The Art Discovery Center is one of three facilitated hands-on maker spaces in the Museums. Visitors will find activities that range from crafts, to dress-up, to puppet play. The gallery is also a setting for artist demonstrations, storytelling, and other participatory activities.

The Art Discovery Center is painted in bold colors and intricate designs inspired by the Asian collections of the museum. Detailed murals depict Samurai warriors, animals of the Chinese Zodiac, Asian symbolism and architecture, Buddhist figures, and scenes from Japanese wood block prints. The murals reflect motifs represented in the museum’s extensive holdings of Asian art, which include Chinese cloisonné, Japanese arms and armor, ivory carvings, ceramics, and other decorative arts. Upon entering the space visitors are greeted by a huge gilded figure resting over the doorway at the far end of the gallery. Inside, families are invited to trace their own Chinese horoscope, try on costumes and armor, play gallery games, peek under lift-up panels on the Wall of Symbols to discover the meaning behind Asian motifs and create an animal puppet.

Fall/Winter/Spring: Tuesday-Sunday, noon-4 pm

Summer: Daily, noon-4 pm