The UA Museum of Art is back with its 3-hour semesterly Family Day event Saturday, April 29, with the theme of “Family Day – Arts and Science.”

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Museum of Art will offer activities for families to “explore art and science with hands-on activities,” the event flyer reads.

According to Chelsea Farrar, assistant curator of education, the museum is partnering with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory and the Tucson Chapter of the International Association of Astronomical Artists to show interactive ways for families and kids to enjoy science.

“We’ve been having Family Day since 2014 when one of our previous marketing staff tried to get it started and it’s really a great way to get families in,” she said. “Last year was the first year we did a science-based Family Day that was really popular, so we decided to do it again.”

Admission is free for children, with regular admission fees of $8 for adults.

Those who attend “Family Day – Arts and Science” can expect face painting, storytime, live music by Tucson-based indie-pop band Little Cloud and more.

“Our main demographic we get into the museum are students,” Ferrar said. “But it’s nice for us to reach out to the families in the community and let them know we’re here and they’re also welcome.”

The Museum of Art uses an endowment for education and outreach to fund the event and schedule various activities for the families attending.

Scheduled activities this Saturday will include 3D images from the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, a solar viewing scope with NOAO, art studio projects and a ‘Science of Conservation’ scavenger hunt.

“We’re definitely going to do more science-based Family Days in the future because the nature of the Tucson community is very science-based,” Farrar added. “Even if we run science every semester, we’ll have different scientists there.”

Farrar has watched as Family Day events grow larger each semester. 

“Last semester, we had about 50 families and upwards of about 150 people show up,” she said.

In the past, the museum’s Family Day turnout has been around 100 for each one.

Farrar attributes this growth to the fact that the Family Day program is getting a little older and because the Tucson community is so receptive to the science theme.

“It’s definitely a little bit of both,” she said. “With this event, we want to encourage the community to explore the museum inside and out.”

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