My Museum Kit: Art Projects in a Box! When summer classes and camps were canceled, Crystal Bridges’ Education and Community Engagement departments sprang into action to develop a project that would bring art to children beyond the museum’s walls. The result was My Museum Kit, a physical art kit that offers lessons, projects, and supplies themed around works found in the Crystal Bridges collection. As with many of our efforts, the need for a portable art kit came through listening sessions with school teachers, teens, and youth-based community leaders. Individuals expressed significant local barriers and concerns for vulnerable youth who lack access to summer learning and quality mental health stimulation, especially for quarantined families during a pandemic. My Museum Kit features art lessons, projects, and art supplies focused on a specific theme, such as Color, Sculpture, You + Me, Art of Kindness, Show and Tell, and Keep Creating, with instructions in both English and Spanish. Guided by these themes, kids learn about works in the Crystal Bridges collection and engage with new artmaking techniques and materials. The kits are also accompanied by a digital component that allows kids to meet our educators via video and walk through the art projects with them step by step. The kits are best suited for grades K-5, but offer fun for the whole family. Since early July, the team delivered My Museum Kits to seven schools and 12 community organizations across Northwest Arkansas who host free, reduced lunch meal pick-up. It took countless hours to assemble 12,000 kit boxes in an assembly line of museum staff, as well as intensive collaboration to work
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closely with partners, but as a result, My Museum Kits were distributed to children in need across Northwest Arkansas, and art kits are becoming a new staple offering of Crystal Bridges. The response to My Museum Kit has been overwhelming. Parents have shared that kids are excited about the upcoming arrival of the next kit and they help to pass the time at home. Marsha Layer of Springdale Schools ESL Family School Community Partnerships expressed her gratitude for the kits and to our staff. “Springdale is strong, but we are living through a difficult period. I am thankful to Crystal Bridges for supplying these art kits and to their staff members for their love and support of our families.” Korienne Toney, principal of Joe Mathias Elementary School in Rogers said, “We appreciate the work that Crystal Bridges staff has done to bring a fun and creative outlet directly to the children and families in our community this summer.” Crystal Bridges Chief Education Officer Marissa Reyes said: “Our calling card has become the integration of basic needs and arts experiences. We’re happy that we can play a role during this time of need and that we are doing so in partnership with community and school organizations, artists, and community members.”
