Sensory Friendly Sunday December 2024
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Sensory Friendly Sunday December 2024

An adult and a child look at a piece of art
Sensory Friendly Sunday, 2024. Photo by Celia Fortney. Courtesy Walker Art Center.

Sensory Friendly Sunday is a monthly event designed for kids, teens, and adults with sensory-processing differences, autism spectrum disorder, or developmental disabilities. The galleries will be closed to the general public, allowing visitors to enjoy the museum in a calm environment with accommodations such as quiet spaces, fidgets, and sunglasses available. Experience a selection of current exhibitions, make art, or watch a short film. All friends and family members are welcome.

In December, explore the exhibitions Sophie Calle: Overshare, Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon, and Walter Price: Pearl Lines.

To support the health and safety of visitors at increased risk for COVID-19, masks are required at Sensory Friendly Sunday for visitors over age 2. Accommodations are available if someone in your party is unable to tolerate masking. Please email access@walkerart.org or call 612-375-7561 for more information.

This program was created in consultation with the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) and the University of Minnesota’s Occupational Therapy Program.

While walk-ins are welcome, we encourage you to reserve your space ahead of time. Sensory Friendly Sunday is typically less busy 8–9:30 am, and busier 9:30–11 am.

Documenting Ourselves/Each Other Art-Making Activity, 8–11 am
In the exhibition Overshare, artist Sophie Calle sets up a series of experiments and tests and then she records what happens, in writing and pictures. Join disabled artist Alison Bergblom Johnson in making zines (small pamphlets with roots in DIY and punk culture) that document and celebrate ourselves and each other.

Passing Winter Art-Making Activity, 8–11 am
Artist Yayoi Kusama uses reflection and shape to bring light into dark spaces. In this activity, we will be creating reflective window hangers to spread sunlight during our dark winter months.

Short Film: The Perfect Houseguest by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, 8–11 am
Stop by the Bentson Mediatheque to watch a short animated film in which a house is visited by a clean, organized, and well-mannered guest. The film is 1 minute and 40 seconds, and will loop between 8–11 am. This is a relaxed screening with sound reduced. Visitors are free to come and go, move, and otherwise make themselves comfortable in the space.

The short film will be captioned in English.

Content and sensory notes: The exhibition Sophie Calle: Overshare contains mature themes, including sexuality, nudity, violence, suicide, and death. Videos on view may contain flickering effects or sounds that change in volume or pitch.

To prepare for your visit, check out this Social Narrative.

For more information about accessibility, visit our Access page.

For questions on accessibility or to request additional accommodations, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org.

Alison Bergblom Johnson’s work crosses media and genre, exploring disability, identity, and joy. She collaborates with community care and art organizations from small grassroots endeavors to very large, established institutions. Her creative practice includes essays, collage, and storytelling. She is an artist, a writer, a performer, an artist organizer, a consultant, and a teaching artist.

This project is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

  • Logo: Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Family Programs are supported by the KHR McNeely Family Fund, thanks to Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely.

  • Logo: KHR McNeely Family Fund