Chagall for Children (May 11 – August 28 2022) is a multi-sensory, hands-on exploration of one of the best-known and best-loved artists of the twentieth century, Marc Chagall. This world class special exhibition is specifically designed to engage ages 2 – 12 and features 14 multi-sensory exploration stations, each incorporating a high-quality reproduction of one of Marc Chagall’s works encouraging children to explore art principles such as color, composition, light and texture.
Here’s what visitors can expect to see and do in the Chagall for Children exhibition:
America Windows: Visitors explore the effect of light upon stained glass by adjusting the light levels behind the work and recreating their own America Windows by rearranging puzzle-like pieces of the work.
At the Circus: Incorporating role-play, which is key in the creative development of young children, visitors see themselves as part of a Chagall painting via a video camera and monitor. They don silk-screened capes to become part of the painting as they pose and play on a circus stage.
The Birthday: Comparing art forms, visitors examine the reproduction of this oil painting and compare it to the tactile experience of touching the bas relief. Visitors can also create a “rubbing” from a steel engraving of the bas relief.
The Blue House: Studying form and structure, visitors create their own three-dimensional house against the backdrop of this painting.
The Concert: Visitors at this station select musical instruments represented in this painting and blend sounds the way Chagall artistically blended colors.
Flowers: Visitors create their own flower arrangements inspired by this colorful work and experiment with floral scents.
The Flying Sleigh: In a computerized activity, visitors explore the art of narrative form by manipulating main figures and details of this Chagall piece to tell a different story.
Green Violinist: Visitors can re-create the painting using magnetized puzzle pieces.
I and the Village: Visitors learn about the concept of symmetry and explore the different ways people view the world by rotating this painting.
Job Tapestry: Tapestry provided Chagall with yet another form of artistic expression. Visitors cooperatively create a tapestry by weaving and sewing.
The Juggler: Visitors explore the role of detail in this work by using a touch screen to animate elements of the painting.
Paris Through the Window: By experimenting with composition using magnetized pieces, visitors create their own picture of Paris.
The Poultry Yard: In a creative approach to form and structure, visitors experiment with brightly-colored, three dimensional, soft-sculpture animals to create fantasy creatures and scenes.
The Rooster: A rich tactile experience occurs when visitors touch and rearrange the beautiful feathers in the tail of a soft sculpture copy of Chagall’s rooster.
Many stations are accompanied with audio descriptions, highlighting information about the artwork upon which the interactive is based.
An extensive selection of books about the artist is provided to encourage further exploration and to stimulate literacy learning.
Chagall for Children was created by Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago.
