Family Day
Join us for our free monthly event for families, kids, and the young at heart. On the second Sunday of every month, the museum is filled with hands-on art activities, storytelling, artist demonstrations, gallery hunts, self-guided tours and more — all inspired by Mia’s incredible collection. Learn more here.
Explore activities and resources from past Virtual Family Day events below.
Family Day Major Sponsor: 
Virtual Family Day: Free Ink Day
Sarah Crowner
(American, born 1974)
Untitled (Spotlights), 2013
Color screenprint and lithograph (A); color screenprint and relief print
(B); diptych.
Highpoint Editions Archive, The Friends of Bruce B. Dayton Acquisition
Fund and the Christina N. and Swan J. Turnblad Memorial Fund, 2020.85.31a,b. Copyright © Sarah Crowner, published by Highpoint Editions
Join us for a day of creative fun. At this free event, families, young artists, and the young at heart can drop by to explore some of the materials and techniques on view in the “Contemporary Print” exhibition and pick up a kit of materials to make their own artwork at home. Plus, members can explore the show for free on Sunday, December 12.
Free Family Day Artist Totes
During December’s Family Day weekend (November 11-12, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.), you can pick up a free Family Day Artist Tote that contains printmaking materials at Mia’s Third Avenue entrance.
Materials in the kit complement the Virtual Family Day program’s activities but are not essential to enjoying the activities. Totes are available while supplies last.
Water Bottle Watercolor Printmaking
Decorate your water bottle with hand-printed watercolor stickers you will make yourself! We recommend you read through the instructions or watch the video first, and then follow along by watching the video above, or using a printable activity guide.
This activity was created by Tyler Green, the education and community programs manager at Highpoint Center for Printmaking.
More Virtual Family Day Activities
Gather and make art with people you care about. At this month’s virtual family day, we’re featuring our favorite activities from past Virtual Family Days, all inspired by Mia’s incredible collection. Watch how-to videos, create art projects with step-by-step instructions, and more.
Virtual Family Day: ¡Arte Para Todos! (Art for Everyone!)
Celebrate National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month through art and poetry. Learn about Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, and explore textures in printmaking with materials found at home. Write a poem guided by local Bribri (Indigenous Costa Rican) American and African-descended poet Ari Tison. Browse our bilingual hands-on art-making activities inspired by Mia’s collection.
Virtual Family Day: Family Portraits
Celebrate the beauty and diversity of all families this Family Day. Explore Leslie Barlow’s MAEP exhibition, “Within, Between, and Beyond,” which features stories and identities of mixed race and transracial adoptee participants. Get a coloring sheet designed by Barlow and be inspired to make your own unique family portrait using oil pastels.
Virtual Family Day: Looks Delicious!
Explore art that’s a feast for the eyes. Learn what “still life” in art means, and be inspired to arrange your own still life with what you find at home. From creating a cardboard sculpture to painting with watercolors, you’ll explore the many art forms a still life can take. Plus, serve up your favorite family recipe to share with friends.
Virtual Family Day: Look Closer
Whether looking at artworks in the galleries or in your neighborhood, you can always notice more when you look closer. Be inspired by artists who take a closer look at the world around them, and create tools to help you look with greater intention. Learn to hone your eye and look without judgment. Create your own Soundsuit inspired by American artist Nick Cave. And play a scavenger hunt in the museum or wherever, searching for colors, feelings, and more!
Virtual Family Day: Express Your Love with Pride
Celebrate Pride month learning about visionary and courageous artists from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Make a friendship bracelet for yourself and a friend, and take time to appreciate the many kinds of relationships in your life.
Virtual Family Day: Building Bridges
Celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month honoring the many bridges built by AAPI immigrants across cultures, languages, and peoples.
Virtual Family Day: Coloring My Feelings
Explore and express your feelings this Family Day with interactive art and dance activities. Draw various facial expressions on colorful watercolor blobs guided by local artist Maddy Buck, and watch her read her illustrated Book of Anger. Make a fan and learn to playfully dance with it in a virtual flamenco lesson by Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theater. Also, brighten your view by making a vibrant design inspired by the stained glass windows from Mia’s Prairie School designed Purcell-Cutts House.
