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 June, explore the exhibitions This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection and Ways of Knowing.
Also 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 from 8 to 9:30 am and busier from 9:30 to 11 am.
Activity Information
Puppet Theater Creativity Lab
Join Chris Griffith of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz to make your very own puppet from found materials, then act out a play with your creation using a miniature theater stage!
Souvenir, Not Far Art-making Activity
What can we carry with us when we feel far from the safety of home? In the artwork 100% Boricua, Pepón Osorio used collected souvenirs as reminders of what he has loved and who has loved him. Like the artist, in this activity we will make a keychain as a reminder of love and safety.
Short Film: Animanimusical, 8 am–11 am
The Animanimals want to do a big musical performance, but somebody got the wrong notes.
Accessibility, Content, and Sensory Notes
The short film will be captioned in English.
Content notes: 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. 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.
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.
Bio
Chris Griffith (Cherokee Nation) is co-creative director/founder of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, a Minneapolis company that brings people of all ages and abilities into the power of playfulness through performances, workshops, and feats of imagination. Together with partner Shari Aronson, they have created more than 30 original shows and a gajillion workshops for family audiences. Z Puppets has earned national and regional acclaim as arts educators, leading multiyear partnerships with MN Autism Society, Down Syndrome Association, and special education classes and centers for adults with disabilities. They also work as teaching artists and consultants for COMPAS, Perpich Center for Arts Education, and Educational Theater Association. Griffith teaches for Speaking Out Collective. Previously, he coordinated education for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, served as cofounder/director of Galumph Interactive Theater, and toured internationally as a juggling street performer. Griffith holds a BA from Macalester College.
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