January 5, 2006—The Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego joins the city of San Diego’s Centre City Development Corporation at the Eighth Annual Multicultural Festival, a celebration of San Diego’s rich cultural heritage and diversity. The event will feature the Museum’s FREE hands-on art activities, as well as music and dance performances, and a wide selection of international foods and merchandise. The Festival takes place from 11am–5pm on Saturday, January 14, 2006, along the Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade (across from the San Diego Convention Center, Fourth Avenue to Market Street on Harbor Drive).

The Museum’s Outreach Program will present three interactive art stations—the Culinary Culture Carts, Paint It Big, and SKY Dreaming. These activities are taught by professional artists and qualified assistants.
Culinary Culture Carts provide a “kitchen/restaurant” environment where children and families create an imaginative “meal” with brightly-colored clay and everyday kitchen utensils.

Paint It Big allows children to create multi-layered artworks from simple abstract painting elements. Square canvases are set in tent shapes and children are invited to paint on top of the previous artist’s work, creating layers of texture and depth. This process teaches color and brush techniques and emphasizes the value of teamwork.

SKYDreaming is based on the simple childhood activity of making a paper airplane and watching it fly. Child-size wooden airplanes provide a working area for the junior designers. Once they have learned the basics, children are encouraged to create their own flying designs. This process teaches children various “origami” folding techniques.

The Museum Without Walls Outreach Program brings hands-on art activities and educational programs directly to community events, festivals, schools, businesses, and public facilities. The Museum presents over 90 activities serving 10,000 children and their families annually.

Alberto Caro, the Museum’s Artist-in-Residence has designed these innovative activities, for ages 3–12, to engage children in problem solving and the creative process. Mr. Caro is bilingual and can interview in Spanish and English.

The Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego is a non-profit arts/education program where children and their families have been learning through the arts for over 24 years. We are currently in the final phase of construction on the Muse, our new facility, which will open early 2008. Designed by Rob Wellington Quigley, it will be downtown’s first major “green” building. For further information, call 619 233 8792 or visit our website at childrensmuseumsd.org.