Along with the artist's recollections about her childhood activities, the display includes questions to spur family discussions. Both were surprised to learn that at 12, Anna Mary worked as a hired girl in charge of cooking three meals a day, babysitting, housecleaning, doing laundry, gardening and making butter and candles. I pointed out that, unlike in our household, the women and girls in the pictures all smile as they work. As collectors of soap in assorted shapes and fragrances, the girls grimaced at the idea of making soap annually by heating water, ashes and grease in a kettle over a fire. A barrelful of jellylike soap seems a far cry from their elegantly scented bars, although perhaps not unlike the liquid soap they pump at the bathroom sink.
Anna designs with flowery handkerchiefs and ribbons.
Gaston regularly collects the completed art and rotates the pieces in a Visitors' Memory Book, also on view. Visitors can watch Edward R. Murrow's 1955 interview with Grandma Moses, along with a short 1950 documentary, both of which seem to interest adults more than children. My daughters enjoyed making up stories about their favorite scenes, spotting the differences in varied paintings of the same subject and counting things like dogs and pumpkins. You'll enter the show at its intended starting point. The Education Resource Center is behind the information desk on the first floor.