The New Children's Museum in Downtown San Diego is Back and Open to the Public with New Exhibit

Titled  El Más Allá by Mexican-American artist Panca 

El Más Allá exhibit by Mexican-American artist Panca 

The New Children´s Museum itself is a magical place for both adults and kids offering different types of activities along its three floors.

International Artist Panca

Starting this Friday, as well as opening back up after months and months of being closed to the public because of the pandemic, the first floor of the space will greet patrons with a lovely new exhibit by Panca, aka Paola Villaseñor. An international artist known for her playful street art, which has appeared everywhere from walls in Mexico City to the galleries of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. 

El Más Allá is not only visual and very colorful, but it also offers ludic activities like climbing, sliding, or simply chilling in a really soft and comfy setting while watching videos. If parents or adults do not want to engage in all the fun (because they can if they want to), there is also a sitting area with vintage little squares where you can relax and observe the fun.

The pandemic brought isolation and that was hard on all of us, but mostly our kids. 

"How do you still communicate? how do you play with people when you cannot be together? Now there is a place where you can do that. The exhibit is an open-ended play, so you'll get the thrill of the slide if that is something that is accessible to you but then, you deepen that play as you meet other people". 
Megan Dickerson, Director of Exhibitions.

The most meaningful part of the exhibit is the characters that Panca created.

"They manifest the feelings people were having during the COVID 19 pandemic. There are things that are hard to talk about. How do you move from joy to sorrow really quickly? these characters like a cloud that has tears, that could be sad or happy tears, tears of crying or laughter. It gives a place for kids to talk about it. If they want to" 

Five characters make this exhibit:

Maslow is a triangle-shaped character who is wise and kind. His name and shape are inspired by
psychologist Abraham Maslow and his theory of the hierarchy of needs. Illustration inspired by @crazyheadcomics

Pinky is a multi-faceted character that can change shape depending on his mood. Often times he is creative and anxious.

Mimo takes the shape of a cloud, representing the dual nature of our emotions. His raindrops could be interpreted as tears of joy or sadness.

Chelo + Bubu Chelo, short for Consuelo, is a unicorn-like creature. She has a pet balloon named BuBu that follows her around and represents friendship.

There are also building blocks available for people to continue exploring.

Please note that masks are required for all guests ages 2 and up inside the museum regardless of vaccination status. Masks are not required in the outdoor spaces.

For more information please visit https://thinkplaycreate.org/