Young at Art: This year, ditch the babysitter and take the kids to Miami Art Week
Great news for art-loving parents: You can — and should — bring your children to Art Basel and the satellite fairs that make up Miami Art Week. Surprisingly, there’s a prodigious amount of kid-friendly programming at the various fairs, from full-on, drop-off art-inspired spaces to specialized tours to public art on display. Exposing your tiny tots to culture can lead to a lifetime love affair with all things artistic, and that’s definitely a good thing.
At the mothership, Art Basel, the Miami Children’s Museum hosts an annual Art Kids Room on the second floor of the Miami Beach Convention Center. Tykes aged 4-12 are invited to channel their inner Picasso with art-based stations, games, puzzles, craft activities and storytelling. For 2019, the curated art projects will center around artists like Marcel Duchamp, Judith Scott, Mike Kelley, Gerhardt Richter and Douglas Coupland. Parents can stay or leave their charges for up to three hours.
The Art Kids Room, which is staffed by MCM, mirrors the hours of Art Basel and is free of charge with entry. “It is an honor to partner once again with Art Basel to bring Miami Children’s Museum’s innovative art programming to families from all over the world,” says Debbie Spiegelman, the Museum’s CEO and Executive Director. “We’re so excited to be back in a premier location educating children as they explore contemporary art and the culturally diverse and globally influenced artists of this movement.”
Similarly, Art Miami has a dedicated area for the adolescent set in partnership with Young At Art Museum. The immersive space will feature select artworks from the Museum’s popular summer exhibition, ArtCade, along with interactive games and projects by local artists. Kids aged 6-12 are welcome to participate daily, with little ones invited with their parents from 6-8 pm every night. Continue the art party at the nearby Pérez Art Museum Miami, which has free admission the first Thursday of every month, perfectly timed for December 5 during the peak of Miami Art Week.
For future gallerists, Scope is offering its first ever Young Collectors Tour on Saturday, December 7. The expedition through Scope is complimentary for children aged 7-13, and will feature “please touch” experiences. All Young Collectors have to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and their pass must be reserved in advance.
At Pulse, the whole brood is invited to take in the exhibition: “Art is a family experience,” says Pulse Fair Director Christina Salmastrelli. “No matter what the age of the viewer, passion can always be ignited to start a lifelong profession, obsession or patronage of the arts. Families are welcome at Pulse any time and any day with excitement from our team.” Ticket holders can unwind and decompress in their “Calm in the Palms” lounge, too.
When the kids need to run around and still get an injection of culture, we suggest visiting Collins Park, right in front of the Bass Museum, where public sculptures will be on display for the week, presented by Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires with a focus on artists from that region.Pro tip: Within the Bass Museum, complimentary activity guides and explorer kits are available for families while they navigate the museum. Another stimulating outdoor space to explore is Wynwood Walls, with its urban graffiti landscape featuring art by Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf, The London Police, Aiko and Peter Tunney.
While in the adjacent Design District, make sure to check out the newly opened State Of Kid activity center. Their Art Basel-themed drop- off classes include Maker Monkey Workshop (Thursday, December 5) where kids aged 3-5 will create art using hammers, nails and recycled wood, and Poppet Project Workshop (Friday, December 6) where kids aged 2-5 will participate in a collaborative art project, a large paper chandelier, which will be on display all weekend. Yes, the kids will go crazy for this.