'Escape To Suburbs' At Walker Art Center

Featured events include art-making activities to create a customizable, kid-size Elia Chair and design a new suburban landscape from collage materials; hip-hop performances guest-curated by Truth Maze; story readings of There's Nothing To Do On Mars by Chris Gall; screenings of short films that straddle city, suburbia, and imaginary lands; and hands-on gallery activities in the exhibition Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes that teach kids about zoning and urban planning.

Activities are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis from 10 am–3 pm. Gallery admission is free from 10 am–5 pm on Free First Saturday.

Free First Saturdays are for Families! Activities recommended for kids ages 6–12.

Escape to the Suburbs! Saturday, April 5, 10 am–3 pm, Free

Visit the exhibition Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes and discover how artists and architects explore a variety of suburban conditions.

Art-Making for the Entire Family: Elia Chair, 10 am–3 pm

Create your very own functional, cardboard, kid-size Elia Chair, the brainchild of Canadian architect/engineer Michael Gross. It's a great piece of modern furniture that is easy to assemble, fun to customize with your own art, and completely recyclable once you've put the chair to good use.

Art-Making for the Entire Family: Satellite Suburbs, 10 am–3 pm

Redesign the layout of your favorite suburb using acetate, colored tagboard, photocopies of Twin Cities' suburbs, markers, and other collage materials. Led by artist-instructor Ilene Krug Mojsilov.

Story Time: There's Nothing To Do On Mars by Chris Gall, 10:30 am and 2:30 pm

Young Davey Martin moves with his family to Mars only to find there's nothing to do. Somehow Davey and his dog, Polaris, create their own fun adventures and manage to stumble into the ancient secret of the red planet!

Performance: Flow Motion, 11 am and 1 pm

Old skool to new skool—the elements of hip-hop come together on the Cinema stage, featuring Twin Cities talents Truth Maze, Dancin' Dave, DJ Stage One, Autumn Compton, Arturo Miles, and Aaron Barnell in two live shows sure to get the whole family dancing.

Films: Suburban Shorts, 12 noon and 2 pm

Watch animated and live action shorts to escape from the urban and suburban landscape and venture into imaginary worlds.

The Animal Book

Two siblings toil in a world of machinery, but when a special winged book arrives, a glorious green land unfolds and offers an opportunity to escape to a lush new place. U.K., 2007, 10 minutes.

Montrose Avenue

A day in the life of a neighborhood street raises thoughtful questions about what makes a community. Canada, 2006, 6 minutes.

Portable Living Room

A boy is stuck at Grandma's house for the weekend, but realizes he can travel anywhere he wants using his power of imagination to escape to vivid landscapes. U.S., 2006, 2 minutes.

My Happy End

A charmingly confused case of puppy love arises in My Happy End. Germany, 2007, 5 minutes.

Gallery Activity: Tour the Burbs, 12:30–2:30 pm

Meet a tour guide at different stations located in the exhibition Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes that explore various aspects of suburban life. From zones to stop lights, kids get their hands involved in it all. -- www.walkerart.org