Contemporary Art Museum Makes Art Accessible to Kids

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Contemporary visual art can be controversial, thought-provoking, beautiful, layered, or unsettling — often created for an adult audience who craves hearing a new voice with something to say. Beyond the stereotypical and untrue saying about some contemporary art — "My kid could do that!" — today's visual art typically does not target an audience of young children.

The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis stirs up this thinking by welcoming families to its intimate galleries with free education programs. The museum's family programs offer an easy way to introduce contemporary art to children, meet some art-engaged parents, and make museum attendance a fun and regular habit for all. The museum also offers space for kids to roam, refreshments at select events, clean restrooms and relatively easy parking.

The museum presents Stroller Tour Tuesdays on the first Tuesday of the month at 9 a.m. Stroller Tour Tuesdays offers caregivers and their children 2 and under a 45-minute tour of the exhibitions, conversations about contemporary art, and complimentary coffee, juice, bagels and pastries. Strollers and baby slings are welcome, of course, as are fussy babies. In the future, the museum plans to expand its Stroller Tour Tuesdays to include presentations about cooking your own baby food, raising a "green" baby, and more.

Immediately after the Stroller Tour Tuesdays is the popular Tuesday Morning Play Dates at 10 a.m., also held on the first Tuesday of the month. The hour-long event begins with a complimentary breakfast followed by an art project, such as puppet-making, sculpture, photography or painting. The program is geared for kids ages 2 to 5, and it's led by a local artist or art educator. After the art project, guests enjoy storytelling by the dynamic Sheneatha Frison of the St. Louis Public Library, children's yoga or a music workshop.

CAM hosts free family days around holidays as well. The recent Halloween Family Fun Day included making Day of the Dead masks, getting rolled in "mummy" toilet paper, creating felt dolls and collages, as well an opportunity to see the breathtaking movement from the St. Louis Hoop Club. The next free family day celebrates Valentine's Day and is on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, from 1 to 4 p.m.

If you have older children, encourage them to visit the Exhibition Lab located on the museum's second floor. The lab features artist and curator interviews, books, exhibition space for the museum's Teen Museum Studies and New Art in the Neighborhood programs, and a listening lounge, featuring top music picks from the museum's exhibiting artists.

The Contemporary Art Museum is located at 3750 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, Mo., 63108. Call 314-535-4660 for more information.

Photos by Jennifer A. Lin

Jennifer Lin is a nonprofit arts consultant specializing in marketing, public relations, and social media and also writes CultureMama. She has worked for performing and visual arts organizations including the Sacramento Opera, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.