IDEA Museum

After 35 years as the go-to museum for original, fun, inspiring and educational hands-on art, a new era in art, creativity and imagination began Feb. 7, 2014, when the Arizona Museum for Youth officially opened its doors as the i.d.e.a. Museum.

The name i.d.e.a. is an acronym for: Imagination. Design. Experience. Art. It is the new museum’s guiding, creative thrust for the future that creatively enhances, improves and expands the use of art and art-inspired activities by adding science, engineering, technology and design in multi-sensory experiences.

The i.d.e.a. Museum’s goal is to provide even more opportunities for families to create together. Its passion is to develop individual and collective creativity in its many forms, not just art. The vision is to maintain a place for your child and the child within you to engage science, technology, engineering and math through an art focus.

INTERACTIVE SPACES INCLUDE...

1. Whiteman Family Exhibition Gallery:

This space will house three fun, educational and hands-on, art exhibitions that will be presented each year, incorporating S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art and math) concepts through local, national and international artists’ work. Its goal is to inspire children to tap into their own imagination and creativity using art to appreciate different viewpoints and cultures.

2. HUB:

Like the central part of a wheel or a computer networking device where several routes meet, the HUB is designed for diverse activities leading the explorer to one’s own imagination. It is the intersection of imagination and experience through collaborative making, spontaneous creation, full-body movement, problem-solving and inspiration. Among the offerings are Rigamajig, which nurtures problem solving and design innovation, and Oodles of Doodles, which lets your inner child loose to collabra-doodle with your child and family.

3. ArtVille (a socks-only space aimed at ages 0-4):

Always a fan-favorite, this interactive gallery returns with a revitalized design to immerse visitors in the museum’s national, trend-setting, larger-than-life art town. Little ones will experience key developmental and neurological milestones birth to 4 years. ArtVille will continue to help shape motor skills, tactile senses, early literacy, vocabulary, self-expression and imagination through:
Wee Design & Build: A new space for early learners to imagine, create, be curious and discover. Tots will build with LEGO Duplo blocks, columns, roofs, bridges, characters and vehicles; create splashes of color in the lighted “Pixel Wall” or larger color mosaics on a specially designed light table.