can create and play with melted wax, Model Magic dough, watercolor paints, sidewalk chalk and digital interactives at more than two dozen activity stations. Plano, 469/642-2901; crayolaexperience.com What can you do at OIL AND COTTON? A better question would be what can’t you do. Sign up your kids or teens for the many workshops for drawing, painting, collage, self-portraiture, polymer clay, weaving, cloth dyeing, calligraphy—even instrument and song-writing lessons at the art studio’s new location just west of downtown Dallas. Dallas, 972/373-4528; oilandcotton.com
art
At PAINT MY POTTERY, you can not only paint your pottery but also make it from scratch. Pottery-togo kits with glaze, brushes and paint palettes are also available. Offerings vary by location. The Shops at Willow Bend, Plano, 972/371-8539, and Market Plaza, Plano, 972/800-5977; paintmypottery.net Inside the splatter room at PIPE & PALETTE, now located at a new and larger storefront inside The Shops at Willow Bend, slip on a pair of goggles and go crazy with paint (without getting in trouble). You can also book workshops for fluid art, hand lettering, pottery, even for making spoon jewelry. Mommy & Me or Daddy & Me classes are also available Mondays through Wednesdays. Plano, 972/482-0755; pipeand palette.com
Outdoor Art Have you discovered the new AT&T DISCOVERY DISTRICT? The technology-focused entertainment destination in downtown Dallas boasts a 104-foottall media wall, an LED-lit globe (it’s a 3D version of AT&T’s logo) you can walk through and immersive exhibits inside the “AT&T Experience Store.” Dallas; discoverydistrict.att.com BISHOP ARTS DISTRICT—
emphasis on the Arts—in Oak Cliff is one of the most charming neighborhoods in Dallas, thanks in part to its collection of murals. Check out “Bat Girl” by local Steve Hunter (at 313 N. Bishop Ave.) and several more on the walkable West Seventh Street. Dallas; bishopartsdistrict.com For admirers of the strange and unusual, go see the EYE that looks out from a garden near the posh Joule Hotel in downtown Dallas. The 30-foot-tall fiberglass orb—an exact replica of artist Tony Tasset’s own eyeball—is mesmerizing. Dallas; thejouledallas.com Appropriately named
INSPIRATION ALLEY, this Instagram-worthy alleyway that anchors the Foundry District is another spot that’s the perfect backdrop for snapping family pics. Visit on any day to see colorful, ever-changing murals. Fort Worth; thefoundrydistrictfw.com
Go online to download the map for the PLANO ART WALK for a self-guided tour around the city. You’ll experience sculptures, murals, historic structures and other artworks at about two dozen locations, like the Echowave in downtown. The download includes questions and prompts, too, to help your kids engage with the works. Plano; planoartwalk.com If you’ve ever driven past Fort Worth City Hall and noticed the bright yellow sculpture twisted into a beautiful ball, that’s TABACHÍN RIBBON, created by the late Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge and donated to the city in honor of Fort Worth’s Hispanic heritage. Swing by this summer to take a closer look at the 13-foot-tall circular sculpture whose shape was inspired from the evergreen Tabachín tree that grows in Domenge’s native Mexico and in the Rio Grande Valley. fortworth.com Kids who love their teddy bears will get a kick out of the larger-than-life-size TEDDY BEAR STATUES
carved from stone, located at the serene Lakeside Park in the posh Highland Park neighborhood and overlooking Turtle Creek. Take a stroll across the footbridge at 4601 Lakeside Drive to have a look-see at the 10-foot-tall momma bear and her three bear cubs nearby, each frozen in a state of play. Feel free to crawl (carefully) on the bears. Highland Park; hptx.org More than 150 artworks and contemporary sculptures that make up the
TEXAS SCULPTURE GARDEN
are on view both inside and outside HALL Park, a business development (and the future home
of a widely expanded park and performing arts center). Frisco, 972/3771100; texassculpturegarden.org Commissioned by DART and built by local creatives Brad Oldham and Brandon Oldenburg, THE TRAVELING MAN is a series of three stainless steel, smiling robots in Deep Ellum. You can find them each along Good Latimer Expressway near the Deep Ellum Station: Awakening (the tip of his head emerging from the ground), Waiting on a Train (lounging, strumming a guitar), and Walking Tall (mid-stride at 40 feet tall and a steel bird perched on his arm). Dallas; dart.org
learn about early North Texas aviation history. Fort Worth, 855/733-8627; fortworthaviationmuseum.org Step into a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 at the FRONTIERS OF FLIGHT MUSEUM alongside Love
Field. In all, there are more than 40 air and space vehicles and over 35,000 artifacts, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute model. There’s also a play area your littles will love. Dallas, 214/350-3600; flightmuseum.com Take a trip down the runway as you enter HENRY B. TIPPIE NATIONAL AVIATION EDUCATION CENTER. Kiddos will
BEAT BRAIN DRAIN
Keep all kinds of learning going
Aviation You’ll see original aircraft from World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War at the CAVANAUGH FLIGHT MUSEUM. Military trucks and armor are also on exhibit. Addison, 972/3808800; cavflight.org
learn the meanings of the different markings on the runway, then continue on to hands-on STEM activities in a hangar that also houses WWII aircraft. Dallas, 214/330-1700; flynaec.org If you happen to own an aircraft, you could fly into the VINTAGE FLYING MUSEUM—which is inside a hangar at Meacham International Airport. (Cars also welcome.) There are nearly two dozen rare and historic aircraft, plus memorabilia and artifacts. Fort Worth, 817/624-1935; vintageflying museum.org
learn
Kids will enjoy trying out flight simulators, stepping into a real cockpit and even playing on an evacuation slide at CR SMITH MUSEUM. The museum near DFW Airport also explains the history of American Airlines. Fort Worth, 682/2789085; crsmithmuseum.org Check out the outdoor aircraft “petting zoo” at the FORT WORTH AVIATION MUSEUM. You’ll see all
types of warbirds, jets and helicopters as you
Bookstore Storytimes Encourage your child’s love of reading with twice-weekly storytime at INTERABANG BOOKS. The events begin at 10:30am Wednesdays and Saturdays and include a craft before reading time. Dallas, 214/484-4289; interabangbooks.com
DFWCHILD | june/july 2022
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