WASHINGTON 鈥� With its peaceful and pristine hallways that are decorated with historic paintings and photographs, the may not be the first destination that comes to mind as a place for kids to play. But that鈥檚 about to change.
On Saturday, Jan. 28, the museum will open its new interactive children鈥檚 exhibit, called 鈥淓xplore! With the Portrait Gallery.鈥� Inside the first-floor space, little ones can experiment with silhouettes, pose for a digitally projected portrait or play Picasso using blocks, magnets and felt cutouts to construct faces.
Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, says portraiture is important for many reasons.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a skill at an early age, to understand if someone is looking confused or sad or happy,鈥� Sajet said. 鈥淲e spend our whole lives looking at each other and we make assumptions about someone depending on how they look, and I think we want to have those conversations early with kids 鈥� just because someone is different from you doesn鈥檛 mean that you don鈥檛 share the same feelings.鈥�
The space, which also houses a few reading nooks and a small collection of artwork, is a pop-up of sorts for , an initiative from real estate developer and philanthropist Jane Lipton Cafritz to build a children鈥檚 museum in the nation鈥檚 capital.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the only major cities in the United States without a children鈥檚 museum,鈥� said Rhonda Buckley-Bishop, president and CEO of Explore!
鈥淸Lipton Cafritz] saw the synergy between portraiture and what children can do around identity.鈥�
The fuchsia-walled room, located steps from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro, is designed for little ones 18 months to 8 years old. Every activity in the exhibit is hands-on.
鈥淧lay is how children develop the cognitive, emotional, physical and social abilities, so we need to provide opportunities to play,鈥� said Buckley-Bishop, adding that Explore! hopes to open its own museum in the Fort Totten neighborhood of Northeast D.C. by 2019.
The National Portrait Gallery鈥檚 Sajet says the new space is also a way to introduce children to museums.
鈥淚f children get used to coming to museums, they鈥檒l become lifelong museum goers. I also think we have this role to play in terms of early childhood education,鈥� she said.
More importantly, it gets little eyes away from emojis and exposes them to the human condition.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all going digital 鈥� we don鈥檛 always get to be good at reading people鈥檚 faces in real life. Dare I say, there may be a little bit of a divide there about the real human contact vs. the digital human contact, so I think it鈥檚 kind of nice to introduce the idea of portraiture. It鈥檚 around us everywhere,鈥� Sajet said.
Explore! With the Portrait Gallery opens Saturday, Jan. 28 at 11:30 a.m. The bilingual exhibit will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The National Portrait Gallery is located at 8th and F Streets N.W.; admission is free.
