Artist Talk: Astronaut/Painter Alan Bean

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More About

• Alan Bean
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• Space Technology
• Science and Technology

Any aspiring artiste can set up a bowl of fruit to paint or set up an easel at the beach, but Alan Bean has much more impressive inspiration to draw on - his stroll on the moon. Bean was the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission - the second lunar landing - during which he walked through the Ocean of Storms. (For those who aren't scientifically inclined, it's not actually an ocean.) Now, Bean spends his time painting realistic-looking moon scenes. In pursuing his post-space career, he decided he wasn't "going to be an astronaut who painted, but an artist who used to be an astronaut." Hear what it's like to have such an exceptional identity when Bean gives an artist's talk and signs books at 3 p.m. (Seating is limited; doors open at 2:30 p.m.) Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. For information, visit www.mfah.org. Free with regular museum admission.
Sun., Sept. 27, 3 p.m., 2009