Arty Pants: Your Tuesday Playdate at the Walker Art Center

“Simplicity of shape does not necessarily equate with simplicity of experience.” — Artist Robert Morris

Parents and caregivers with youngsters ages 2-5 have a new way to find artistic inspiration with

Arty Pants: Your Tuesday Playdate

, an ongoing Walker Art Center program designed to nurture creativity and engage a child’s mind. Arty Pants programs, presented monthly on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, feature art projects, films, gallery activities, and story readings. Meet other families for a treat at Wolfgang Puck’s Coffee Cart or lunch at Gallery 8 Café. The Arty Pants programs in January and February focus on shapes and movement—presented from 11 am–1 pm Tuesdays, January 9 and 23, and February 13 and 27. Activities are free with gallery admission; Walker members and children ages 12 and under always receive free admission. Also offered in January and February are special studio classes for kids, including Mini Metropolis, January 13, 20, and 27, 10 am–12 noon, where kids 7–10 can build their own city out of found objects. All About Me!, February 7, from 5–7 pm, and February 10, from 10 am–12 noon, is a class for kids ages 6–8 where they can make expressive self-portraits.

In this cabin-fever reliever, minds and bodies are active during Arty Pants, a fun-filled shape escape. Discover circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, and trapezoids throughout the building and within the day’s films and story readings. Release excess energy with movement exercises and yoga inspired by some of the artworks you’ll find on your adventure. In January and February, kick off your boots and boogie those winter blues away in activities led by a local artist/dancer and by yoga instructor Jessica Rosenberg, who shows kids new ways to bend and twist. Wear clothes you can wiggle in.

Studio Classes

Bringing back the best of our summer hands-on experiences
To register, call 612.375.7600 or visit walkerart.org/tickets.

Mini Metropolis
For ages 7–10
Saturday, January 13, 20, and 27, 10 am–12 noon
$100 ($80 Walker members)
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Take an urban architecture adventure. Young artists adopt the role of city planner, urban architect, construction foreman, and even mayor as they build their own metropolis out of found objects while discovering new possibilities for design and the way things work. Guests are invited to an opening reception at the end of the last class. Led by artist-teacher Christina Alderman.

All About Me!
For ages 6–8
Section A: Wednesday, February 7, 5–7 pm
Section B: Saturday, February 10, 10 am–12 noon
$30 ($20 Walker members)
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
In this two-hour mixed-media class, kids make expressive self-portraits in two- and three-dimensions and explore pieces in the Walker’s collection to find out how other artists worked with these concepts. Students create symbolic likenesses of themselves as they experiment with shape and color in various media. Led by local mixed-media artist Helen Stringfellow. Space is limited; early registration is encouraged.