Artist Talks: Reimagining The Power of Art + Play
Hear directly from the Museum’s commissioned artists in our new live Artist Talk series! Learn about the upcoming installations and programs being planned for this year (2021 reopening date TBD) and get to know the artists behind the art. This year’s theme is Reimagining the Power of Art + Play, exploring topics on play, art, healing, community, identity and the Museum’s role in a post-COVID-19 world. Each Artist Talk will focus on different ways the Museum will be reimagining its spaces and programs for when it reopens and what visitors can look forward to!
Next Artist Talk
Reimagining Gathering with Wes Bruce
May 12, 2021 at 6pm PST
In 2016, Wes Bruce and the Museum created The Wonder Sound, an installation exploring joy, sorrow and the stories we tell about both. This spring, Bruce returns to create a new healing space for our community. Bruce and Director of Exhibitions Megan Dickerson will discuss this extension, how to gather in times like this and how to respond to a changing world.
Wes Bruce is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist who uses immersive spaces to tell stories of love, loss and what it means to be human. Visit the artist’s website.
Registration Coming Soon
Upcoming Artist Talks
Reimagining Emotion
with Risa Puno
June 16, 2021 at 6pm PST
Risa Puno creates playful art installations that help people process their emotions. Her interactive artwork, In the Balance, will debut for the first time in San Diego in the The New Children’s Museum’s park this summer. In this talk, Puno joins Director of Exhibitions, Megan Dickerson, to reflect on how playful takes on serious world issues, and might help us better understand ourselves and how we relate to others.
Risa Puno is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist whose interactive and fun installations investigate universal human experiences. Visit the artist’s website.
Past Artist Talks
Reimagining Welcome
with Katie Ruiz
March 3, 2021
How can color and shape provide comfort in trying times? Museum Deputy Director Tomoko Kuta joined artist Katie Ruiz for a discussion of hope, welcome and plans for Ruiz’s new mural, Brian and the Bugs, at the Museum.
Katie Ruiz is a San Diego-based artist known for her “blanket paintings” in which figures shelter under colorful weavings inspired by Ruiz’s Xicana heritage and her study of traditional Mexican textiles.
Reimagining Playability
with David Israel Reynoso
April 14, 2021
What if a children’s museum could be seen as one never-ending playable show? David Reynoso joined Director of Exhibitions Megan Dickerson for a discussion on theatre, play and plans for Reynoso’s immersive theatre installation at the Museum.
David Israel Reynoso is a San Diego-based artist and theatre designer. He is a recipient of a San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Award as well as a 2011 Obie Award for “Sleep No More.”
The Artist Talk Series is presented by the Rain House Circle, passionate advocates and dedicated donors committed to The New Children’s Museum’s practice of commissioning contemporary artists to inspire art and play for a better world.