Tap child's play
Toys inspire art museum’s kid-friendly exhibit
The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is beautiful. Of course, the Burke Brise Soleil (better known as “the wings”) is known worldwide. The city’s German heritage is well-reflected in the art museum’s holdings, including the best collection of German Renaissance clocks outside Germany. And there are some pretty interesting historical pieces, including the earliest surviving American-made chair. The art museum is definitely a great place to go on a date. Or with a group of art aficionados. Or for a wedding. But with your kids? It can be a conundrum because — especially if you’re an art lover yourself — you want to share that appreciation with your children. But that can be intimidating in such a renowned, gorgeous and “don’t-touch-that!” environment. Good news, though, because the MAM is actually a lot more kid-friendly than you think.
Families can make their own art and take kid-focused tours
For families who want to make art together, you could spend hours — literally — in the Kohl’s Art Generation Open Studio and Kohl’s Art Generation Lab.
The open studio features make-andtake projects centered around a monthly theme inspired by the museum’s collections and exhibitions. And the lab focuses on the museum’s collection of Haitian art, inviting kids to learn more through photography, music and activities.
And, if you want to venture into the collections and exhibitions of the museum themselves, there are plenty of ways to make the experience kidfriendly, from art packs you can check out so you can take art activities right along with you, to family guides, activity cards and an app that will guide you through the parts of the exhibits that will most interest your kids.
Plus, the really great thing? Admission to the art museum is free for kids 12 and under. Every day.
The art museum’s exhibition takes the art of play seriously
If all that is nearly enough to convince you that a trip to the art museum with the kids is a good idea, this will put you over the top. One of the museum’s temporary exhibitions, on display now through Jan. 6, focuses on the most kidfocused topic of all — play.
The idea behind “Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America” is to showcase the whimsical and playful designs that artists, designers and architects started to popularize in the mid-1950s, which became an inspiration to people to individualize their homes to their own tastes and lifestyles.
In pointing out a display of mismatched dishes and decorations on a dinner table, exhibit co-curator Monica Obniski said, “You can see, these designs aren’t just plain. They’re mixed and matched. They’re super-eclectic. That’s totally how we live today, but that’s not the way things were done in the ‘50s.”
Going along with the theme of encouraging design of spaces for the way people actually lived, Obniski said this was also the time when “people really started seriously designing children’s spaces.” That’s one of the themes of the “Child’s Play” portion of the exhibition.
Another theme is playgrounds and playscapes: you can look at designs and models of playgrounds by designer Isamu Noguchi. One was planned — but never built — at the United Nations, and one is at Piedmont Park in Atlanta.
Also, just so you know, there’s a “noodle” — actually titled “Play Sculpture” by Noguchi — that your kids can sit on for great photo ops at the entrance to the museum.
There are toys to play with
Speaking of being able to sit on stuff, the art museum’s public relations manager, Josh Depenbrok, pointed out what makes this exhibition so special for families. “We don’t usually have special exhibitions that are this hands-on, with so many things to do.”
That hands-on feature really shines in the third theme of “Child’s Play”: architect-designed toys.
Here are a few highlights:
Tyng toys are modular toys that were created by architect Anne Tyng. The idea is that kids can use different shapes to design and build different designs. The curators of the art museum’s exhibition created a play area with instructions on the wall and several different wooden shapes. Visitors are encouraged to build their own versions of Tyng Toys.
The second play area of the exhibition is as visually appealing as it is fun. A wall of colorful tops is on display for people to play with, across from a screen playing a film about tops by artists Charles and Ray Eames. The tops are displayed at all different levels because, as Obniski and Depenbrok pointed out, just as many grown-ups enjoy playing with one of the world’s oldest toys as children do.
One centerpiece of the exhibit is the House of Cards. The design for the cards themselves — created with a series of notches that helps in the building process — came from Charles and Ray Eames. In the final play space of the exhibition, visitors are invited to try their own hand at building a house of cards.
The interactive play areas aren’t where all the fun ends for kids
As all parents know, no visit to a museum is complete without a stop in the gift shop. And the specially created exhibition gift shop is sure to delight your kids. It’s inspired by the whimsy of the exhibition itself and sells plenty of the types of toys featured in the exhibition to inspire your own little designers. Oh, and candy. Lots of candy.
There are also two giant house of cards displays in different parts of the museum — one in the East End and one in Windhover Hall. The sculptures were built by local artist Ray Chi, and the cards were decorated by people — including kids — from the community. “We sent 8,000 cards into the community, and there were more in the Kohl’s Art Generation Open Studio for families to decorate,” Depenbrok said. “People could decorate them however they wanted, and then they were built into these structures.”
There will be another chance to decorate cards on Dec. 2 during the museum’s Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sunday: The Joys of Toys.
The event, which is inspired by the play exhibition, will have other toy-related activities for families to do, including quite possibly the coolest imaginary play idea ever. “We’ll be re-creating Carton City,” said Obniski. The idea came from — again — Charles and Ray Eames in the 1950s. “They had lots of cartons left over from furniture,” said Obniski. “And they wanted to do something with them. So they created an urban environment for children, with buildings and streets. It was a sea of cardboard boxes, and there were kids playing in all of them.”