Today I found this film of Art Baby. It was filmed back in 2013.

This is how long our Art Baby sessions have been going for and I, as the Whitworth’s Producer for Early Years and Family, have had the privilege of being there since the very beginning.

These baby sessions are very close to my heart. When we started doing them 13 years ago it was all a bit new. No-one really thought about babies, not in museums and galleries anyway. “What’s the point they don’t know what’s going on around them” kind of vibe. But we know there’s so much going on, these are their formative years. THE most crucial time to be providing as many different, stimulating, multi-sensory, hands-on experiences as possible and getting those synapse connections in their brains well and truly connected. 

But Art Baby is also not just about the babies. They’re important, of course, but it’s the parents that need this too. Being a parent is tough, especially in those first few months. There’s nothing better or more comforting than hearing “yeah me too”. Finding other sleep deprived parents really helps, sharing tips, advise and a finding listening ear who understands really helps.

Fast forward 13 years and our Art Baby sessions are still going strong. Still one of our most popular workshops, not just for parents but for our staff and visitors too. It’s a beautiful sight, on the first Friday of the month, to see babies crawling on the floor of the gallery and being surrounded by inspiring artworks and objects. 

I will never tire of this programme, even after 13 years. It still looks almost the same but without the brilliant musician Kathryn, who we miss and who wrote and performed the beautiful soundtrack just for this film. Instead we have the brilliant @babyboogie_with_annabel who, in amongst the sensory play, provides baby specific ideas for moving and bonding with your baby. 

One of the most common phrases we hear at the gallery is “We used to come here when [insert name] was a baby”. So many babies have grown through Early Years and Family programme and so many precious memories made, and that’s exactly what we love about it. Over the years we have created so many Art Babies who have then become Art Children, Art Teens, and we hope will still continue to choose visit us and other galleries into their adulthood and maybe even with their own families. 

We’re nurturing the next generation of art gallery go-ers and creative thinkers and so I hope we’re still doing Art Baby in another 13 years.

If you, or someone you know, would like to come along to the next Art Baby then check out the link in our bio for the dates of our upcoming sessions.

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