The art made by children is uniquely enjoyable for its sense of freedom. To a great extent, children don’t share the preoccupations that weigh on the shoulders of adults, and in a nourishing learning environment, this can translate into expressions of freshness and boldness, out-of-the-box visual thinking, and even innocence.

In 1996, Woodmere designated and named our Helen Millard Children's Gallery, which is unique in the museums of Philadelphia: a gallery dedicated on an ongoing basis to the art made by children. Exhibitions feature art created at the Museum or made in projects at school that involve some form of partnership or collaboration. In this way, we showcase model projects for art teachers, and encourage creativity in the design of arts education. The plan for the gallery was established together with our late donor, Ms. Millard, who has earned our forever gratitude.

Many visitors describe the Millard gallery as their first stop when they come to for a visit. Over the last decades, thousands of young people and their families have experienced the pride and thrill of seeing their work displayed at Woodmere. For those of us lucky to work at the Museum, there is nothing more satisfying than to see the expressions of joyful self-confidence in the faces of the young artists who come see their shows in the Millard Gallery.

Please come over! Wear your mask and follow safety protocols for an enjoyable visit to our new exhibition, PhilARTdelphia: Young Artists at Woodmere, featuring works of art made in recent months at Woodmere by children from preschool age to high school in our studio and school programs (most of them taking place nowadays through a hybrid of online-and-in-person activity). The exhibition opens on February 6th and closes on March 21^st. Experimentation in drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture radiates from the walls.

Featured in PhilaARTdelphia are works of art created by Philadelphia preschool students in Woodmere’s Art & Storytelling program, a visual art adventure that combines children’s love of narrative storytelling in both art and story books. In this particular show, it's an instructive delight to see how children interpret and build their own stories inspired by the sculpture of Woodmere’s outdoors and the familiar paintings on view in our galleries.

Please sign up! The next sessions of Art & Storytelling begin this coming weekend and all the information you need can be found on Woodmere’s website, woodmereartmuseum.org. As always, Woodmere follows all health and safety protocols in our constant effort to provide opportunities to engage with art and unleash self-expression.

William Valerio is the director of Woodmere Art Museum.