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 May, explore the exhibitions This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection, Ways of Knowing, and Pan Daijing: Sudden Places.
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.
Activity Information
Glow in the Dark Creativity Lab: Under the Sea
Join Chris Griffith of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz to explore the magic of blacklight and underwater creatures and plant life in this sensory friendly creativity lab. Experiment with 2-D and 3-D materials to stir up the tide pool of luminescent science and art. Drop in to let your imagination swim and then go explore the museum!
Personal Treasures
What do you treasure? Which objects tell your story? Would you put these treasures on a shelf in a museum? Explore the connections between objects, memory, and identity as you create a display of your personal treasures. Then, feel free to check out the artwork 530 National Treasures by Gala Porras-Kim in the exhibition Ways of Knowing.
Short Film: The Little Bird and the Bees by Lena von Döhren
It is springtime and the Little Bird is taking care of the first leaves on the tree. Then the blossoms open up one by one, and the bees coming buzzing along. The Little Bird follows them, but a fox is in pursuit. The film is approximately 4 minutes and will play on a loop. This is a relaxed screening with sound reduced. Visitors are free to come and go, move, and make themselves comfortable in the space
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.
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.
The exhibition space in Pan Daijing: Sudden Place is dark. It features a textured floor that produces sound and may have an aroma. Artworks on view 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.
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 over 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 also teaches for Speaking Out Collective, and previously coordinated education for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, was 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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