo! An Underwater Halloween Spooktacular,” scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 20 at 2 p.m.
In the spirit of its current exhibition, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, QMA enlisted the talents of artist and puppeteer Jenny Romaine to transform the second floor of the museum into a Halloween-themed marine world for the entire family.
“She’s going to create a magical underwater experience,” said Debra Wimpfheimer, director of Strategic Partnerships at QMA.
Wimpfheimer went on to explain that Romaine will use cloth she’s made with her performance collective, Great Small Works, to create the effect of water. This sea of fabrics will be teeming with life, and accompanying Romaine will be a group of what she calls “animators” who will be controlling puppets, some of them as large as 12 feet tall.
Guests will be invited to dive into an array of activities inspired by QMA’s Caribbean: Crossroads of the World exhibit. Because the exhibit features many masks and sculptures, kids will have the opportunity to make their own sea monster masks and candy sculptures inspired by works in the show. They can even get a head start on the mask-making by printing out the materials from the Caribbean: Crossroads of the World event page at QMA’s website. Other activities include a Starfish Tarot Card reading, Shipwreck Treasure Hunt, Phosphorescent Photo Booth and Underwater Costume Parade, among others. The event will be catered by Dee’s Brick Oven Pizza.
Wimpfheimer said the Halloween Spooktacular has drawn approximately 200 attendees in the past and QMA is expecting a similar turnout for this year.
Tickets are $75 for up to six family members including two adults plus three raffle tickets and $35 for one adult and one child plus one raffle ticket. Both packages also include a one-year family membership to QMA. Raffle prizes include a $50 gift certificate to AMC Theaters, a Young Chef’s Academy Chef’s Club membership plus three 90-minute cooking classes (for children 4 to 18) and one free week at QMA’s Big Time Summer Art Thing for Kids day camp, among others. To purchase tickets and for more information, call 718-592-9700, Ext. 141 or visit www.queensmuseum.org.
