Thursday, October 17, 2024
A photo of the Night at the Museum event, showcasing a full lobby, a welcome table with take-home bags for students who wished to complete the project at home, and tables of students working on their cyanotypes at the museum.

For our second installment of our Night at the Museum series, we hosted a cyanotype making event! We offered take-and-make bags with materials and instructions on how to make the cyanotypes on your own, as well as space in the lobby to make one with us under our UV lights. 

We have a few cyanotypes in our collection, and what better way to have students learn about the process than making one themselves!

A close up shot of a cyanotype under a UV lamp; the person who created this cyanotype brought a lot of their own materials to create a unique print.

A cyanotype is a form of photographic printmaking (in our case, a photogram): after placing items on top of the chemically treated surface (in this case paper), and exposing it to UV light, the objects will leave a blue shadow while the rest of the paper lightens. Then the paper is washed to rinse off the remaining chemicals off, and the shadow of the object turns white while the rest of the paper turns blue (a light blue at first, darkening over the next few hours)! 

Students were able to use a variety of materials we provided, including lace, buttons, paper, and feathers (as well as clear paper they could draw their own designs on!) to make these shadows. Some students even came prepared with their own items to make their prints with which was so fun to see! 

After making their prints students were able to let their print dry and grab a snack or explore the galleries. As with our other Night at the Museum events, they were also able to grab a Stanley Student Challenge card or get their card stamped!