About the Experiencenter
Established in 1976, The Dayton Art Institute’s Experiencenter was developed to provide formal and informal learning and recreational activities for children and their families. It also serves the first time museum visitor by providing a program of active participation in a relaxed
museum setting.

The Dayton Art Institute’s Experiencenter has received national attention and was the first gallery space of its kind in any U.S. art museum. Throughout its history, the Experiencenter has presented annual thematic exhibitions featuring art from The Dayton Art Institute’s collection, private collections and loans from other museums.

In addition to being a self-contained gallery space, the Experiencenter encourages visitors to engage in active participation at hands-on stations located throughout the museum and offers an opportunity for families to explore the museum and its collections together, enhancing the visitor’s learning and social experience.

Located in the museum’s lower rotunda, the Experiencenter space consists of nearly 2,000 square feet with a studio classroom for workshops and participatory activities.

On view through April 12, 2009

Experience a new approach to an exhibition by looking through the eyes of young curators. KIDS AS CURATORS, developed by 98 fifth and sixth grade students from four Dayton area schools (Belle Haven Pre K-8 School, Horace Mann Elementary, Trotwood-Madison Middle School, and Holy Angels School), is the result of a museum-school collaboration.

The young curators learned the processes involved in planning an exhibition, developed the theme of Ohio art and artists and then selected 24 artworks from the museum’s collection for the exhibition. They also designed three hands-on activities for the gallery space, including textural rubbings to imitate relief printmaking, adding faces and color to student-designed “limner” drawings, and sculptural figures built with blocks. Visitors can also design their own exhibition on a magnet wall, enjoy a variety of books in the reading area, or go on a gallery hunt in the museum to find the works of art they would select as a curator.

In addition, the young curators responded to the selected works of art through both written and visual interpretations. Their artworks are displayed as part of the exhibition and have been published as an exhibition catalog. Visitors will find their written responses used as label text throughout the exhibition. Join the fun and visit the exhibition which is free and open during regular museum hours.

KIDS AS CURATORS is sponsored by The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Pamela and George Houk, and the Iddings Foundation.

On view through Fall 2008

Meet the Romans

Get a glimpse into life in ancient Rome with Meet the Romans, the Experiencenter’s newest exhibition. The impact that Roman life and culture had on subsequent generations is evident in almost everything that surrounds us from the alphabet we use to the buildings we live in.

Meet the Romans transports children and their families to ancient Rome with the help of two fictitious characters, Marcus and Julia. Represented by cartoon-like graphic figures, they point out examples of Roman art from the museum’s collection, as well as activities and important facts.

Giving visitors a realistic impression of Roman life, Kaethi Seidl, the Yeck Visiting Artist, is at work in the space at specific times, demonstrating the Roman art of mosaic floor design. Visitors are invited to decorate a wall in the same space with their own mosaic designs using magnets.

A number of hands on activities will teach children about the Roman alphabet, the Latin language, and Roman numerals. Young children can make-up stories about ancient Rome using hand puppets and a floor plan of a Roman villa will allow children to set up the various rooms using miniature representations of the walls, furniture, and people.

Learn about the Tree of Paradise, the featured mosaic in THE ROMAN WORLD: Religions and Everyday Life, and its meaning in several religions. The adjoining activity encourages visitors to add elements to a large tree that describe in words and pictures their ideas about paradise.

Meet the Romans promises to be an exciting exhibition for all ages. It is free of charge and open during regular museum hours.

Sponsors:

  and Levin Family Foundation

Coming Soon...

November 1, 2008

Reinstallation in the Experiencenter

SHIMMERING MADNESS
An Installation by Sandy Skoglund

Sandy Skoglund, American (born 1946). SHIMMERING MADNESS, 1998 Installation:  Jelly beans, wood, plastic, metal, motors Museum purchase, 2001.34 c 1998 Sandy Skoglund

Created by New York-based artist/photographer Sandy Skoglund, Shimmering Madness is a breathtaking installation consisting of a brightly colored, enameled jellybean floor buttressed against two walls that have been densely covered with small kinetic, hand-painted butterflies. In the midst of this fantastic room are two jellybean-covered figures assembled in dance-like poses with their heads spun backward.

Skoglund moved to New York in 1972, where she started working as a
conceptual artist. In the late 1970s, she began to teach herself
photography to fulfill her desire to document her work. This developing
interest in photographic technique later became fused with her interest in
popular culture and commercial picture making strategies, resulting in
what is referred to as a "fabricated image," or an image that illustrates
an artificial construction of reality and not reality itself.

Because Skoglund's goal is to "be in contact with reality and at the same
time alter it," her interpretation of the "image" in both her installations
and the photographs of her installations often experientially transports the viewer into the realm of the surreal. By incorporating multiples of
everyday objects, such as food, into her installations (as seen here in the
form of thousands of jellybeans), Skoglund redefines the concept of what is precious and beautiful in art.

"I like to work with food because it is a familiar material," Skoglund
explains. "The value of art, the educational value of art, the sort of life
affirming value of art has to do with bringing our awareness of the
everyday miracle that's around us, that everything is, in its own way, if
you look at it, quite strange and quite marvelous. For me, food is an icon of familiarity, which is so natural to us on a daily basis that it's almost invisible." Skoglund has achieved international recognition as a photographer, and her installations have been commissioned and acquired by museums and universities around the world.

Opens November 15, 2008

Exploring Art A To Z
Developed for children in pre Kindergarten - 3rd grade, discover the alphabet as a vehicle for introducing children to the language of art using 26 artworks from the museum’s collection and area artists. Turn alphabet letters into figures, design fanciful letters from found objects, or search for images A to Z that are “hidden” in the works of art.

Experiencenter Sponsors: George and Pamela Houk, The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and the Iddings Foundation

Acknowledging Creative Excellence

Pamela Houk’s work in art education, her vision and ideals for the development of an interactive space within the art museum were brought to life in 1976 with the opening of the Experiencenter. This gallery space for children and families is based on the concept that people learn more effectively and gain a better understanding of the creative process by being actively involved. As the originator and Curator of the Experiencenter for 23 years, Pamela Houk’s contribution to advancing art education for all ages was outstanding. To recognize her achievement and contribution to art education the Pamela P. Houk Award for Excellence in Art Education was awarded developed. Read more