For more than 15 years The Bass Creativity Center’s Family Day program has offered free museum admission and art-making activities for thousands of kids and families. But February’s Family Day delivered a collision of kids, communities, art and science!

On Sunday, February 26 from 2 – 4 PM, Family Day explored science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) in partnership with Miami Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS), while expanding its impact beyond the Beach into communities like Little Havana, North Miami and Little Haiti through the museum’s Creativity in the Community outreach program.

Throughout The Bass Creativity Center, families and guest had the opportunity to view some of the participating MDCPS STEAM+ participants’ artwork, which include upcycled sculptures inspired by Biscayne Bay and Jamilah Sabur: The Harvesters, currently on view at The Bass.

Families participated in a STEAM art-making activity inspired by the current exhibition Adrián Villar Rojas with Mariana Telleria: El fin de la imaginación. Kids test drove their “space rovers,” created out of recyclable materials like cardboard, bottle caps, and water bottles, built during STEAM+ workshops led by Bass educators at their schools. By integrating Sphero robotics and coding technology under the guidance of Bass Educators, kids raced their rovers through a number of challenges inside the Lindemann Courtyard at the museum.

“The STEAM+ program was developed to meet the growing need for science and technology skill-building,” said Kylee Crook, Director of Education. “By teaching through an artistic medium, kids build creativity as well as analytical and critical thinking skills.”

In 2019, The Bass Creativity Center partnered with the City of Miami Beach to launch the STEAM+ educational program, developing age-appropriate science, technology, engineering, art and math curriculums at elementary, middle and high schools throughout Miami Beach. Over the past five years, the program has grown to reach more than 3,500 MDCPS children each year with in-person and virtual lessons. The STEAM+ program supports partnered schools in earning their STEAM designation through MDCPS. Learn more about the STEAM+ program at the website steamplusmiamibeach.org.

Inside the Waterview classroom families worked with Aperture: On Sight, Aperture’s photography and visual literacy activities. Families engaged with Alice Proujansky, a documentary photographer who has been published widely and has received support from the International Women’s Media Foundation, Magnum Foundation, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Women Photograph, and other organizations. Her book Go Photo! An Activity Book for Kids was published by Aperture in 2016. Learn more at the Aperture: On Sight website, aperture.org/on-sight/.

Also on February 26, families met at ConnectFamilias in Little Havana at 1:30 to ride the free Bus to The Bass, as part of the museum’s Creativity in the Community outreach art and literacy program.

Creativity in the Community provides free transportation to The Bass for young elementary school aged children and caregivers from underserved communities throughout Miami Dade county. Every Family Day from February through October, families enjoy a free “Bus to The Bass,” as well as free admission to the museum. Museum visits are further complimented by off-site literacy sessions within each respective community. Families will enjoy free books and artmaking at the off-site sessions, building their child’s language skills, home library and creative expression.

“During COVID, the Creativity in the Community outreach program was forced to go on hiatus,” said Kylee Crook, Director of Education. “We are thrilled to reinvigorate this important program that gets educators out of the museum and into neighborhoods, connecting young kids to contemporary art while building reading skills and engaging with each other as a family.”

Learn more about Creativity in the Community at the program’s website at thebass.org/learn/community.

On the last Sunday of every month, The Bass hosts Family Day, offering free museum admission museum and free art-making activities for kids and families in The Bass Creativity Center. Activities engage families with children of all ages in conversation, exploration and experimentation through art, with art materials provided to all participants. Learn more about the monthly free family Day programs at thebass.org/family-day.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The STEAM+ Program is generously supported by the City of Miami Beach. Additional support for STEAM+ is provided by Art Basel and UBS. Family Day and Creativity in the Community is generously supported by PNC Arts Alive.

The Bass is generously funded by the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and The Bass membership.