New & Now
Spring Break Family Fun
BY ERIN PAGE. PHOTOS PROVIDED.
THE NATIVE AMERICAN VILLAGE IN LIICHOKOSHKOMO’!
Sneak a peek at Liichokoshkomo’!
OKLAHOMA CONTEMPORARY’S NEW SPACE WILL TRIPLE ARTS PROGRAMS AND CLASS OFFERINGS FOR ALL AGES.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s new multimillion dollar indoor-outdoor educational experience opens later this month, but families are invited for a sneak peek with special activities each day March 14 through 20. From sampling traditional foods of the American West and climbing on the new playground equipment to watching Native dance demonstrations and planting wildflower seeds, activities celebrate and invite families to explore Liichokoshkomo’!, a space intended for hands-on fun. Located in the museum’s backyard, Liichokoshkomo’! (pronounced Lee-cho-kosh-ko-MO) is a Choctaw phrase meaning “Let’s play!,” and that’s exactly what children and families are invited to do in the 2.3 acre interactive opportunity to learn multicultural Western history and heritage. Imaginations will soar in the replica tent city for railway workers, a railcar, train depot and pioneer wagon as kids stretch their critical thinking skills to consider what they would haul West. A Native American village will feature homes of seven tribes, including a Pawnee earth lodge, a Kiowa teepee and Pueblo cliff dwellings. “This gives little ones a place to touch and climb on things and get their wiggles out, a place all their own to explore,” said Gina Anderson, communications strategist for the museum.
For more information about sneak peek activities and Liichokoshkomo’!, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org.
Enjoy Free Family Day at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art Kick off your Spring Break week with SONIC Free Family Day at the OKCMOA on Sunday, March 15. From 12 to 5 p.m., families will enjoy free admission to the museum’s exhibitions, plus the opportunity to create one-of-a-kind art in the museum’s studio. Don’t miss kid-friendly stops throughout the galleries, like Portrait Corner and a treasure hunt for tiny Italian cherubs in the Oklahoma Persian Ceiling. Thanks to the Downtown Library, sign up for library cards and check out books from a pop-up library, plus enjoy family-friendly film screenings. Be sure to stop by MetroFamily’s booth to design your own crown!
For more information, visit okcmoa.com.
6 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / MARCH 2020
Oklahoma Contemporary expands reach with new space For nearly 30 years, Oklahoma Contemporary has been inspiring imaginations, creativity and a love of the arts. This month, the nonprofit organization opens its much-anticipated, multi-million dollar new building, tripling program and class offerings for audiences of all ages and continuing to offer admission to the exhibitions and much of the new public programming for free. The new space at 11th Street and Broadway Avenue opens to the public Friday, March 13, with family-friendly activities planned that weekend and into Spring Break. Going forward, every Friday afternoon tiny tots can explore the Zero2Four Art Lab, full of art materials, books and interactive stations designed to spark curiosity about the arts. Thursday late nights will offer enhanced programming like performances, artist talks, DJs and poetry readings. Starting again in April, Oklahoma Contemporary hosts free monthly family-focused programs every second Saturday with hands-on art making, performances and gallery adventures for visitors of all ages. School group visits, facilitated by gallery guides, are free for grades 3 through 12 with the option to add interactive studio activities. “We’ll have a deeper well of classes than ever before,” said Lori Brooks, director of communications for Oklahoma Contemporary. “We’ve done a lot of research to figure out what Oklahoma City wanted, and we’re making sure to provide that in terms of education.”
Find out more about these programs, plus Camp Contemporary coming this summer and year-round Studio School for teens and adults, at oklahomacontemporary.org.
