Celebrate 150 creative years with free family fashion and design activities, conversations with artists, and local brews, bites, and music inspired by our exhibitions this season.

Family Celebration
10 am–1 pm
Free with Museum admission

Family fashion and design workshops kick off our Opening Day. In the morning, families are invited to collaborate and design fashions inspired by Dubuque icons, from Lange ski boots to H. B. Glover pajamas (immortalized by Richard Bissell on stage and screen as The Pajama Game). Design your own Dubuque factory, Millwork building, or new museum, all to help us create the city of the future. For those who need a little more of a prompt, collaborate with baristas from Bob and Lou’s to design a new custom coffee drink.

Fill Your Factory!

Grab a piece of folded paper
On 1 side design the outside of your factory.
You can include doors, big vents, billboards and advertisements.
Then Flip it over and show what’s happening on the Inside of your factory.
What does your factory build? Do people make your product or do machines? How does your factory run?
Try practicing collage techniques by using magazines, cut out shapes, and colorful paper to bring your factory to life.
When you’re all done you can add your factory to the art museums tiny factory district.

Chair Challenge!

Imagine creating a one-of-a-kind chair, designed totally by you! Use recycled materials and your imagination to make a unique functional chair.
When designing your furniture try to think about who is sitting in your chair. A toddler? Maybe a astronaut? What about a cat or a dog? Furniture is designed for people to sit in. Thinking about who will use your chair is important to make them comfortable.
Try to think about what it’s made of. Is it strong? Or is it meant to be soft and comfy, What about lightweight for east traveling?
Each chair has a job. Thinking about what job your chair does will make a successful design! Get creative and make something amazing!
You can even take it home for your toys to sit in and then post a pic on our Facebook page!

Artist Conversation
3 pm–4 pm
Free with Museum admission

Join artist Hieyler Pimpton inside the Kris Mozena McNamer gallery for a conversation about her exhibition I Have Told You 50 Times. She’ll talk about her artistic inspirations and her journey to create the 50 collages on view. You’ll appreciate her warmth and humor—and we don’t expect she’ll have to repeat herself.

Opening Reception
4 pm–7 pm

$15 for members of DuMA
$20 for guests
$10 for guests under 21
Free for 1874 society

Toast the past and the future with local craft beers, music, mocktails, and food inspired by Dubuque by Design.

Registration required for the 4 pm reception. Click here to purchase tickets.