h o u n d s i n h e a v e n: Museums & Galleries Tour!

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), April 2005

I try to include museum and gallery tours as part of my workshop module. In April 2005, I brought my community scholars for a whole day tour which includes the CCP, the National Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Hiraya Gallery, and Museo Pambata. These institutions are conveniently located along the Roxas Boulevard strip which makes touring under the summer heat less tiring. Plus, we were just a small group of ten (the youngest was 11 years old considered as 'young adult' and does not pose much of a risk of breaking anything in a small gallery like Hiraya)

In May 2006, my students in the Visual Arts Workshop under the CreativeKids studio of Bambi Manosa Tanjutco, took the same tour itinerary but we were able to include only the CCP, Met and Museo Pambata. We ordered lunch meals in advance at the MetCafe for convenience. The following year, the students of the 2007 Visual Arts Workshop were taken to the Ayala Museum for a half day tour (4 hours) instead. We brought our own snacks and had a picnic in the nearby Greenbelt Park.

Last June 2007, my student Adie Hernandez celebrated his 7th birthday by treating more than a hundred guests (kids and their parents!) to an afternoon of interactive play and learning at the Museo Pambata. The tour seemed to be the first for most parents which I hope will encourage them to return and to visit other museums as well. For merienda (snacks), the guests were treated to the nearby Orchidarium where Adie's parents reserved the place for a buffet meal!

My Wish list:
1. I hoped the Juan Luna's Spoliarium mural will be available for public viewing soon. Large-scale works are pretty cool for kids so check out some of them: Roberto Villanueva's "The 7 Arts" (CCP), Joya (PICC lobby), HR Ocampo (CCP's Little Theater Stage), Arturo Luz (CCP), Agnes Arellano (MetMuseum), etc.
2. That the Ayala Museum's Dioramas will have a foot ledge for younger kids (ages 3 to 5) so they can view the display. I have to carry younger (and shorter) kids!
3. That museum docents would have shorter and interesting spiels for young, active visitors. It would be helpful to observe how Carlos Celdran conducts his tours.
4. Lastly, I hope parents will take the time to bring their kids (and themselves) to visit art spaces.

To make my tours interesting, I design a one-page tour map (much like an adventure trail) which the kids can use as a guide and answer sheet. I hope to test-run a program for adults soon.