Virtual Family Day: Mapping Your World
Every second Sunday of the month, Mia hosts a free monthly event for families, kids, and the young at heart featuring virtual hands-on art activities, music, dance performances, artist demonstrations, and more — all inspired by Mia’s incredible collection.
Family Day Major Sponsor: 
Martin Wong (American, 1946-1999), Polaris, acrylic on canvas. The P.D McMillan Memorial Fund, 2017.35
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 exploring the new Arts of Global Asia website, and celebrate Indigenous People’s Day learning more about Indigenous history and culture.
Free Family Day Artist Totes
During the Family Day weekend (October 10-11) from 10AM to 2PM, pick up a free Family Day Artist Tote at our 3rd Avenue entrance! You’ll find materials to make your own constellation projector and other fun map-making activities. The totes are available on a first-come-first-serve basis and no registration is required.
The materials in the kit complement the Virtual Family Day program’s activities but are not essential to enjoying the activities. Click here to learn more about the materials in this month’s tote.
Greeting
Celebrate Indigenous People’s Day with the following interactive activities share by local Indigenous artists!
Say It! Sing It! Play It! In Cherokee
How can YOU help keep alive an endangered language and celebrate Indigenous People’s Day? By singing it loud and proud with a Turtle and Wabbit! Through catchy songs and fun storytelling from their show Say It! Sing It! Play It!
In Cherokee, award-winning Minneapolis performers, Chris Griffith (enrolled tribal member of the Cherokee Nation) and Shari Aronson of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, lead an adventure into reclaiming language. Say It! Sing It! Play It! was created with support from the MN State Arts Board and NDN Collective.
Dakota Land Map
Click the photo above or click here to to access additional resources related to the map.
Study the Dakota Land Map of Minneapolis (Village of Many Lakes) & St Paul (Village along the White Cliffs) to learn more about the past, present and future of Dakota people and language.
The map was designed by Marlena Myles, a renowned self-taught Native American (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee) artist located in St Paul, Minnesota. She uses her art to celebrate her Indigenous culture & language as well as helping the public understand the significance of Native oral traditions and history.
Interactive Activities
Make a Constellation Projector
Click the photo above or click here to access the instructions for making a Constellation Projector.
Stars have dazzled and guided people for thousands of years across vast seas and lands. To make sense of the millions of stars in the sky, people started forming patterns and naming groups of stars based on gods, hunters, princesses, objects and mythical beasts. These patterns of stars as seen from the earth are called constellations. Try this quick and fun activity making your own constellation projector using simple materials from home!
Quiz and Guide: Maps at Mia
Click the photo above or click here to access the quiz.
What is a globe? What can a map represent? Have fun learning more about maps in this short interactive quiz “A Closer Look: Maps at Mia.”
What can we learn from Maps?
Click the photo above or click here to access the “What can we learn from Maps?” lesson.
Deepen your knowledge about the fascinating history of maps and try hands on art-making activities shared in the “What can we learn from Maps?” lesson from this newly launched virtual learning resource, The Arts of Global Asia curriculum. The main purpose of this new curriculum is to humanize teaching and learning about Asian arts and cultures, making connections to bridge K-12 students and teachers to artworks and cultural resources that may be new or unfamiliar.
Generous major support for The Arts of Asia online resource provided by the Freeman Foundation.
Additional generous support for The Arts of Asia online resource provided by the Gale Family Endowment.
Kao Kalia Yang: “A Map into the World”
As the seasons change, so too does a young Hmong girl’s world. She moves into a new home with her family and encounters both birth and death. As this curious girl explores life inside her house and beyond, she collects bits of the natural world. But who are her treasures for? Listen to the story “A Map in the the World” read out loud by award-winning Hmong-American writer Kao Kalia Yang.