How Do You Play with the Art of Chagall?

The traveling exhibit Chagall for Children is here at the Museum through April 20th. I spent some time watching families explore a few days after we opened. Here are some excerpts of what I saw:

A girl, 4 years of age, was walking near Chagall's The Juggler. Suddenly she heard a horse neigh and ran over to see where the sound came from.  The volunteer, playing with the interactive, showed her the horse on the image and then said, Can you find the violinist?  The girl touched the violinist and the image moved. She heard a violin playing and she smiled. (Note: She got it!  Soon she's exploring many of the detailed images in this interactive.  She noticed art!)

At Chagall's The Circus, a boy, 5 years of age, stood in front of the wall-size replica, mimicking Chagall's interpretation of a circus character on a horse.  As he noticed his image on the screen across from the wall hanging, he pretended to balance on the horse.  (Note: He used his imagination, just as Chagall painted things from his imagination.)

A girl, age 2, was moving the color clings around at Light Garden.  Her mom pointed to the Chagall images above.  (Note:  A lot of Chagall's artworks are very colorful, so the Museum matched a set of clings to these colors.   DCM added three images to Light Garden, for an enhancement to the traveling exhibit.  We replaced Monet's Water Lilies in Light Garden with these Chagall images - L'Envol, Au Dessus de la Ville, and Flowers and Lovers.)

 Both children and adults can immerse themselves into the life and work of this master artist. A grandmother was observed reading facts about Chagall on the reading boards located at adult level while her grandchild napped in her stroller. It is our hope that both children and adults will develop a greater understanding and appreciation of the many forms of artistic expression created by Marc Chagall.  Stay tuned!  More observations are forthcoming!