smART Family Weekends

smART Family Weekends are:

smART Family Second Saturday Programs:

On the Second Saturday of each month, the Art Center invites children along with an adult companion to learn more about art through a variety of cool activities.
Please join us for a family activity that begins in the lobby at 10:15am and ends at 11:15am. All sessions are FREE.
Advanced registration is required for each Second Saturday program. Please contact Jennifer Cooley at 515.271.0328 or jcooley@desmoinesartcenter.org.
Each session has a limited number of participants (which includes children and adults) and places are secured by advanced reservation only.

Second Saturday Schedule

Saturday, July 11 – Get to Know: Tara Donovan

Ages 7–12
Limited to 10 people
Tara Donovan transforms large quantities of mass-produced items, such as adhesive tape, drinking straws, buttons, plastic drinking cups, and Mylar, into stunning artworks. Families will see and discuss her artwork before creating an artwork using similar methods and materials.

Saturday, August 8 – Jazz It Up!

Ages 6–12
Limited to 15 people
Artists are often influenced by other art forms, such as music. Families will learn about two artists who gained inspiration from jazz and classical music: Romare Bearden and Stanton MacDonald-Wright, respectively. Later in the studio, families will gain inspiration from different types of music while creating artworks!

Saturday, September 12 – Drawing in the Galleries

Ages 8–12
Limited to 10 people
The painting by Maurice Prendergast, Autumn, New Hampshire (1912), is a visitor favorite at the Art Center. Focusing on this painting, families will learn more about this artist and artwork as well as observation and drawing fundamentals while sketching their own work of art.

Please click here for a complete smART Family Second Sunday schedule:
smART Family Second Sunday Schedule (Summer)