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Movies on the Lawn: Museum brings silver screen outdoors
Lexie Morrison
Since 2005, the A.W. Perry Homestead Museum has been showing Movies on the Lawn, an outdoor movie event, to large crowds of Carrollton residents.
"We have crowds of around 50 to 75 people for some of the lesser known movies that don't have recognizable 'star' names or familiar titles, and between 100 to 250 people for the more familiar films," Museum Curator Toyia Pointer said.
"Everyone attends," Toyia said. "We have families, individuals and people there on dates too."
Once every spring, summer and fall, the A.W. Perry Homestead Museum shows feature films on an outdoor screen that surrounds their 10-acre park. Movies on the Lawn visitors can also enjoy the Museum's spacious property and scenery.
"The screen is draped across the front of our barn just like they might have done in 1909," Toyia said. "People really seem to enjoy the 'old-fashioned' quality of seeing a movie outdoors, many people arrive early to look around, relax, and just enjoy themselves outdoors."
The A.W. Perry Homestead Museum often chooses its movies based on the season or based on what is going on in the community.
"When the DART light rail stations opened in Carrollton, we showed train-related movies," Toyia said.
Each October, Movies on the Lawn features a Halloween-themed movie to tie in with the Museum's annual live magic show.
"We have included Houdini films, and once we even showed part of the original Wizard of Oz film from 1910," Toyia said.
This fall, they will be featuring Hugo along with early films from Georges Melies, whose contribution to filmmaking is highlighted in the feature film, Hugo.
Ninety-five percent of the movies that have been featured at the A.W. Perry Homestead Museum have been silent films. The silent films often date from 1890 to the 1920s.
"I try to select the movies from the time period of the site, 1890 to 1910," Toyia said. "We've also shown movies made in the late 1920s starring recognizable names like Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton and even Rin Tin Tin, the dog."
The A.W. Perry Homestead Museum offers visitors concessions for a dollar each and visitors are welcome to bring their own snacks or picnics to the event.
On June 30, the A.W. Perry Homestead Museum will feature the 2011 Oscar-winning modern silent film The Artist.
"It's a great atmosphere, with plenty of room for visitors to spread out and enjoy themselves," Toyia said.
For more information on Movies on the Lawn and the A.W. Perry Homestead Museum, visit www.cityofcarrollton.com/museum.
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