Winter is a great time to engage with art, get cozy with fiber crafts, and learn about new artistic genres. This February, get out of the house and bring your family to the Walker for special winter activities—both inside AND outside. Participate in hands-on art-making and ambient music workshops, watch a winter adventure film, and—snow allowing!—tour the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden on snowshoes.
Free First Saturdays feature free gallery admission on the first Saturday of every month, plus performances, games, art-making, and kids’ films from 10 am to 3 pm. Family friendly food options are available or bring something from home to snack on in the museum’s public spaces.
Art-Making: Sweater Friends
10 am–3 pm
Are you so sick of wearing your winter sweaters you want to just tear them apart?! You can do this, all while learning about the long tradition of fiber arts. Using secondhand sweaters and socks, families will sew and stuff their own soft sculpture. You can also pitch into a group installation made from yarn and shredded sweaters! (We will have sweaters for you to use—but feel free to BYO!).
This activity is designed by Minneapolis-based fiber artist Vatina McLaurin, who creates soft sculpture installations and hanging works knit out of deconstructed found fabric. McLaurin is also a preschool teacher at the arts-based South Minneapolis non-profit Urban Arts Academy.
Film: Belle and Sebastian
1 pm
Boy-and-dog duo Belle and Sebastian adventure through snow and ice in WWII-occupied France. On the border of Switzerland, six-year-old Sebastian tames the enormous yet gentle mountain dog Belle. Despite the fears of the local villagers, Belle quickly becomes Sebastian’s best friend and protector.
In French with English subtitles. This is a relaxed screening; families are encouraged to read the subtitles aloud to children who are not yet reading. Directed by Nicolas Vanier. 2014, DCP, 99 minutes.
Music Workshop: School of Fish
10 am–1 pm
You and your loved ones can become part of a special School of Fish in this interactive ambient sound experience. Like the natural magic of fish coming together and apart in water, the group will explore what different instruments sound like in an improvised context and enjoy the free coalescence of music. Local composer Michael Legan will be melding this river of sounds using live processing and an open ear for sonic assemblage.
Michael Legan is a composer and sound artist based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Snowshoe Tours: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
10:30 am–1:30 pm
See the Garden like never before: on snowshoes! Snowshoes will be available for kids and adults courtesy of the University of Minnesota Center for Outdoor Adventure.
