Dallas Museum of Art

The kids and I had so much fun at the new Center for Creative Connections at the Dallas Museum of Art. It was our Mother's Day outing.

We went out to lunch after church. First we tried La Madeline, but the line was winding out the door, so we left. We decided to give Panera a shot. We've tried to go to Panera for lunch after church in the past and they refused to serve their full menu until noon. The Panera is located in a mall, so I suppose that had something to do with it. But still. Dumb.

Thankfully, they now have breakfast type stuff on their menu and were ready to feed us. We had scrambled egg sandwiches and a chocolate croissant. Yum. Claire and I agreed that they must be trying to compete with Corner Bakery. (Also yum.)

Then we headed south for the museum. The new Center for Creative Connections just opened. It used to be their "kids" section. Now it's just a creative, amazing, interactive wing for all ages.

The exhibit in the gallery in this wing was called "Materials and Meanings" and focused on why artists choose to use particular materials. Here are Claire and Benjamin studying a piece made of velvet.

Another notable piece was two molded self portrait busts, one in chocolate and one in soap. A bit odd, but certainly good for discussion. And for smelling!

There was a wonderful open studio area right in the midst of the gallery. Endless tape, cardboard, raffia, pipe cleaners, pencils, scrap material, shells, etc etc etc. They had a big wheel you could spin to help give you ideas about what to make. Why didn't I take a picture of that? I guess I was too busy making stuff.

There were boxes for building.

 

A whole counter with various textures on the surface on which to create rubbings.

And then we discovered another open studio area! This was a separate room that is only open on weekends. More supplies! Felt, wire, screen, modeling clay, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, markers, pom poms, hot glue, tape in many colors, yarn, etc. There was a museum staff person and a volunteer who welcomed every single person who entered. The idea was to create an imaginary creature based on the velvet "thing" in the earlier picture. But, they encouraged you to go your own way as desired.

I didn't take too many pictures. We were just creating and hanging out. Benjamin and Claire are very creative in very different ways. It was wonderful.

Can you read the sign? Take a stool and spend some time. Well, of course.