A special “family edition” open house Saturday at the Chicago Cultural Center gave kids an opportunity to get hands-on — and even slimy — with some fun arts and crafts.
The Sierra family, of Lincoln Square, said they are frequent museum attendees, but often are split over which they want to go to.
“I love art, I love culture, so I think it’s a great way to expose the kids to different things from around the city,” mom Agustina Sierra said.
Her son, Kai, an engineering-inclined 7 year old, enjoys the Museum of Science and Industry, while her daughter, Mia, 5, prefers the Field Museum, particularly the artwork in the Egypt exhibit.
But at the open house, the kids got to combine art and engineering at the Learning Lab, run by Mobile Makers, a nonprofit that provides youth architecture and design programs.
While many of the artists and groups that participated Saturday are regulars at cultural center events, a few adapted their programs to be particularly family oriented this weekend. The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, for example, led attendees in a puppet-making project, while the United Voices Choir offered caroling.
“It reminds people that this place is always vibrant and alive,” said Zhen Hienemann, the director of visitor experience with the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. “We want everyone to feel like they’re welcome here and that they belong here and that the art and activities that happen in the cultural center are for them.”
Kristen Dowell, of Oak Park, said she enjoys the sculpture on display on the building’s upper levels and was particularly drawn this weekend to the “Freedom Square: Black Girlhood Altar” exhibit.
The show features a mix of artistic styles, ranging from lockets honoring Black women and girls who have been killed, to the re-creation of a schoolyard in Trinidad and Tobago where one of the artists grew up.
“I like how the exhibits speak on deeper topics in a meaningful way,” Dowell said. “A lot of reflection, sadness… but hope as well.”
Dowell said she enjoys that the cultural center feels very accessible.
“This feels more chill than a traditional art museum,” she said. “Just the way it’s set up feels a lot more relaxed.”
Of course, one of the most popular features this weekend was the SLOOMOO slime exhibit, where Sherry Willis, of Crown Point, Indiana, and Cassandra Simpson, of the south suburbs, brought their 7-year-old daughters, Melody and Nora, after taking them ice skating in Millennium Park.
The slime was particularly enticing for the two girls because it had been outlawed in both of their homes due to still-present stains on their couches from well-intentioned gifts last Christmas.
“Oops,” young Melody said.
But this slime was a bit different, the girl noted, because it was gingerbread-scented and wasn’t sticky: “If I had to rate it on an app or anything, I would definitely rate it five stars.”
