The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) is my favorite art museum to visit. I've grown up going there (it is only 15 minutes away from my house). I enjoy wandering the galleries, taking in the centuries of art history. I love visiting my favorite pieces every time I go--they're like old friends now, offering inspiration whenever I have artist's block.
For many people though, the MIA is not a familiar place, and is in fact a confusing one to visit. It can be overwhelming taking your kids there. What to see? How long should we stay? What's there to do? How do I keep the little ones engaged and not ready to leave within 15 minutes? I have a few suggestions for you, to make your visit to the MIA fun and informative.
The museum is always free, except for a couple galleries that have special exhibits. There's on street parking, and two parking lots that are free for museum visitors. I suggest not going on Fridays, as that is the day that usually has a lot of school groups visiting. It can be very noisy, crowded and distracting with all the kids passing through. Thursdays are a good time to visit--the MIA is open until 9pm, and they usually have some interactive art carts scattered around the museum. The information desk is always a great place to start--they have maps, suggestions of things to see, and free tours to take. The MIA's tours are really fun and interesting. They have different tours aimed at specific ages (they even have a tour for 3-5 year olds now).
I think the best way to experience the museum is to pick a particular floor or style of art to see. Don't try to see everything in one go--it just gets too overwhelming and mind numbing. I don't even try to see it all when I visit. An hour, maybe two, is a long enough time to see what you want to see, wander a little, and not be tired out.
For the young ones, a great way to get them excited to look at all the art is to have a scavenger hunt. My Mom came up with this idea--count all the dogs you can find in the art. You can also pick other animals, like horses (there are quite a few sculptures of those), or flowers, or boats...something that's not too difficult to find and will pop up a lot from gallery to gallery. Your kids will want to check each painting and sculpture to search for their chosen object. If you have multiple children, have each child pick a different thing to look for. The information desk also sometimes offers activity sheets to fill out, which can guide you through your visit.
The museum has a wonderful website: www.artsmia.org and I highly suggest checking it out before you visit. It's easy to browse, and there's just so much useful information. Upcoming events and exhibits, collection highlights, and educational resources. There's a whole section devoted to teachers, with pictures, lesson and field trip ideas. You can browse the MIA's entire collection online; it will tell you what gallery an object is in if it's on display, and you can see pieces that are currently in storage too. The museum only ever has about 10% of their total collection on display at any given time!
If you do just a little bit of research and preparation before you go, your visit to the MIA can be very rewarding and hassle free. Let the museum do the work for you--they want to share their knowledge with and pass a passion for art to the next generation. It doesn't have to be an intimidating place to visit.
