Climb Time Construction in Kidstown

Posted on by Thor

I returned a second time to sketch the construction of the Kidstown, Isaac’s Family Climb time at the Orlando Science Center (777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803). Protective screens had been added to keep kids from any attempted jumps from up high. It looked like a complicated maze and I am too tall to walk through any of the corridors without hunching over. At this point I believe the play area was close to being finished. I was impressed with how the structure filled the room. Construction  workers were still using ladders and the lift to get up high rather than crawling inside the structure itself.

Foam had been taped around one of the support beams. Perhaps the lift had been banging up against it in the commotion of construction. This was a chance for me to stretch my perspective muscles as I tried to fit the entire structure into the sketch. At the grand opening of Kidstown, I saw the kids climbing inside this structure for the first time. It is very popular with the kids.

This $5 million project opened to the general public in late October
2016. It signals the completion of the first phase of the $30 million
Unlock Science Campaign, a multi-year/multi-phase effort to renovate all
the exhibits and expand resources at the Science Center.

Explore It at the Orlando Science Center

Posted on by Thor

Explore It at the Orlando Science Center (777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803) allows children to build their own roller coaster. Loop de loops and bridges can be plugged together to create a dynamic gravity fed coaster. Kids have to really reach high after climbing several steps to get the red ball high enough for the launch. A dad decided to “help” his son build a coaster. It was clear the dad was more interested in the new design than his son.

The other device uses vacuum suction to inhale colorful bolts of fabric. The fabric snakes through transparent tubes and then is launched into the air where it floats down to the kids who catch them below. There was a constant line of kids waiting to feed the machine and then shrieks of laughter as they ran around trying to catch the fabric as it gently parachuted to the ground.Part play and part learning, Kidstown delights the youngest of visitors. Dads and moms get to play as well.

These sketched are going live because I am assembling art for a retrospective exhibit of my work at the Orlando Science Center which will open August 17, 2018. Each painting in the show will ave a label that links back to the article on Analog Artist Digital World. I am discovering that some of these paintings had not been shared before.

Harriet Lake’s Kidstown Theatre

Posted on by Thor

Harriet Lake is one of Orlando’s greatest patrons of the arts. Harriet’s Kidstown Theatre is located just past Drip Drop Splash in the Orlando science Center (777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803). A quaint little stage is littered with props like a hard hat, and tutus. The backdrop kept changing, I opted to sketch a playful view of the Lake Eola Fountain. It doesn’t take much to fire the imagination in a young mind. Kids are already gifted actors. A dad sat in the audience sporting his foam statue of liberty crown. The bean bag chairs helped keep the audience active.

I am assembling 30 paintings for an exhibition I am mounting at the Orlando Science Center opening August 16th, 2018. I like to include links in the labels that link back to the articles that appeared on Analog Artist Digital World. This quaint little sketch somehow slipped through the cracks, so I am publishing it now.

In some ways, the kids were just playing on the stage with no well defined story line. However some of the best theater happens when the actors relax and are playful on stage. Lets put on a show! After writing this post, I learned that Harriet Lake died July 10, 2018 at the age of 96. She will be deeply missed by the Central Florida arts community.