Zeum: an arts & tech museum for kids

Zeum Media Contact:
Tiffany Rosenberg
Marketing & Communications Manager
415.820.3350
trosenberg@zeum.org

May-June 2006 Calendar

Zeum General Admission Hours May-June 2006:

School Year Hours (Through 6/18/06):
Open Wednesday - Sunday, 11 am-5 pm

Summer Hours (Beginning 6/20/06):
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 11 am-5 pm

Special Holiday Hours:
Memorial Day: Zeum will be OPEN on Monday, May 29, 11am-5 pm

MAY EXHIBITS AND EVENTS AT ZEUM

Weekend Workshops
In Zeum's Weekend Workshops, visitors are invited to work alongside industry professionals from various arts, media, and technology fields as they teach the tricks of their trade and lead participants in a hands-on project.

Howtoons : Creative Inventions with Saul Griffith
Saturday, May 6, 11am-1pm
As part of an ongoing workshop series, Zeum features Saul Griffith, a founder of Squid Labs and co-creator of Howtoons --cartoons that show kids of all ages "How To" build things while encouraging children to discover the world through fun, creative, and inventive play. Griffith will share his brand new ideas for future volumes of his series, and all participants can be a part of a Howtoons documentary in the works. For more information, visit www.instructables.com/howtoons. This month's theme: Automata, Part I.

Messages For Ma : Animated Paintings
Saturday, May 13, 2-4pm
In honor of Mother's Day and the environment, visitors of all ages are invited to make a special message for mums of the world, including Mother Earth. In this stop-motion animation workshop, you will create a unique "painting" that moves! Make a creative message for mom or your own animated painting about the environment.

Habitat for Claymanity : Build A "Green" Set for the Animators Studio
Saturday, May 20, 2-4pm
In this special workshop, visitors can help the environment and Zeum by creating special "green" sets for the Animators Studio from recycled materials. A professional model-maker/architect will show participants how to make small-scale sets that other Zeum visitors will use for their clay animations.

Unless otherwise noted, weekend workshops are free with Zeum admission. Due to limited space, advance registration is recommended and can be done online at www.zeum.org.

Spotlight on Youth Art
Zeum's rotating gallery of artwork created by youth from all around the world provides a venue for youth to share their unique perspectives and tell their stories through art forms such as photography, collage, painting, literary arts, and more. Through partnerships with other youth organizations, Zeum showcases artwork created by youth from a diverse array of communities and cultural perspectives.

Paintbrush Diplomacy: The Universal Language of Art
Through May 14

Presented simultaneously at Zeum and The Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) in Oakland, this exhibit features work from Paintbrush Diplomacy --the international art and letter-writing exchange program that began in 1972. The program encourages awareness of international issues and has facilitated exchanges of art and personal stories between children across the globe. Each art piece displayed in this exhibit is a snapshot in time, provided by a young artist defining their vision of the world through a picture. The artwork on display spans many countries, several decades, and multiple conflicts and historical events, from the Cold War, to the falling of the Berlin wall, to the terrorist attacks of September 11 th , to present-day Afghanistan. The common theme of promoting peace and understanding through the universal language of art runs throughout the show.

Our Country, Our Voices: Visions from South African Youth
Through May 14

This unique exhibit of photos taken by youth ages 14-20 depicts everyday life in their community in post-apartheid South Africa. The young artists use cameras to define community as they document life in Khayelitsha--a township outside of Cape Town. The project was part of a creative arts workshop started by Molly Blank, a Fulbright scholar and filmmaker, and Emily Squires, a University of Michigan student studying activist art from the anti-apartheid movement. The photos were born after months of discussions, writing and performance based on the question "What is the new South Africa?". Reconciliation, poverty, contradiction, and new generation were just a few of the students' answers. The photos on display are accompanied by poems that reflect on the students' identity as individuals and as the new generation of young South Africans growing up in an evolving democracy.

The Natural World Through Children's Eyes
May17-June 18

Presented in partnership with The Natural World Museum, this cross-cultural exchange features artwork created by children from San Francisco and around the globe on the common theme of environmentalism.The exhibit highlights both similarities and drastic differences in how children around the world see their local environments and express their hopes for the future.

The Natural World Museum is a cultural institution that presents art through innovative programs to inspire and engage the public with environmental awareness and action. For more information, visit www.artintoaction.org .

Exciting New Additions to Zeum's Main Gallery
Opening May 24

In May, Zeum announces several new additions to the multimedia storytelling platform in its Main Gallery space including Animateering --an interactive exhibit developed by Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center that allows visitors to design their own 3-D characters, select a stage setting, add sound effects, and put on a digital "puppet show". In addition to designing digital characters, kids can "get into character" with mask-making activities and cool new fantasy creature costumes with wings, tails, and headpieces galore.

