The Walker Art Center has opened its contemporary collection to families and children and is inviting them to play in the new exhibition “Show & Tell: An Exhibition for Kids.”
Specifically designed with children and their adults in mind, “Show & Tell” features a collection of contemporary art spanning multiple mediums, all with a kid-friendly approach at the center. Through April 5, guests can explore the five distinct zones of the exhibition: FIND, READ, PLAY, MAKE and WATCH.
Siri Engberg, the museum’s senior curator and director of visual arts, and Pavel Pyś, curator of visual arts and collections strategy, said the exhibition has been in the works for 18 months with the intention of providing an exciting activity for Minnesota residents during the winter months.
“We really thought about how to create a lively environment that also gives kids and families a way into contemporary art that is really welcoming and engaging,” Engberg said.
The exhibition features contemporary art from the Walker’s collection, as well as new acquisitions, with some pieces making their debut for the first time in a long time. Each art piece is related to a different experience, encouraging visitors to play and touch instead of standing and observing.
The PLAY zone features Cas Holman’s sculpture work “Critter Party,” which doubles as a piece of art and a play area that encourage climbing and exploration. This was an intentional choice by Holman, as she is an educator and toymaker who focuses on the power of play in her work.
Also featured in the zone is the 20,000-piece jigsaw puzzle by artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, with the finished image representing Delacroix’s famous painting “La Liberté Guidant le Peuple,” which the band Coldplay used for their 2008 album cover “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.”
“We were really thinking about how we can surprise our young viewers and offer them a kind of unusual and unorthodox way of engaging with the art,” Pyś said.
In the realm of unorthodox, the exhibition features its FIND zone, designed to engage visitors with seeking out art, as the featured works are hidden in a wall and can only be viewed by looking through a series of porthole windows.
The artworks range from a miniature of “Spoonbridge and Cherry,” by Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg, to a family of abstract aliens of Yinka Shonibare.
For those looking to slow down, the READ zone encourages visitors to take a break and think about the power of storytelling in art. Featuring artwork by Julie Buffalohead, Andrea Carlson, Amy Cutler and Jacob Lawrence, families are encouraged to ask what comes next for the figures in the art.
“It’s essentially an area where you can come and see works and think about them and experience them through the lens of storytelling,” Pyś said, “Artists are often storytellers. Their works often come in stories.”
In the WATCH zone, visitors can lounge and enjoy a selection of kid-friendly cinema from the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection. Before every video, viewers are prompted to be on the lookout for hidden details.
Visitors can also create art of their own in the MAKE zone. Inspired by the abstract work of Jeffrey Gibson and Caroline Kent, visitors can experiment with shapes, colors, and composition to create a work of art projected on the gallery wall, or turn themselves into a one-minute statue, a reference to artist Erwin Wurm and his drawings.
“It’s a really fun way for kids to feel like they’re artists for the day, like they’re part of the exhibition,” Pyś said.
The exhibition will run through the spring, with the intention of offering a space for families to learn and explore the world of contemporary art. For visitors, the Walker offers free admission on the first Saturday of the month and every Thursday night.
“Obviously, you see the ‘Do not touch’ symbol in museums,” Engberg said. “We have the ‘Please touch’ symbol in all the areas where it’s about playing and interactivity.”
‘Show & Tell: An Exhibition for Kids’
What: Families can explore the world of contemporary art in an exhibition designed for kids
When: Through April 5
Where: Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis
Tickets: $18 (adults), $16 (seniors), $12 (students with ID) and free for children under the age of 18. For more information see walkerart.org
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