Identify distinctive shapes in sculptures from NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden and create a shape collage using found household items and pictures. Read More

Create a self-portrait on paper from collaged materials using your hand as a representation of your body. Read More

What do you see when you look at this sculpture by artist Will Ryman? A club house? A log cabin? A home? This is a big sculpture that we are allowed to step inside. And although the inside may look different than your house, it is a place that provides shelter. A neighborhood is a… Read More

Louisiana artist Lin Emery creates kinetic sculptures from reflective materials. Wave, installed in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, relies on forces of nature—wind and gravity—to go with the flow.  In a play on the reflective nature of Wave, this activity asks you to reflect on the things that inspire gratitude for you. Before… Read More

Create your own breathing wand—a fun tool to help you take three deep breaths developed by community partner Project Peaceful Warriors. Materials Pipe cleaner Feather Beads Make Take your pipe cleaner and twist one end around the bottom of the feather. Add three beads to the pipe cleaner. Make a loop at the bottom of… Read More

Artists utilize color to create expression in works of art. Artist Joan Miró painted this abstract image of a “young girl” using organic shapes and a range of bold colors. Perhaps it was someone he knew and how he saw them in an extension of his imagination? In this activity, you will make a mixed-media… Read More

All around the world, people make art and utilitarian objects out of clay. For this activity, we are going to make a salt dough that will behave a bit like clay. Salt dough is cheap and easy to make. When baked in the oven on very low heat, the dough becomes hard and can be… Read More

Dig into the textures and colors of your home to create a decorative tassel inspired by Brindaban Pink by Louisiana sculptor Lynda Benglis. Adults, this one’s for you! All-ages art-making activity Sculptor Lynda Benglis is best known for her pioneering abstract works that capture materials in action like poured latex or dripped wax, pulled and… Read More

New Orleans artist Ron Bechet creates large-scale paintings and drawings inspired by the Southern Louisiana landscape. This charcoal work For My Fathers is based on twisted and tangled roots of live oaks in City Park. The more you look, new shapes and forms can emerge, sharing deeper ideas about emotions and human experiences.  Take a… Read More

Artists and scientists rely upon careful observations to discover and represent new ideas. The deft eye and trained hand of the visual artist can help us all to realize the intricacies of the natural world. In botanical journals, naturalists drew the leaves, stems, root systems, fruits and flowers of the plants they encountered so that… Read More

The beauty of spring is enhanced by the abundant blooms of flowers growing around our neighborhoods and in nature. Why not create a colorful textile garden for your own home environment? It will last year-round and will not require regular watering or sunlight — low maintenance! In this activity, you will create a fabric batik… Read More

People and cultures all over the world use symbols and images to help pass along stories that are important to them. In this activity, we will create a Story Generator that will provide clues to help us tell a story.  Inspiration: This large helmet mask was worn by masquerading characters in the Niger Delta Region… Read More

Tell a story through every-day objects in your home in this activity, inspired by Picasso’s Still Life With Candles. A still life is a work of art that captures still objects like fruit, vases, and fabric, carefully arranged and observed by an artist. Artists often create still lifes of ordinary objects from their home or… Read More

It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” One look at a picture can activate the imagination and encourage a story! In this activity, you will create a drawing of people and things in an environment. But there is a twist! You will work with a partner who will tell you how… Read More

Louisiana artist Ida Kohlmeyer is known for her highly personal language of symbols and shapes in her abstract paintings and sculptures, often arranged like words on a page. She took inspiration from the mark-making and inventiveness found in Abstract Expressionist and Surrealist works, including the work of Spanish artist Joan Miró. Take a look at… Read More

Reimagine your neighborhood. Promote thinking about fundamentals elements of social justice: community, empathy, equity, activism, and advocacy by honing your observation of immediate surroundings within your community. Use a found-object viewfinder as a tool for isolating shapes in drawing and utilize shapes as building blocks for creating a geometric composition that represents a vision of… Read More

American photographers Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and Latoya Ruby Frazier turned their cameras on individuals and communities whose stories were less known to expose their daily trials, struggles, and celebrations. Dorothea Lange was a photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration. Lange’s photographs influenced the development of documentary… Read More