community day with pnc: create, explore, inspire

*Presale tickets are sold out. Limited walk-up tickets will be available day-of.*

Who’s ready to put the “Arts” in “STEAM”? Thanks to PNC's generous support, get ready to experience the Museum’s immersive exhibits along with indoor and outdoor art-centric community day programming with free admission. Through drawing, painting, and other forms of expression, little ones can expand their creativity, explore STEAM concepts, and inspire both themselves and others to dream big!

Indoor Programming

• Tabletop Harmonic Drawing Machines (9:30 am - 4:30 pm): Using pendulums and rotating platforms, guests can create mesmerizing geometric designs as they explore how gravity, momentum, speed, and balance impact their unique creations.
• Pantograph Drawing (9:30 am - 4:30 pm): Through the power of engineering, guests can take their drawing abilities to the next level, experimenting with pantograph systems and mechanical linkages to copy, shrink, or enlarge their sketches through transfer of motion.
• Spin Drawing (9:30 am - 4:30 pm): Guests can design their own marker-wielding tops then take them for a spin, testing how balance, speed, and placement affect their colorful results.
• Bike Spirograph (9:30 am - 4:30 pm): With this pedal-powered activation, guests use bicycle gears and spirograph cogs to create geometric patterns, discovering the connection between gear size, tooth count, and direction and the complexity of their design.
• Alma Thomas Collage Creations (10 am - 12 pm): Inspired by the artistry of DC-based painter Alma Thomas, guests create collages infused with colors and patterns akin to Thomas’s works.
• Papel Picado (2 - 4 pm): As a celebration of Mexican culture and the Museum’s Placita Mágica exhibit, guests can design papel picado. Finished works will be collected and displayed together as a symbol of community and an inspiration for future creators.

Outdoor Programming (rotating, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm)

• Bubble Painting: A new take on “pop art,” guests can use tinted bubble solution and a variety of bubble tools to print colorful bubbles onto paper. How will different wand shapes, changes in airflow, and altered bubble mixtures impact the outcome?
• Giant Paint by Number: Little artists can see their impact on the community come to life in this large-form art piece. Guests roll dice to determine how many sections they paint, making their mark one stroke at a time.
• Cardboard Maze: Guests can design, test, and redesign a giant walk-through maze using slotted cardboard pieces, exploring pathways, problem-solving dead ends, and reconfiguring to improve the challenge.