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Museum favorite, award-winning singer/songwriter Patricia Shih, combines meaningful lyrics, memorable melodies, and an uplifting spirit to engage all ages!

David and Jenny Heitler-Klevans delight  audiences of all ages with their music, good humor and audience participation. Their beautiful harmonies accompanied by David’s powerful, rhythmic guitar playing and Jenny’s multi-ethnic percussion instruments create magic on stage.

Get a sneak peek at a groundbreaking performance by EnActe and Sangam Arts that celebrates Bay Area multiculturalism. Dancers representing twelve different ethnic traditions, a cast of actors, and original world music together create a multi-sensory extravaganza.  And Museum members can get tickets to the full-length production at a discounted price!

Full length performance:
Friday, September 9, Saturday, September 10, and Sunday, September 11Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose
Buy tickets  with special CDM member promo code: COB_CDM

Children’s Discovery Museum is honored to serve as a Reading Partner with Jumpstart’s Read for the Record program and to help break the world reading record–again this year!–for the most people reading the same book on the same day! This year’s book, The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, was written by Julia Sarcone-Roach. “It all started with the bear,” begins this classic tale of a bear’s epic journey and the mystery surrounding one delicious sandwich. Copies of the book will be available all day in the Theatre, so stop in and join the expected 2.4 million worldwide, who will be supporting high-quality early learning while building children’s vocabulary and love for reading, as you read The Bear Ate Your Sandwich.

Special Activities 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

A celebration of Indian culture, the Diwali Festival features performances, activities, and crafts that highlight a variety of traditional Indian arts.

Schedule of Events

Saturday, October 8

Sunday, October 9

Last day: Sunday, September 11

The Amazing Castle transports children and adults to a magical place and time—within the castle’s stone walls there exists a happy and peaceful little community where every citizen has a special job to do. As visitors explore The Amazing Castle and its eight themed areas, they will encounter seven citizens who are part of the castle community. From entertaining to sewing, each citizen plays a special role. As they move through the castle, visitors can playfully explore ideas related to community life and experience the interconnectedness of friends, family and new acquaintances.

The Amazing Castle™ was created by Minnesota Children’s Museum.

What? Magic? Isn’t this supposed to be Music Fun Under the Sun? I think we are seeing his magic at work!
I can’t wait to see what else he can do! If you like magic as much as I do, don’t miss magician Spencer Grey!

Spencer Grey is a magician/comedian who began performing magic at the age of 7. The young trickster continued to develop and grow, has been featurres on local tv and stages across the country, and created his own company which providesentertainment for schools, libraries, and private functions including top fortune 500 companies.

Sean Mendelson

“Sean’s Music Factory” is a unique, high energy, interactive, performance-based music experience featuring Sean Mendelson, his kids Logan and Jillian, Puppet Sean, The Tickle Monster, and of course, you!

Drawing on his background in classical guitar/jazz and experience with the band Mirror Image, Sean has written musical scores for three documentaries, teaches Music Together classes, and is currently in development for a TV and web-based pilot for children’s educational music programming. His albums for children include “Crank Out The Music” and “High Five.”

Castles and Dragons and More….Oh My!

The Amazing Castle™ exhibit will guide your imagination into new realms. Then bring that imagination to the Museum Store and continue your exploration of your role in castle life with a selection of dress-up possibilities, books, dragons….even dragon capes!

Prices vary: $6.98 – $50.98

Members receive a 10% discount every day, and 20% on special Members’ Discount Days!

 Call (408) 673-2840 for Gift Shop information.

For Members only in the Art Loft

Come and meet the artists who created work for the current Art Gallery’s exhibit People!

