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 July, explore the exhibitions Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody, This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection, and Collection in Focus: Mungo Thomson.
This June through September (weather permitting), play a free round of mini golf on the Walker’s rooftop between 8 and 11 am. The one-of-a-kind course features distinctive, artist-designed holes and an unrivaled view of the Minneapolis skyline.
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.
Admission Tickets
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 from 9:30 to 11 am.
Activity Information
Art-Making Activity, 8–11 am
Join teaching artist Lindsey “Lux” Stupica in the Art Lab to create a Keith Haring–inspired drawing that shows movement.
Gallery Activity, 8–11 am
Select an artwork in the exhibition This Must Be the Place; Inside the Walker’s Collection, then use a special Velcro board to give the people you came with clues to help them guess it!
Short Film: Naissance des Oasis by Marion Jamault, 8–11 am
Stop by the Bentson Mediatheque to watch a short animation featuring a cold-blooded snake and a hot-blooded camel who become close friends. The nine-minute film will loop from 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.
Accessibility
The short film will be captioned in English.
Skyline Mini Golf is partially accessible. All holes are playable from the perimeter if guests are unable to step onto the holes.
The exhibition Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody includes subjects related to politics, sexuality, and the body. Several works in the exhibition contain mature content and nudity. One room in Gallery 1 includes sexually explicit imagery. Visitors do not need to walk through this room to access the rest of the exhibition. Activities planned for this event focus on kid-friendly artworks.
Videos on view may include flickering effects or sounds that change in volume, pitch, and tone. One room glows with colorful light.
The exhibition This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection features two video rooms with reduced light levels, and a 16mm film projection that features both a soundtrack and the sound of the projector running. Some videos include flashing, flickering, or disorienting visual effects and sound that changes in volume, pitch, and tone.
The exhibition Collection in Focus: Mungo Thomson includes flickering effects and changes in volume, pitch, and tone.
To prepare for your visit, check out this Social Narrative.
For information about accessibility, or to request additional accommodations for this program, call 612-375-7564, or email access@walkerart.org.
For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.
Bio
Lindsey “Lux” Stupica is a character animator, motion graphic designer, and illustrator from Minneapolis. She graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) in 2012 with a BFA in animation, specializing in hand-drawn, animated works. She has taught animation courses at MCAD as an adjunct faculty member, as well as offered animation mentoring to MCAD MFA candidates. Since 2015, Stupica has been freelancing both as an animator and a motion graphic designer, under the name Lux Studios LLC. Her work is whimsical, character-driven, and often depicts fairy-tale creatures in dream-like worlds. Stupica also spends her time as a performing artist; she is a professional mermaid! She has experience performing underwater in a shark and stingray–filled tank. Her visual work is often inspired by underwater environments with fantastic creatures. Stupica was diagnosed with both ADHD and ASD when she was in her late 30s. This diagnosis heavily influences her current work. Her newest goal is to create a series of animated videos that offer a view of the world through an autistic lens.
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