Women Weaving Love and Strength
Celebrate Women’s History Month reflecting on all the amazing women in your life who have shared love and strength! Tune in with songs and stories celebrating women shared by the all women’s improvisational chorus Give Get Sistet, and local storyteller Beverly Cottman. In addition, explore textiles and baskets woven by women in Mia’s collection and try kid-friendly weaving activities with simple materials like yarn, cardboard, and paper cups on our virtual program.
Virtual Family Day: Black is Beautiful
Celebrate Black History Month by learning more about the extraordinary Black artists who created art to document and honor the beauty, struggle, and resilience of Black people. Create portraits of people who inspire you using various techniques drawn from African American artists like Wadsworth Jarrell and Elizabeth Catlett. Watch a shadow-puppet show by local artist and activist Ty Chapman, and make your own shadow puppet. Sing along and hear tales affirming love from Nothando Zulu, founder of the African Storyteller’s Alliance, and create your own love letter for Black Lives this Valentine’s Day.
Virtual Family Day: F is for Family
Start the new year reflecting on the people you love and call family. Hear tales of love and friendship from Nothando Zulu, founder of the African Storytellers Alliance. Be inspired to make your own “quilt,” learning about the amazing textile-upcycling tradition passed down through generations in Gee’s Bend, Alabama.
Virtual Family Day: Beautiful Letters
Is writing an art form? Yes! Many cultures around the world consider calligraphy, the art of handwriting, one of the most important forms of artistic expression. Explore beautiful penmanship with activities related to two exhibitions at Mia: “Khatt Islami: Sacred Scripts from Islamic Africa,” and “20 Dances: Japanese Calligraphy Then and Now.”
Virtual Family Day: Foot in the Door
Celebrate community love and joy during this Family Day, inspired by “Foot in the Door,” an open exhibition for Minnesota artists of all ages held once every 10 years. Hear thoughts on the all-virtual exhibition from Chappal, a talking slipper from the Indian subcontinent, and be inspired to make your own “foot” wear.
Virtual Family Day: Mapping Your World
How can maps tell us more about our past, present, and future? Explore many kinds of maps from Mia’s collection and be inspired to create a map of your own world! Learn how stars helped people navigate and make your own constellation projector. Listen to the story “A Map into the World” by local author Kao Kalia Yang, deepen your knowledge about Asia and the Asian diaspora.
Virtual Family Day: Shine On!
Be dazzled by the strength and brilliance of metal arts in Mia’s collection, some made thousands of years ago. Hear music played on metal gongs and cymbals by the Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble, and learn how to shine together through complicated times from therapist parents Jamil and Sara from Creative Kuponya. Quiz yourself about metal arts, and use household items to make your own mirror inspired by ancient bronze mirrors.
Virtual Family Day: Open Books, Open Hearts
Celebrate National Book Lovers Day by joining virtual Family Day: Open Books Open Hearts. Fall in love with books of all kinds listening to stories by local authors and artists, making your own book and printmaking, and watching a virtual puppet show featuring a huge pop up book!
Virtual Family Day: Making Home
Thank you for joining us for a virtual Family Day! Inspired by the special exhibit “When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Art and Migration”, this month we’re asking: What is a home? And how do you make one? Share stories of migration and home making through art and storytelling.
Virtual Family Day(s) of Action: Yes Justice Yes Peace!
To shift focus to the most pressing needs of rebuilding our communities with love, join us for “Family Day(s) for Action: Yes Justice Yes Peace!” which will share family-friendly resources and activities centering Black Lives Matter throughout the month of June.
Virtual Family Day: Stories of Resilience
Celebrate and learn more about Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with puppetry by Oanh Vu and Denise Hanh Hyunh, collage making, and pickling. In addition, hear stories from indigenous artists Julie Buffalohead and children’s book author Teresa Peterson, be inspired to dance outside with Kenna Camara-Cottman, and connect with nature with Sidewalk Plant Lab to find strength and joy!
