family friendly

Dubuque by Design Opening Celebration

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.

DuMA Baseball Exhibition Farewell

10 AM – 12 PM: Baseball themed games for the family.

Celebrate summer and the final days of the exhibition, Picturing America’s Pastime, A Snapshot of the Photo Collection at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

There will be popcorn and baseball themed games which test your skill at pitching and catching.

Outdoor games will take place in Washington Park, across from DuMA. Washington Park was important in Dubuque baseball history as it was the site of many early games.

1:30 PM: Dr Ashley Brown’s talk.

Celebrate and honor Juneteenth with author and historian Dr Ashley Brown, Assistant Professor and Allan H. Selig Chair in the History of Sport and Society, University of Wisconsin-Madison, who will speak about athletes breaking racial and gender barriers at a time when American sports were still deeply segregated.

Title of talk: Behind and Beyond the Bobbleheads, Caps, Movies, and Video Games: The Cultural and Social Significance of Negro League Baseball and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Description: In recent decades, Hollywood, the video game industry, and product manufacturers have embraced the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and Negro League Baseball. Consumers have enthusiastically purchased tickets and bought merchandise, engaging in nostalgia and demonstrating their interests in these trailblazing athletes. In this talk, Professor Ashley Brown addresses the origins, daily realities, complexities, and legacies of the leagues. As Professor Brown asserts, the impact and meaning of both businesses were alternately priceless and mixed with the problems of the past.
Dr. Brown is a historian of the twentieth-and twenty-first century United States whose research and teaching focus on the history of sport, African American history, and women’s history. Dr. Brown received a PH.D. from George Washington University

Please RSVP to Dr. Brown’s talk using this online form

Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso by Bob Lerner August 29, 1951, courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso by Bob Lerner August 29, 1951, courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

 

K–8 exhibition celebratory reception

Brightening the gray winter days with youthful creativity, the citywide K–8 exhibition features two and three-dimensional artwork by elementary and middle school students, chosen by their teachers and installed by art students from Dubuque Senior High School.
The public is invited to a celebratory reception on Thursday, March 7 from 4–6 PM.

FAMILY CELEBRATION: PICTURING AMERICA’S PASTIME

Families and fans of all ages are invited to celebrate the opening of Picturing America’s Pastime: A Snapshot of the Photograph Collection at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Sample a ballpark frank from Hot Diggity Dogz, design your family’s baseball cap sponsored by 1-800-Tshirts.com, and tour the exhibitions.

Free with Museum admission.

We would appreciate a RSVP response if you are planning on attending via this online form.

"Ty Cobb slides into third base" by Charles M. Conlon, July 23, 1910 Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
“Ty Cobb slides into third base”
by Charles M. Conlon, July 23, 1910
Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Community Day

Celebrate the bounty of fall, the power of community, and the opening of four new exhibitions. The day includes family architecture workshops, artist conversations, and a block party. Admission is FREE with donation of a non-perishable food item to the Dubuque Food Pantry.

Come downtown and celebrate the past, present, and future of our community.

10 A.M. – 1 P.M. Children’s Workshops

1 P.M. – Gallery conversation: Roberta Condon, Lorraine Ortner-Blake and Beth Hoffman

2:30 P.M. – Gallery talk with Katie Schutte

4–6 P.M. – Block party and community workshop with DuMA’s architects, Paul Schulhof and Az Rashidi. Live music and food trucks hosted with the Bluff Street Neighborhood Association, on 7th Street

(SOLD OUT)Community Day begins with a children’s architecture workshop with Az Rashidi and Paul Schulhof, the architects designing the new museum campus. Participants will share their ideas for the new Museum with Az and Paul and build their own models that describe their vision. Space is limited for this free workshop and advance registration is required.

Also at 10 A.M. is a drop in pumpkin decorating and mask making workshop, which is open to all.

