Basketball and art?

Jeff Koons: One Ball Total Equilibrium

For over five years, CMOM has transformed the way children experience art. With the launch of the Art and Innovation Lab, creativity took center stage. Children could dive into a variety of hands-on projects, such as drawing and sculpting, while guest artists inspired them one-on-one to discover a true passion for art.

Now, we are raising the bar once more by showcasing Jeff Koons’ One Ball Total Equilibrium. Children will not only marvel at this iconic artwork but also participate in a series of creative projects inspired by it. They will explore still life drawing, construction, and STEAM activities that blend math, art, and science, just like the masterpiece itself. Hands-on activities, touch screen information and guest speakers will inspire children to look past the ordinary. On display through December 31.

Daily Events:

• Still Life Drawing inspired by the One Ball Total Equilibrium art.
• Team Jersey where you can design your own team jersey.

Scheduled Events:

Seated Ballerina: Children and their caregivers kinesthetically learn that art is not only something to observe but something to move with, listen to, interpret, and create. By connecting Jeff Koons’ broad body of artworks, from Seated Ballerina to our current exhibit of One Ball Total Equilibrium, participants explore physics of motion with the rhythms of basketball through tap dance, the movement and sounds of jump rope, bouncing balls, the geometry of the body, and children’s own drawings or other visual artworks. This program makes complex artistic and mathematical concepts tangible through joyful, shared experience. Sessions lead by Dorian Rhea.*

Saturday, November 7:

• Morning session: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Afternoon sessions: 1 – 1:30 p.m., 1:45 – 2:15 p.m., and 2:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Trepak:  To celebrate winter traditions and how they connect to artwork by Jeff Koons, children and their caregivers will join Dorian Rhea in an exploration of Trepak, which is the fast-paced Russian dance portion of the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. Participants will work with varied percussion instruments that include, but are not limited to, basketballs, tinsel wands, scarves, and their own feet. This festive learning experience brings the grace of athleticism, math, and visual art together into one cheerful leap into the holiday season. Sessions lead by Dorian Rhea.*

Saturday, November 28 and Friday, December 18:

• Morning session: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Afternoon sessions: 1 – 1:30 p.m., 1:45 – 2:15 p.m., and 2:30 – 3:00 p.m.

*Dorian Rhea: Dorian Rhea is a seasoned educator whose programs and choreographic works have been implemented by The Joffrey Ballet, The American Rhythm Center, The Brooklyn Music School, Roosevelt University, Chicago State University, and the Collage Dance Conservatory of Memphis, TN. He has been an active artist in the Chicago community, and abroad, for over a decade. He made his performance and choreographic debut creating works for fellow Midwest artists like Smino, Jean Deaux & Chance The Rapper. His works have been featured in music festivals like Lollapalooza & Common‘s AHH! Fest, on television for Windy City Live & Disney‘s Magnificent Mile Lights Parade, and across the country for Broadway’s West Side Story & the Michelle Obama Let’s Move! campaign.