DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) — Tons of people from the Miami Valley and all over the country came to DAI in celebration of the 2024 solar eclipse.
“We’ve already passed the 300 person mark today. We’ve got folks from out of town stopping in today because they’re in visiting, our members, lots of local, so 300 is a lot of folks for us on a Sunday,” said Mike Griest, external affairs director at Dayton Art Institute.
The celebration included exciting activities to help people get in the solar eclipse spirit.
“Today [Sunday] we’ve got button making, you can be team sun or team moon make button. We’ve got a great photo backdrop for you guys to take all of your eclipse photos; we’ve got special art out today [Sunday] celebrating the eclipse,” said Griest.
Attendees said they are super excited and can’t wait to see the eclipse. The Whitt family came from LA after hearing stories from their family about the eclipse in 2017.
“The way he described it was being in the middle of the day and suddenly the lights just go down like it’s dust and crickets start singing because they think its nighttime,” said Garland Whitt.
While the Whitts will be enjoying the eclipse from their family’s home to avoid the heavy traffic, others plan to go to different locations.
“Our plan is to go watch it on the lawn of the masonic temple. Bring some food, some blankets, and just make an afternoon of it,” said Shelli DeFranco.
Greist said with all the people coming, to the DAI, it helps them tremendously with business.
“We wanted to provide a reason for people to come. I think that folks think that our art never changes, I was there once I’ve seen it all. It changes constantly, so you’ll be seeing a lot things from us throughout 2024 to make sure you’re coming to visit,” said Griest.
Greist said that DAI worked hard to plan the celebration to make people’s visit worthwhile, especially since people came from all over.
The institute will be closed Monday, but welcomes people to use their lawn and the outdoor space to watch the eclipse.