Suppose you want to imagine, design, experience Homeschool the world around you, and discover your artistic vision. In that case, there’s no better place to do so than the i.d.e.a. Museum in Mesa, the first fine arts museum for children in the United States of America. This won- derful museum opened in 1978 and has adopted three names before it became the museum we know today. We got the inside scoop from Hannah Hockersmith, the marketing and communications manager for the i.d.e.a. Museum, about what families can enjoy during their visit to this inspiring and accessible museum.
We began by exploring ArtVille, a unique and safe area for kids 0-4. Artville is set up like a small town that includes a performing arts center, coffee shop, grocery store, veterinarian clinic, library, and a soft enclosed area for crawling babies. This a great spot for kids to feel independent and safely explore the world. ArtVille hosts a bilingual storytime—the schedule can be found on the i.d.e.a. Museum website under calendar.
Then Hockersmith led us to The HUB. This exhibit has a lot of STEAM stations that will spark creativity and test your engineering skills. Some of the activities include a puppet theatre, craft stations, a building area for larger creations, an animation station, a tech table and an art room. Our favorites were the magnetic ball run and a craft table where you can make a puppet!
Finally, we went to the Whiteman Family Exhibition Gallery which is currently hosting Luminous: The Art of Light. Inside were attractions like a sound station with interactive lights, a make-your-own-jellyfish craft table, and a light-up peg wall with slots to place glowing pegs. We had a lot of fun in this area, and one of our
favorite parts was Painting with Light. When you stand in front of a screen and camera, the camera’s long exposure captures your movements, projecting them onto the screen in such a way that any movements you make will create a streak of colorful light.
There were light-up wands available to make the projection even more interesting! We also enjoyed the light wall feature in the hallway connecting the HUB and the light room. When you walk in front of the screen, the lights begin to move upwards, which we believe resembles Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Finally, there are many unique works of art by local artists displayed throughout the exhibit that use light to inspire your journey through Luminous!
If that wasn’t enough, the i.d.e.a.
Museum is also Autism Certified. Some accommodations include specially trained employees, a sensory guide telling visitors what to expect, and special backpacks that included a weighted plush, noise-canceling headphones, fidgets and visual timers. You can also request special glasses called ThermaSpecs which can help with sensitiv-ities to light. These items are all available by request at the front desk. This i.d.e.a. Museum will be expanding this fall with new experiences and art for the whole family to enjoy including adding headphones around he museum that will be within children’s reach to help with noise reduction.
To find out how you can build like an engineer, join storytime, and see Luminous before it leaves, visit www.ideamuseum.org.
