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Baltimore— The Walters Art Museum has once again distributed free art kits to supplement arts education for students learning from home. Designed for ages six to 11 and offered in both English and Spanish, the art kits explore themes of art and identity with the goal of encouraging parents and children to learn about and create art together.
“The kits provide fun, educational, and non-digital resources to families that are learning at home,” said Laurel Miller, Director of Visitor Services and Interim Director of Education. “We’ve worked to be responsive to digital burnout, unequal access to technology, best practices in child development and learning, as well as families’ evolving schedules to create resources that are relevant and engaging.”
During the summer, the Walters assembled and distributed 2000 art kits at 18 sites across the city and through the Baltimore County Public Library system. The most recent batch of art kits were available this month through the Edmondson Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library as well as branches of the Baltimore County Public Library, and city arts organizations such as 901 Arts, Jubilee Arts, Access Arts, Art With a Heart, and Family Connections.
While the kits were developed to increase accessibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walters plans to continue and expand the program in the future, with more free art kits set to launch in the Spring of 2021. Each kit contains two art lesson plans, a coloring sheet, scavenger hunt, and an art-making activity. “These kits are another way of fulfilling our mission to be an educational partner to families in the region,” said Rebecca Sinel, Manager of Family Programs.
“We want to connect students with works of art from the collection that span the globe and also encourage families to think about personal connections to art and to explore the creative process in their own way.” The Walters Art Museum is a cultural hub in the heart of Baltimore, located in the city’s Mount Vernon neighborhood. The museum’s collection spans more than seven millennia, from 5000 BCE to the 21st century, and encompasses 36,000 objects from around the world.
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