Art Is Family 2018

When Ann Treacy discovered Mia’s free Family Day, she had three children under age 7 and no money to spare. Free makes something possible,” she says. “With three little kids, you don’t know if you’ll be somewhere for an hour or for 10 minutes before someone has a breakdown. Being free is everything to a parent like me—it’s the difference between going to the museum once in a great while and going on a regular basis, so the kids develop a vocabulary for art.”

The child-friendly programming is a bonus. “Kids can only do so much looking at art,” Treacy says. “The scavenger hunts and other activities keep them focused, and then you can talk about the artwork.”

With the pressure off, Treacy can stay for as long—or as little—as time and children allow. And not feel guilty. “You see what you want to see, and don’t feel like you have to see everything—then it’s no longer fun,” she says.

Now the kids are often the ones spurring her on, pulling her toward one artwork or another. “Come here, come here,” they’ll say. “I’m going to tell you everything I know about this.”