Channel your inner Michelangelo.

Art and Innovation Lab

Our Art and Innovation Lab is stocked with everything from clay to paints to pastels to help your child explore the world of art. When children delve into art, they are not just painting a picture or creating a sculpture; they are developing skills that will help them in other areas of their lives, including spatial reasoning, perspective and dimension.

• Easels are strategically placed along the windows, not only to provide excellent lighting but also to inspire your child’s artistic endeavors.
• Clay stations offer molding, structure and shape exploration as your sculpture takes form.
• Plastic pipes and other building materials can be used to explore 3-D effects, giving children an opportunity to create larger sculptures.
• Tables display daily art projects, providing everything you need to complete the task while expressing your creativity.

The Art and Innovation Lab is included with your general admission and is open daily from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month through art

Through October 15, we will be exploring the art and culture of four different Hispanic countries. Learn about artists, make your own games and create beautiful works of art as we celebrate culture.

Honoring Mexico: Week One (9.15.2024 – 9.22.2024)

• Artist Highlight: Joaquín Clausell — Impressionist Paintings
  • Create your very own impressionist painting in the style of Joaquín Clausell by using bright colors and dotting techniques. Learn about a unique painting technique used by impressionists called impasto painting, where you apply thick layers of paint, creating 3D texture to enhance your painting. Once you finish your painting, you will have a beautiful landscape picture to take home with you!
• Hojalata Folk Art
  • Hojalata is a Mexican folk art form of tinwork that has been practiced since the 16th century. Artisans use inexpensive tin to create both practical and decorative objects, such as jewelry boxes, candelabras, and nativity scenes. Make your own Hojalata by engraving foil and using paint markers to bring your creation to life!
• Piñatas
  • Piñatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but it’s a very important cultural part of most Latin American countries. They symbolize joy, unity, and celebration. Create your own piñata using simple materials in unique ways and add as many bright colors as you want!

Honoring El Salvador: Week Two (9.23.2024 – 9.29.2024)

• Artist Highlight: Fernando Llort — Ave Mágica
  • Learn about El Salvador’s National Artist, Fernando Llort, and decorate your own Ave Magica! Llort’s art is heavily influenced by the Mayan culture, and has been able to mix modern ideas with a native style of drawing. His art is heavily representative of traditional Salvadoran folk art, with Ave Magica being his most famous artwork.
• Salvadoran Capiruchos
  • Create your own capirucho and test your skill with this craft activity! The capirucho is one of the most popular traditional games in El Salvador. A capirucho is a wooden hand carved toy that is painted with different colors, attached to a stick with a string. Hold the stick in one hand and try catching the bowl with the stick.
• Madera Folklorica
  • Create a beautiful work of art atop a tree cutting in the style of Salvadoran folk art. This kind of art is very visually unique, with bright, shiny colors, and simple shapes and designs. Common motifs seen in Salvadoran folk art include houses, birds, flowers, and trees atop a mountainous landscape.

Honoring Colombia: Week Three (9.30.2024 – 10.6.2024)

• Artist Highlight: Hernando Tejada — El Gato del Río
  • Hernando Tejada Sáenz, popularly known as Tejadita, was a Colombian painter and sculptor. His most well-known sculpture, El Gato del Río, is a famous landmark of Cali, Colombia. Cats were common themes in his works. It resides in a park with 15 smaller cat sculptures, all painted by different Colombian artists. Decorate your own cat in the Art Lab with a variety of materials!
• Colombian Sombrero Vueltiao
  • Using simple materials, create your own sombrero vueltiao and decorate it with bright colors! The sombrero vueltiao (Colombian Spanish for turned hat) is a traditional straw hat from Colombia and one of the country’s major fashion symbols. It is so popular that in 2004 the government declared this sombrero a national symbol.
• Colombian Saddle Blankets
  • Explore different patterns and color combinations while decorating a saddle blanket. Similar to the Mexican sarapes, these brightly colored saddle blankets were used under the saddles of donkeys and horses to protect them from the hard saddle and to absorb the sweat from the animal.

Honoring Puerto Rico: Week Four (10.7.2024 – 10.15.2024)

• Artist Highlight: Oscar Ortiz — Geometric Framed Illustrations
  • Oscar Ortiz is a New York born, Puerto Rican artist and illustrator whose style has a unique Caribbean design with tropical colors, reminiscent of typical Puerto Rican folk art. Many of his pieces seem to have a colorful and geometric frame around them. Create your own tropical illustration and design a frame to go around it using a variety of drawing materials!
• Taino Petroglyphs
  • The indigenous peoples of Puerto Rico, the Taínos, left behind various petroglyphs, images created by carving on the surface of the rock to create a form of rock art. With these images archaeologists have been able to understand their way of living, customs and beliefs. Explore different patterns and designs that you can use to represent your own experiences with this fun activity!
• Mundillo
  • Collage lace and fabric on paper to create your own mundillo. Explore pattern and contrast with bright white lace against solid black paper and learn more about this artisanal craft from Puerto Rico!