Families

Isamu Noguchi believed that play could be a powerful tool to build communities and nurture creativity in the everyday. The exhibition Beyond the Pedestal: Isamu Noguchi and the Borders of Sculpture shows audiences many of the ways his work embodied this vision. During this Family Day, try out our exercises and use LEGO bricks to create your own playscapes, and discover what you come up with.

Ashley Bryan’s vibrant collage art has delighted children, readers, and art-lovers of all ages for generations. Visit the exhibition Painter and Poet: The Art of Ashley Bryan, on view through November 25, see the Theatre Ensemble of Color perform an adaptation of his beloved book Beautiful Blackbird, and make your own artworks in a similar style to the book’s incredible illustrations to accompany his words.

Get your family excited for October's Isamu Noguchi exhibition, as well as the 4th Annual Portland Lantern Walk, with this special Family Day that helps kids experience the joy of creativity and teaches them how to make wonderous lanterns!

Join us for an exciting day of storytelling and art-making when our Winslow Homer High School Fellows lead children and families on their tour of the paintings and prints by Winslow Homer, one of Maine’s most beloved artists. Take inspiration from close looking at Homer’s paintings and etchings, before drawing, writing, and coloring away to create your story! The Homer High School Fellows are a cohort of teens hired by the PMA each summer to create new opportunities for youth engagement while learning about Homer’s life and work.

Through this special PMA Family Day about the art, craft, history, and science of photography, learn about historical chemical processes that can be used to capture and print images. Experiment with “handwork” to enhance printed photographs with pencil marks to add color, texture, and contrast. Finally, take everything you’ve learned into the exhibition Clarence H. White and His World: The Art and Craft of Photography, 1895- 1925 to see all of these amazing techniques in action.

Celebrate Pride Day at the PMA! The parade route passes right by the museum, so stop by, get inspired by the work of LGBTQIA artists, and create your own prints to wear, wave, or carry in the parade. Guest artists Elizabeth Jabar and Devon Kelley-Yurdin lead a special outdoor screen printing activity inspired by Pop Art and Katherine Bradford’s Woman Flying, encouraging participants to explore the ways in which printmaking can be a medium for social justice and liberation.

April 16-20, 2018
Drop-in between 10 a.m. and noon
Free for ages 21 and under

April 16-20, 2018
Drop-in between 10 a.m. and noon
Free for ages 21 and under

April 16-20, 2018
Drop-in between 10 a.m. and noon
Free for ages 21 and under

April 16-20, 2018
Drop-in between 10 a.m. and noon
Free for ages 21 and under