David and Cheri Goldberg have immortalized President Barack Obama in a sculpture made of chopped liver!

Yes, you read that correctly. The Goldbergs started their Thanksgiving tradition of creating chopped liver sculptures over three decades ago when their son, Jason, was just 18 months old. Now he’s the father of two little boys and the Goldbergs haven’t missed a year.

This creative couple collaborates to create these works of art. Cheri, a member of the GaGa Sisterhood, makes the chopped liver from an old family recipe. David, who’s a doctor by day and cartoonist by night, conceptualizes and then sculpts them.

In years past he’s crafted 3-dimensional, Thanksgiving-themed images of the Mayflower ship, Plymouth Rock, a pilgrim, a cornucopia, corn with husks, a turkey leg, and a Thanksgiving plate, complete with slices of turkey and all the trimmings. A year ago, after their second grandson was born, David created two toy blocks with their grandson’s names on them. Unfortunately, none of these works of art was ever captured with photos.

But this year, inspired by the election of our new president, they took pictures and proudly shared them with friends. The rule for their sculptures is that everything must be edible. First, David created a stencil of Obama and then, using poppy seeds, paprika, and colored sugar, crafted a likeness of our Prez.

So in the event that President Obama ever asks the classic Jewish question, What am I … chopped liver?, the Goldbergs can point to their work of art and say with certainty, Yes!

Are you up for an art adventure that’s messy but loads of fun and teaches a little science? On one of my summer visits to my granddaughters it was too hot to go outside. So Juliet got out her
National Geographic Little Kids Magazine and said: “Let’s make Blue Goo, Baba!”

We probably should have followed the directions and covered her art table with lots of newspapers. But since it’s washable, we just put our supplies right on the table. We used one large mixing bowl, a measuring cup of water, a box of cornstarch, 4 small bowls, and a box of neon food coloring.

In just a few minutes we had whipped up a large bowl of white goo. We divided the goo into the four small bowls, added about ten drops of food coloring into each bowl and the fun began. The weird goo hardens in your hands when you squeeze it and feels like a solid. When you open your hands, the goo feels like a liquid and rolls out of your hand. Juliet squealed and giggled as she squished her hands into the bowl, happily enjoying the physical sensations of the “goo.”

Two hours later we had four bowls of greenish, bluish, reddish goo all over our hands and smiles on our faces. Reluctantly, we cleaned up the mess but promised to make it again with Amelia next year.

Blue Goo Recipe

You will need:

• Newspapers
• Mixing bowl
• Cornstarch (16-ounce box)
• Measuring cup
• Water
• Blue food coloring

1. Pour a box of cornstarch into a bowl.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups (240 milliliters) of water.
3. Add about 15 drops of food coloring. You can also try this with different colors.
4. Mix it all together with your hands.

Have fun squishing!

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It’s never too early to start introducing your grandchildren to art appreciation. One of our
GaGa Sisterhood members recently told me she brought her four grandchildren to the Dale Chihuly exhibit. They range in age from 6 months to 4 years. “The kids loved it,” she said, “and the guards followed closely behind us!” Inspired by one of the sculptures, the three older children lay down on the floor and made a flower pattern. She took a picture of them looking down on them from the floor above. She said even the 6-month old’s eyes lit up in front of one of the pieces, proving that art can be enjoyed by any age if you let them appreciate it at their own level.

Another one of our members, a docent at the San Francisco De Young Museum, shares this belief and offers some suggestions for taking our grandchildren to museums. Below are some Bay Area Museums as well as her advice on what to do before you go and once you get there.

Bay Area Art Museums

San Francisco Fine Arts Museums: Legion of Honor and De Young
Asia Art Museum
SF MOMA
Cantor Museum, Stanford University
San Jose Museum of Art
San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum
Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Art Museum for Kids
Di Rosa Preserve in Napa

Before You Go

• Visit the museum website and find out what’s available for eating, photos,
  picnic, and areas to play and run around. The De Young has a children’s
  garden.
• Think about who you’re taking and their attention span. Consider 30 minutes
  for a first visit or two 15-minute visits with a break.
• Explain three important rules: NO running, NO loud voices, and NO touching;
  then explain why. When they feel the urge to touch, tell them to put their hands in their pockets.

When You Get There

• Take cues from the child on what they gravitate toward. Go with the flow especially if they see something else that catches their eye.
• Possible themes: look for animals or bugs and let them count the ones they find. Look for children in the art. Ask them to notice the different clothes they wear, their hair, their jewelry, shoes, feet, faces. You could ask them “who would you invite to your birthday party?”
• If you’re looking at sculptures, walk all around the sculpture. Try mimicking the pose and take a picture of the child in the pose.
• Think about your grandchild’s favorite stories and what they relate to. Then look for those themes in the artwork.
• Ask the children what they think is happening and what they notice. Pick one painting and write or tell a story about it. You can also bring paper and pens and sketch one aspect of a painting or sculpture.
• Visit the gift shop first and find a postcard of one of the museum’s paintings. Then try to find that painting in the gallery.
• The Di Rosa Preserve in Napa has a wonderful eclectic modern collection and nothing is labeled, intentionally.

More Local Museums

Thanks to GaGa Dee for offering some other local museums for children of varying ages:

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computing history. They are home to one of the largest international collections of computing artifacts in the world, encompassing computer hardware, ephemera, photographs, moving images, documents and software.

http://www.computerhistory.org/

The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose engages people of all ages in exploring and experiencing technology in our lives with interactive exhibits, an IMAX Dome Theater and a hands-on tech lab in their educational center.
http://www.thetech.org/

The Los Altos History Museum, located in one of the few remaining apricot orchards of Santa Clara Valley, has a wonderful train exhibit upstairs, a saddle to sit on with a cowboy hat to wear, and hard apricots to roll down a chute. There are temporary exhibits on the main floor, which last 2 to 3 months.
http://www.losaltoshistory.org/

Next to the Los Altos History Museum is the J. Gilbert Smith House. Built in 1905, the home is nestled under majestic heritage oaks and has been meticulously refurbished to replicate a farmhouse of the 1930’s. They have one bedroom with a lot of old toys, which you can look at but not to play with. There are old radios, typewriters, kitchen tools and gadgets.
http://www.losaltoshistory.org/house.htm

The Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto resides within the historic English County Style home and former offices of Dr. Thomas Williams, a prominent Palo Alto physician. Past changing exhibits have featured vintage toys, cars and sewing machines.
http://www.moah.org/

Books About Art

Looking at Pictures: An Introduction to Art for Young People by Joy Richardson
People in Art by Helen Williams
A Child’s Book of Art by Lucy Micklethwait
Art Up Close from Ancient to Modern by Claire D’Harcourt

Art Supplies

http://www.kidsart.com/store/supplies.html

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com

http://www.orientaltrading.com/