Sensory Friendly Sunday July 2025
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Sensory Friendly Sunday July 2025

Adult cutting paper as child, adult and baby watch.
Sensory Friendly Sunday, 2022. Photo: Awa Mally. 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 July, explore the exhibitions This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection, Ways of Knowing, and Trisha Brown and Robert Rauschenberg: Glacial Decoy.

Also, this summer 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.

Cosmic Comfort Cards Art-Making Activity, 8 am–11 am
Make your own Cosmic Comfort Cards using pens, textures, and stickers. These pocket-sized cards hold calming messages and can be carried with you for grounding anytime.

Spinning Story Box Art-Making Activity, 8 am–11 am
Inspired by Petrit Halilaj’s large, suspended drawings Very Volcanic Over this Green Feather, this activity invites you to create a hanging artwork that tells two sides of a story. What opposites will your story explore? See Halilaj’s piece in Gallery D/Perlman as part of the exhibition Ways of Knowing.

Short Film: Little Wild, 8 am–11 am
This sweet animated film directed by Caleb Wood follows some creatures as they explore the wild, develop new friendships, and make discoveries. The film is approximately 3 minutes long and plays on a loop.

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

The short film will be captioned in English.

The accessible lift to Gallery 2 is currently out of order. To access Gallery 5, take the accessible lift down one level from floor 6.

Content notes: The exhibition Kandis Williams: A Surface engages mature themes and some works contain nudity. The exhibition Ways of Knowing engages mature themes, including violence.

Sensory notes: The exhibition This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection includes 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 Ways of Knowing contains includes three video rooms with reduced light levels. Some videos include flickering effects and sounds that change in volume or pitch.

Videos on view in the exhibition Kandis Williams: A Surface contain flickering effects and sounds that change in volume, pitch, and tone.

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.

Que’Nyse (she/her) is a lifestyle creator, intuitive astrologer, and founder of SensualNoiree—a brand devoted to blending astrology, storytelling, and self-healing through sensory-aligned experiences. Rooted in a background of working with both children and adults with autism, Que’Nyse brings a trauma-informed, deeply empathetic lens to her work. Her creative practice bridges mysticism with practical care, offering accessible tools for emotional regulation, identity exploration, and cosmic connection. Whether through workshops, digital content, or collaborative community events, her work invites people to come home to themselves—gently, creatively, and with intention.

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 Foundation, thanks to Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely.

  • Logo: KHR McNeely Family Foundation