Skylands Museum invites visitors to ‘Find the Fae’ in new exhibition

The Skylands Museum of Art in Lafayette has opened a new temporary exhibition inviting visitors to search for magical creatures hidden throughout the museum.

“Find the Fae: A Spotlight on the Artist Wendy Froud” features 11 handmade sculptures by Froud, whose work includes the design of the soft sculpture character Yoda for the “Star Wars” film “The Empire Strikes Back.”

The exhibition runs through Dec. 31 and features Froud’s sculptures throughout all three floors of the museum at 15 Route 15.

Froud’s creations include winged and pointy-eared creatures known as fae, including banshees, elves, fairies, gnomes, goblins, leprechauns, pixies, sprites and trolls. Each sculpture is unique and designed with an internal metal armature and layers of wood, polymer, fiber, fabric and hair.

Visitors are invited to find all 11 sculptures and suggest names for them on cards provided at the museum entrance. They also can share stories about the characters. The names will be selected from visitor suggestions during the museum’s “Name the Fae” event at 2 p.m. Dec. 5.

Froud is known for mixed-media sculpture work that has brought characters from literature and film to life. She was recruited by Jim Henson to work on the puppets for “The Muppet Movie” in 1979 and later worked on “The Empire Strikes Back,” where she helped develop Yoda. She also created the gelflings Jen and Kira for “The Dark Crystal.”

Her work has been exhibited internationally.