At 1 P.M., join Long Time Passing artists Roberta Condon and Lorraine Ortner-Blake inside the Falb Family Gallery for a conversation with Beth Hoffman, author of Bet the Farm. The three women will discuss the changing rural landscape, the struggles and joys of life on the farm, and how their experiences inspire their art. At 2:30 P.M., artist Katie Schutte will discuss Distorted Recollections in the Kris Mozena McNamer Gallery.

Also opening are the Dubuque Camera Club’s Rural Life and a showcase of work by students from the University of Dubuque’s Department of Digital Art and Design.

The afternoon culminates with a block party from 4-6 P.M. on 7th Street that includes food trucks, a community workshop with Schulhof and Rashidi, live music by Joie Booth Wails and DJ Charlz, and autumnal décor from local farmers.

Winter Arts Snow Sculpting Festival 2023

The 2023 Winter Arts Snow Sculpting Festival will take place Thursday, February 9 through Sunday, February 12, with community festivities on Sunday from 12 to 4 PM.

This free, family-friendly event is produced by the Dubuque Museum of Art in partnership with the City of Dubuque’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. Teams of professional, amateur, and collegiate artists sculpt for four days, transforming 288 cubic feet of snow into masterful works of art. The winning team receives a cash prize and is offered the opportunity to represent the state of Iowa at the 2024 U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition in Lake Geneva, WI. A People’s Choice selection is also chosen through online and in-person voting from noon to 4 p.m. following the call for ‘tools down’ on the Sunday of festival weekend.

Birds. food truck will be available for purchase. The community sculpting area will feature themed blocks inspired by Saint-Saëns’ whimsical musical masterpiece “Carnival of the Animals,” in conjunction with Dubuque Symphony Orchestra’s spring family concert.

Learn More

Winter Arts Snow Sculpting Festival 2023

Movies at the Museum

In partnership with Fidelity Bank & Trust, DuMA presents Movies At The Museum at dusk (approx 8:30 pm) on Saturday, August 21st with a viewing of Moana staring Dwayne The Rock Johnson & Auli’i Cravalho.
Grab your lawn chair, blanket, snacks, and bring your friends to Washington Park to enjoy an outdoor movie night.
Moana (PG/2016/Animation) – An adventurous teenager named Moana living on a Polynesian island in ancient times sails out to sea on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demigod Maui, who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds. Along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she always sought: her own identity.
Movie Length – 1hr 47min
To view the movie trailer click here.

Young At Art Goes Online – Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

Online Event
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 2 PM CST
Price: Free

On the second Tuesday of the month Young At Art goes online! Preschool-aged kiddos can join-in with a parent/caregiver for a reading of a Caldecott Award-winning picture book and related art project using materials found around the home. This month the featured book will be “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” by Verna Aardema.

This is a pre-recorded 15 to 20 minute free video series for 3-6 year olds is posted on the DuMA YouTube and Facebook profile at 2 pm the day of the event

Young At Art Goes Online – Fables


Online Event
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at 2 PM CST
Price: Free

On the second Tuesday of the month Young At Art goes online! Preschool-aged kiddos can join-in with a parent/caregiver for a reading of a Caldecott Award-winning picture book and related art project using materials found around the home. This month the featured book will be “Fables” by Arnold Lobel.

This is a pre-recorded 15 to 20 minute free video series for 3-6 year olds is posted on the DuMA YouTube and Facebook profile at 2 pm the day of the event

Second Saturdays – Turnt Kidz TK

Online Event
Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 1 PM CST
Price: Free
Join us for a vibrant hip hop dance performance by the Turnt Kidz TK.

Turnt Kidz TK, are a non for profit hip hop dance group for young youth in Dubuque Iowa directed by Renee Dunn.
Second Saturdays is a free and family-oriented programming that occurs every second Saturday of the month at 1 PM. Second Saturdays feature culturally-diverse performing arts, acts, and suggested hands-on art activities that the entire family will enjoy.

This pre-recorded program will be posted on the DuMA Facebook profile and YouTube channel.

Generously sponsored by Mediacom