JUNE EXHIBITS AND EVENTS AT ZEUM

San Francisco Giants "Pitch Your Idea" Contest at Zeum
June 17-September 4, 2006
Presented at Zeum in Partnership with the San Francisco Giants

Young Giants fans are invited to Zeum to create a clay animation about why they love the Giants. Contest finalists from three different age categories will win free passes to attend a game in September and will have their winning animations showcased on the stadium's big screen during the game. Ages 5-18 are eligible to enter.

Pixel Play: Flash Video Games with Pixar's Allison Styer
Saturday, June 10, 2-4pm
Recommended for ages 8 and up

In conjunction with the new Animateering exhibit in Zeum's Main Gallery, one of its creators will show visitors how to craft their own video game in a special hands-on workshop. Allison Styer -- an Interaction Designer at Pixar, and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center--will share her tricks for making cutting-edge tools for play.

Imagination Avatar: Digital Characters with Mobinex
Saturday, June 17, 2-4pm
Recommended for ages 8 and up
In this hands-on workshop, visitors are invited to create their own avatar alter-egos! Professionals from Mobinex will show visitors how to "map" their own faces to create personal avatars--a type of cyber self-portrait for the virtual world--and will demonstrate how to post the avatars online.

Unless otherwise noted, weekend workshops are free with Zeum admission. Due to limited space, advance registration is recommended and can be done online at www.zeum.org .

Spotlight on Youth Art
Zeum's rotating gallery of artwork created by youth from all around the world provides a venue for youth to share their unique perspectives and tell their stories through art forms such as photography, collage, painting, literary arts, and more. Through partnerships with other youth organizations, Zeum showcases artwork created by youth from a diverse array of communities and cultural perspectives.

The Natural World Through Children's Eyes
Through June 18

Presented in partnership with The Natural World Museum, this cross-cultural exchange features artwork created by children from San Francisco and around the globe on the common theme of environmentalism.The exhibit highlights both similarities and drastic differences in how children around the world see their local environments and express their hopes for the future.

The Natural World Museum is a cultural institution that presents art through innovative programs to inspire and engage the public with environmental awareness and action. For more information, visit www.artintoaction.org .

ONGOING PROGRAMS AT ZEUM

Main Gallery
Ongoing

The Main Gallery is a multimedia space with a sampling of high-tech and low-tech tools that visitors can use to explore storytelling, create digital music, learn about 2-D and 3-D animation, try on costumes, experiment with special effects, learn about camera angles, and film live performances to take home on DVD.

Animators Studio
Ongoing

In the Animators Studio, visitors of all ages explore character development, storytelling and movement using video and digital technology. Kids and families work together to create clay characters, and then bring their stories to life using video cameras and stop motion animation. When the process is complete, visitors can take their animated movies home with them on a CD-ROM.

Digital Workshop
Ongoing

This high-tech classroom is equipped with computers and digital equipment that visitors use to experiment with illustration, video editing, animation, 3-D modeling, multimedia presentations, web page design, and more. Visitors of all ages can arrange a sound composition, or manipulate their own photograph to create digital art.

Production Lab
Ongoing

Visitors can produce and star in their own music video using karaoke equipment, video cameras, digital editing tools, costumes and their own star power.

Metafield Maze
Ongoing

In this virtual reality game, visitors use their whole bodies to direct a rolling marble through a room-sized maze. The maze is a computer-generated image projected onto the floor. As visitors move across the maze, the virtual floor image "tilts" causing the virtual marble to roll through the maze. MetaField Maze was invented and created by Ron MacNeil and Bill Keays of the MIT Media Lab, with contributions from Tim McNerney, and John Underkoffer.

Attention Calendar and Events Editors:

Please note: our admission prices and main phone number have changed, effective 1/1/2006. Please update your calendar listings with the following descriptions:

Categories: Attractions, Places To Go, Museums, Kids & Family, Arts & Culture

Zeum at Yerba Buena Gardens (4 th Street at Howard)-- San Francisco's innovative arts and technology museum where kids and families combine hands-on experiences with the power of their imaginations to create movies, music, art and more. Ongoing programs: create a clay animation, produce and star in your own music video, experiment with digital photography and see artwork created by youth. School Year Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 11am-5pm. Summer Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 11am-5pm.Admission $6 youth, $7 seniors/students, $8 adults, free for members and visitors age 2 and younger; (415) 820-3320; www.zeum.org .