On any given day, visitors at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum can walk through the European Galleries and see the works of Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Pablo Picasso hanging on the walls. This past Saturday, a herd of three to five-year-olds sat among those masterpieces observing Monet’s “The Seine at Giverny.”
As a part of the “Tours for Tots” program, the museum welcomed children into the gallery to sketch what they saw in Monet’s vibrant blues and green painting. On other visits, children have learned to sit and think like the Buddha or ponder the works of Alice Neel.
The program, which has been a staple of the museum for well over a decade, is designed to “help very young children get confident and comfortable in the museum,” according to Christina Alderman, the director of family and teen programs for the RISD Museum.
Alderman has worked at the RISD Museum for about 10 years and has given tours to kids since the beginning of her tenure. The program helps kids cultivate an appreciation for the “different ways that art can exist in this world,” added Leslie Condon, a public programs coordinator at the museum.
Each session “starts with a very structured storytime,” Alderman said. From there, the group makes its way to one of the museum’s many galleries.
For Alderman, the time in the gallery is one of the more important parts of the tours. “The gallery interaction is meant to be meaningful but brief,” Alderman said. “A lot of it is about building the parents’ confidence in the space, because a lot of parents are anxious that they’re going to have a kid that doesn’t follow the rules.”
But Alderman believes that the more time families spend in the gallery spaces, the more “comfortable and confident” the kids — and their parents — get.
After the gallery visit, the group moves on to an art project. On Saturday, the project was watercolor painting, although it varies each time — some projects are simpler, while others require artist-grade tools.
Alderman said she enjoys when parents feel comfortable enough to also participate in the activities. “My dream scenario for those moments is that parents can also be creative and chill, and it’s as much fun for the grown-ups as the kids,” she added.
Beatrice Pratt has been attending “Tours for Tots” for about a year, she told The Herald. Pratt has three daughters — a kindergartener, a pre-schooler and a baby. While Pratt sometimes brings all three of her children, she said the program is “better geared” for her older daughters.
After a December session of the tour, Pratt was “thrilled” by the progress her eldest daughter had made in her drawing and focus. “They have appreciation for the art, too,” she said.
Condon said that kids have a unique way of taking in art. “They have such organic and unfiltered responses to artwork,” Condon said.
The program is part of the RISD museum’s broader role of being “a teaching space and community space,” Condon explained. When making art with the kids, Condon loves watching as they “start connecting the dots,” realizing that they “could do this at home. It’s not intimidating.”
Alderman said she loves when “kids get so comfortable, they lose themselves.” Kids will get up during storytimes to sit in Alderman’s lap, she said. Others who attend multiple tours “are really shy when they start, but then they get to know me, and they talk to me,” she added.
And it’s not just the kids who get something out of being in the museum, Alderman said. “The parents get to know each other and make friends.”
“I live for those moments,” Alderman added. “It really helps people see the museum as a good place to build community, and as a staff member, that’s one of the most fulfilling parts of the job.”
Talia LeVine is a section editor covering arts and culture. They study Political Science and Visual Art with a focus on photography. In their free time, they can be found drinking copious amounts of coffee.