Learn more

In his People Watching series, artist Ian Douglas combines illustrations of strangers with playful mini-stories. Making up the names and biographies of his anonymous models, the artist explores the human tendency to invent narratives based on our perception of others. Michael Broadhurst and Daniel Arroyo both create portraits of popular characters and figures such as Michael Jackson and Martin Luther King, Jr. Their work is also inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Mona Lisa,” each delivering his own interpretation of one of the most well-known portraits in art history. Combining her Jewish cultural heritage with her prolific imagination, Judy Wachner’s portraits capture the emotions and the soul of her models, whereas Joseph Omolayole’s Diverse Lady raises questions about the multiple facets of one person’s identity. Philip Ma’s self-portrait skillfully resembles its model. Nick Golick integrates words and represents objects that are recurrent in his work as a way to express his likes, hopes and dreams, questioning the various possible ways to represent oneself.

 About Abilities United

Abilities United is a Palo Alto-based not-for-profit serving over 1,000 Bay Area children and adults with developmental and other disabilities. Each year people with and without disabilities and their families utilize Abilities United Children, Adult, Family and Aquatic Services. For more information, please visit www.abilitiesunited.org.

 Since 2000, the mission of the Abilities United’s art program is to provide artists of all abilities and backgrounds access to the Bay Area art community by exhibiting and selling their work. Abilities United artists receive one hundred percent of the profit made from artwork sales. To learn more about Abilities United’s artists and to view their portfolios, please visit www.abilitiesunitedart.smugmug.com.

Tuesday, August 9 – Sunday, September 25

Created by Daniel Arroyo, Michael Broadhurst, Nick Golick, Ian Douglas, Philip Ma, Joseph Omolayole, and Judy Wachner, People! brings together the work of seven Abilities United artists under the theme of portraits. Through self-portraits and depictions of strangers, popular figures and imaginary characters, the exhibition examines how the selected artists perceive themselves, and how they perceive others.

Join Pushpa as she explores poetry and art activities inspired by the concept of “An August Rush*”.

            *August: inspiring reverence and admiration; supreme dignity and grandeur or majestic                Rush: rush of memories of summer spent with family either on vacation, or in the garden, or just having fun.

Learn more

Pushpa MacFarlane admits: “I fell into poetry, and would like to remain there.”  In the last few years she has participated in poetry group readings (The Allure of Forms, Ekphrasis,) and produced The Poetry Café at the Trianon Theatre in downtown San José. She also coordinated the World Poetry segment at the 2015 San José Poetry Festival. She has also participated in a poetry podcast where she read a poem in Hindi and its English translation; participated in a group video recording of Beowulf; and read her poems on air at KKUP.

Her first publication, Remembering: An Anthology of Poems Read at Willow Glen Books (Jacaranda Press, 2011) still graces the San José library shelves. She claims it’s her best portfolio since she arranged, edited, and designed the page layout and book cover of this anthology. She also recently edited and arranged Third Thursdays, Volume 3 of the Willow Glen Poetry Project Series. Other anthologies that include her poems are Shared Light, No Ordinary Language, Song of Los Gatos, Vibrant Words, Caesura: Fusion, and Perfume River Poetry Review. Her artwork has been published in the Catamaran Literary Reader.

 
Observe how Ian creates portraits through his own multi-layered process of drawing and painting. Join Ian in exploring the question “Who Are You?” through your art. Working without mirrors, you will be encouraged to represent how you see yourself and how you would like to be seen by others.

About Ian

Based in New Mexico, twenty-year-old artist Ian Douglas uses a variety of media such as graphite, watercolor, pastels, and ink to express himself through a wide range of styles and subjects. His latest body of work is inspired by a curiosity about the people around him, how they appear, and what their lives might be like. In response, he developed a series of portraits, People Watching, in which he invents playful mini-stories about his anonymous models.

When asked to share a few words about his work, Ian says, “I love storytelling. My art, if I do it well, provides the ability to be a storyteller without words. I am thankful for my ability to excel at it, in spite of my physical deficits. My goal is to draw what I love well, and be able to make a living doing that.”

Ian’s work is currently on display in the Museum’s Art Gallery as part of the exhibit People!.

Sunday Matinees
1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.

Academy Award winner Co Hoedeman, inventor of the Claymation process, created this fable of great humor and appeal. It is interesting to compare the sand creatures in the film to puppets…how did Mr. Hoedeman make the sand creatures move? Could you create a puppet out of sand?