I launched Artsplorers in mid-September, and by then, a chunk of Team Artsplorers’ (myself, my 3 year old, and often Mr. Artsplorer, who does love a good museum) adventures for 2016 had already gone past. But, as we, the world, are in year end wrap up mode, I thought I could still share with you some of our favorite memories in family arts exploring, around Sydney and beyond. All of these experiences brought us joy, surprise, and taught us things beyond what we ever expected. I love seeing how the arts have shaped our lives.
So, while they may not all have made the pages of Artsplorers, here are my 10 favorite endeavors in arts with a 3 year old for 2016. I’ll be sharing a whole year in the arts with 4 year old here in the coming months!
May you all have a marvelous New Year’s, and I hope you’ll share your family artsventures in 2017 with us!
1. Family Week at the Sydney Festival
Just a couple weeks into 2016, the kid and I wandered into Hyde Park for Sydney Festival’s Family Week (I wrote about it over on my other blog). It may have been an early contender, but this absolutely awesome day out remains a favorite for the year. There were heaps of arts and crafts, motorized box “animals,” the City of Sydney Lawn Library, and our favorite, was musician Adam Page, whose “In the Loop” show was such a charmer that we went back a few days later to see “the man with the beard” again.
Read the Artsplorers interview with Adam Page here.
2. Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta
In March, the mini-artsplorer and I headed back to my home in the U.S. for a long visit. A friend from college is a puppeteer (best job ever??) at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and so kindly offered us tickets to their original show, Space. While it was geared at slightly older kids (we were there with a couple of excited school groups), it still completely held my 3 year old’s attention, and months later, she still talks about the dancing Asteroid Belt. Sneaky how they get that education in there, too!
After the show, we went for a walk around the puppetry museum, which has really taken a step up in the world since I last visited 15 or so years ago. They now house a large collection of Jim Henson artifacts, which made me a little emotional about the wonder that was his artistic vision, gone far too soon.
3. The Biennale on Cockatoo Island
We didn’t make it out to as many events of the Biennale of Sydney as we might have this year, but we did have one heck of a day on Cockatoo Island. The grand thing about taking a young child to see art on Cockatoo Island is that the art experience – which is plenty weird and engaging, as is – can be coupled with plenty of running around the intriguing island, which is full of creepy tunnels and moody old industrial wares. On the day we went, there was a kid’s art making workshop, where our little lady did some guided cutting and gluing to fashion herself into a Knight. But, the hands down favorite exhibit was the room full of weighted strings, suspended from the ceiling, that you walked through. The intrigue that this brought to the life of my 3 year old is beyond measure. Thankfully, there were no crowds that day, as she went through the room at least half a dozen times.
4. Babies Proms at the Sydney Opera House
We love the Babies Proms at the Sydney Opera House! Geared towards 2 – 5 year old, the kids are invited to sit on the floor in front of the stage, while parents can sit in chairs nearby. The performance quality is consistently high and engaging for the little ones, and at the end, they have a chance to have a look at the instruments from the show. This year, we missed the first in the series while we were in the States, but took in The Four Seasons (a tour through the seasons set to Vivaldi’s piece and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas for the holidays.
Here’s a crazy story: A couple of months after we saw The Four Seasons, I had a classical station on Pandora that I wasn’t particularly listening to, when my girl suddenly ran up from her playtime to tell me, “that’s like at the Opera House!” And, sure enough, a glance at the app confirmed it was Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” I don’t tell this story to suggest my kid is a musical genius, but to say that you never know what is going to stick with them when you expose them to plenty of arts at a young age. Probably the thing you’d least expect!
5. Vivid Festival
Everything we saw at the Vivid Festival this year was a spectacle for the eyes. For the family, the illuminated animal sculptures at Taronga Zoo were just the best (and, we learned about endangered species, as well), though for pure artistic wonderment, I personally have to choose the Cathedral of Light at the Botanic Garden as the most memorable moment of the festival.
Next year, we definitely won’t go on a holiday weekend night – hello soul-crushing crowds! But, still well worth it.
6. Balinese Dance
Our family holiday to Bali involved plenty of relaxing on deck chairs with fruity drinks and pool time, but when we moved on from the beach to Ubud for the second week, the focus was much more about experiencing Balinese culture, which is beautifully colorful and completely unique to the island. A big part of the experience was attending the nightly Balinese dance performances. I wrote more about the experience here.
7. Family Day at the MCA
A few times each year, the Museum of Contemporary Art hosts a Sunday Family Fun Day. I’d been hesitant to take the mini-Artsplorer, as she’s been shy of the recommended age of 4+, but as she’s getting ever closer, I thought we’d give it a try. She’s very familiar with the MCA, and for a suggested $5 donation, it’s not like we were out much, if it didn’t suit her.
While she was on the young side to partake of the whole of the experience, which included interacting with the current exhibit, and then creating original art inspired by it, it was still quite immersive for her. The theme was “telling stories,” and we worked together to create a story scroll, which she dictated, I wrote out, and we illustrated together with collage and drawing. The staff was, as always, very welcoming and friendly, and the family space had been transformed quite impressively. Next year, she actually will be 4, so the 2017 dates will be on our schedule for an even more engaging experience in 2017 (dates on the MCA site here).
8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Based on four stories by Eric Carle, including the beloved titular tale, the works were brought to life in a beautiful storytelling style, using narration and puppets. It was perfectly age appropriate for my 3 year old, and made her theatre-mama so grateful that I can expose her to something to elementally theatrical from her earliest exposure. More on the experience here.
9. Sculpture By the Sea
Sculpture By the Sea, the temporal art gallery from Bondi to Tamarama beaches, is an annual tradition for my family, and in the years we’ve been going with a baby/child, we’ve had mixed experiences, mostly due to said child’s temperament for the day. This year, she was finally old enough to really engage with the experience, and what a delight it was to watch her discover piece after piece. She saw the art from her unique viewpoint, asked a million questions, and made some observations that had that simple truth that only a child can observe. A pre-schooler immersed in nature and art? I can’t think of a better combination.
10. Story Time
Sometime around the start of Term 4, we had a day open up in our schedule of activities, and it happened to coincide with 3- 5 year old story time at our local library. All hail the children’s librarians! The session we go to is quite large – maybe 40 kids each week – yet, somehow they manage to keep the order, while exposing the kids to a whole host of topics and stories, many of which we might not know about, otherwise. They’re great about creating themes for holidays from a variety of cultural traditions, as well as some of the more traditional themes like “food,” “alphabet,” or “family.” And, I must admit that I truly appreciate having one free event in our week. Artsploring and all the rest can get expensive for a family, so I’m grateful to our library for providing a high quality offering that fits into the budget (we save our coins for post-library babyccino dates).
It’s been quite a year of discovery. Thank you for joining me here. I hope you’ll continue to check in with Team Artsplorers in 2017 and beyond.
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