Telfair Museums will host a Free Family Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Jepson Center, located at 207 W York Street in Savannah. This Free Family Day celebrates the art of illustration and the new exhibition Norman Rockwell & Peers: Illustrating Childhood. 

Families are invited to participate in hands-on art making activities, story reading sessions, and exploration of Telfair’s Children’s Art Museum. Free admission to the Jepson Center is available for all residents of Chatham, Bryan, Effingham, Liberty, Bulloch, Beaufort, and Jasper Counties.

“Opening our exhibitions and artistic activities to our community on a regular basis, free of charge, is important to Telfair Museums,” said Harry Delorme, Director of Education and Senior Curator. “With the recent opening of the Norman Rockwell & Peers: Illustrating Childhood exhibition and additional attractions, we are expecting a big turnout this weekend.”

The Free Family Day offers four family art activities throughout the afternoon, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and the activities will focus on narrative art, nursery rhymes, and portraiture. A selfie station and family reading will be in the Rockwell Exhibition. Three illustrators, Jennifer Mack Watkins, Rashad Doucet, and Nancy So Miller, are featured throughout these afternoon hours. The illustrators will give brief presentations at 2 p.m. in the auditorium, and Miller will be reading her book on the big screen. 

Watkins holds a BA in Studio Arts from Morris Brown College, an MAT from Tufts University, and an MFA in Printmaking from Pratt Institute. She is on the Board of Trustees at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center. Her work has been acquired at prominent institutions including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Library of Congress, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Getty Archives, and she has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Vogue and Essence. She illustrated the children’s book: You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce! Written by Carmella van Fleet & Chiquita Mullins Lee, published by Kokila/Penguin Random House to rave reviews. For more information, please visit https://www.jennifermwatkins.com/.

Doucet is a Louisiana native who's been drawing comics since his grandma gave him a pencil and some paper to keep quiet during church. He's known for his work with Oni Press on comics like Invader Zim, Rick and Morty, and Alabaster Shadows. He's also worked with DC Comics, Stela, and most recently was a part of the Eisner-winning Elements: Fire Anthology. Rashad is currently a professor of sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design. His books and graphic novels include Art Club (Little, Bown, 2024). For more information, please visit https://rashaddoucet.artstation.com/.

Miller is a Korean American children's book author/illustrator and art teacher. She creates tiny worlds that capture the magic and joy of childhood for clients. These worlds are handmade and allow the viewer to feel like they are part of that moment. She illustrates subtle narratives and emotions with paper. Holiday House has acquired the rights to Miller’s book Sun, Moon, and Star, the retelling of a Korean folktale that tells the story of three sisters who outsmart a tiger. For more information, please visit https://www.nmillerillustration.com/. 

Opening in 1886, Telfair Museums is the oldest public art museum in the South and the first U.S. Museum founded by a woman. The museum features a world-class art collection in the heart of Savannah’s National Historic Landmark District and encompasses three sites: the Jepson Center for the Arts, the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters, and the Telfair Academy. For more information on Telfair Museums, please visit www.telfair.org.