Wonder Takes Center Stage

Storybook Tunnels—Play

Come to FIT’s Art and Design Gallery for the final week of It’s a Kid’s World! Play, Imagine, Create — a fully immersive environment that embraces the imagination of a child and explores what it means to design for young audiences. In this exhibition, play, inquiry, and wonder take center stage, through interactive and educational components designed to engage visitors and to showcase the work of FIT students in Fashion Design (children’s wear concentration), Toy Design, Illustration, Textile/Surface Design, and Footwear and Accessories Design.

Children who visit the show can weave at a loom and even become a life-size paper doll!

“We welcome kids of all ages to interact with this fun and playful exhibit full of student work, through weaving, becoming live paper dolls in a sketchbook, and exploring bigger ideas of who they dream to become,” said Lauren Zodel, curator of the exhibition and assistant professor of Fashion Design at FIT, overseeing the children’s wear concentration. “It’s about seeing the world as a kid and how we can explore things differently.”

In the back gallery, a selection of work from a special project by the nonprofit adoption services organization Spence-Chapin, titled “Dear Future: Elevating Children’s Voices,” highlights the stories of a group of children residing in an orphanage in Cali, Colombia. Featuring photography, video work, and vibrant costumes, the project explores the possibilities that emerge when vulnerable children are given the space to dream.

This exhibition is free and open to the public. The gallery is open 9 am to 5 pm daily.