Families at the Smart
The Smart Museum offers a suite of free family programs and fun resources designed to inspire children to think about and respond creatively to art.
Free family programs
The Smart offers a variety of drop-in family programs featuring hands-on art activities, gallery games, and other fun projects.
Family Days
Starting in 2012, the Smart will be offering free family activities on the first Saturday of every month. Each drop-in program feature hands-on art activities and tours that encourage children and parents to engage in some creative looking. See what the fun is all about and view photos of our family days on Flickr.
Saturday, March 3, 1–4 pm
Family Day: Sharing is Caring
Explore Feast and join in a collaborative project to create a still life collage and participate in a performance-based workshop that will take you through the exhibition.
Saturday, April 7, 1–4 pm
Family Day: What a Relief!
Look at relief carvings, embossings, and other European prints on view and then learn to make a relief of your own.
Saturday, May 5, 1–4 pm
Family Day: Drawing Inspiration
Join us for an afternoon of sketching activities. Learn to draw quickly, using line and shading to capture the form of three-dimensional shapes.
Saturday, June 2, 1–4 pm
Family Day: Wright Here, Wright Now
Get inspired by glass works by Frank Lloyd Wright and then create a "window" with paper and transparencies.
smARTkids @ the Library
Second Saturdays through February 2012
Join the Smart Museum and the Blackstone and Bessie Coleman branches of the Chicago Public Library for free artist-led family workshops that include art projects and related stories.
Art Afternoons
Wednesdays in July
Drop by the Smart Museum on Wednesdays in July and join in the art-making fun.
For more information about family programs at the Smart, e-mail Breck Furnas or call 773.702.2362.
Family programs at the Smart are free and open to all. Art-making supplies and other materials are provided. Family programs are best for kids 4–12. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Creative resources
Use these kid-friendly, creative resources to explore the ideas and techniques behind the art on view in our galleries.
smARTkids website
Be an art detective and hunt for visual clues about an artwork, go on a studio visit with an artist, learn about art terms, and explore art materials and techniques on the interactive smARTkids website.
Artwork of the Month
Follow up on a visit to the Smart with one of our Artwork of the Month activities. The at-home projects are simple, inexpensive, and make use of easy-to-find materials.
Gallery Guides
Grab a kid-friendly gallery guide and wind your way through the Smart while learning about the artists, techniques, and works on view. Ask for a gallery guide at the Smart’s information desk or download one here in advance.
Plus, check out some of our past gallery guides:
Feast | Opens February 16
Discover the radical history of the shared meal as an artistic medium.
Family Days
On the first Saturday of every month, drop by the Smart and join in the free creative family activities!
