What do you dream about? Join us for a day of art making and activities inspired by dreams—the ones we have when we’re asleep as well as the hopes we have for our communities and futures.
Activities in the Ryan Learning Center are always free. The Art Institute offers free admission for kids under 14 and Chicago teens under 18 every day we’re open.
Activities in the Ryan Learning Center
Memory Quilting | Studio A
How can we honor our ancestors through textiles? Explore what’s possible and learn how to quilt with visiting artist Carina Yepez, whose work is on view in On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival.
Dream Drawing | Studio B
Create etchings of your dreams in the style of artist and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett.
The Artist’s Studio: Posters for Solidarity | Art Exchange
Take inspiration from the exhibition Elizabeth Catlett: “A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies” to make your own mixed-media poster.
Look Closer | Trott Gallery
Join art conservator Isaac Facio to examine the microstructures in textiles from the exhibition On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival.
Symbolist Selfies | Classroom 2
Let’s bring artworks to life! Pose and play in a photo booth designed to bring you into the artworks from the exhibit Strange Realities: The Symbolist Imagination.
The Sound of Dreams | Classroom 3
Step into a dreamworld sound experience with special guests, Brain to Belly Kids Yoga.
Activities in the Galleries
Mural Magnets | Galleries 140–143
Combine art and poetry in a magnetic collaborative vision board right across from Raqib Shaw’s monumental mural Paradise Lost.
Window to Another World | Gallery 144
Get inspired by Marc Chagall’s America Windows and make your own window to another world.
Please note all gallery activities require a ticket to the museum. Museum admission is always free for children under 14 and Chicago teens under 18. Learn more about free admission opportunities.
about the teaching artists
Isaac Facio focuses on the care, preservation, and study of textiles as associate conservator of textiles at the Art Institute of Chicago and a senior lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). He has completed master’s degrees in Fiber and Material Studies at SAIC and textiles science and technology from the University of Manchester, England, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. He studied at L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and maintains an research-based practice with areas of specialty in 3D weaving, mechanics and production. He is a former artist-in-residence at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and served on the board of directors of the Textile Society of America.
Rebel Betty is an Afro Indigenous Puerto Rican poet, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural worker based in Chicago.
Carina Yepez is a Chicago-born artist and educator with family roots in Guanajuato, Mexico. Her textile-based work explores matriarchy, migration, and ancestral healing through quilting, sewing, and photographic weaving.
Asher Ahmad Waldron is a musician, educator, yoga teacher, and director of Teacher Development with Brain to Belly Kids Yoga, a mobile yoga & mindfulness company founded by educators, rooted in child development & social-emotional learning and focused on movement through a nervous system approach. Holding a Bachelor of Music in Performance and a Master of Arts in Applied Music Pedagogy, Asher blends his academic foundation with over 500 hours of advanced yoga teacher training. His sound baths weave acoustic instruments such as clarinets, flutes, singing bowls, and percussion with expansive electronic soundscapes, crafting layered environments that are both restorative and creatively engaging.
Brain to Belly Kids Yoga (BBKY) is a mobile yoga & mindfulness company founded by educators, rooted in child development & social-emotional learning and focused on movement through a nervous system approach.
