Kids’ Corner has once again been reimagined! This beloved play space on DelArt’s lower level has been transformed by our latest Family-in-Residence. The new intergenerational, collaborative installation inspires creative exploration and imaginative play in visitors of all ages.
Isaac Tin Wei Lin and Melissa Choi are the force behind Choi Lin, their collaborative home and clothing line, and the parents of son Teo Lin, age 2. Lin is a visual artist represented by Fleisher Ollman Gallery in Philadelphia. His work typically features dense, calligraphic, brushed, and hand-drawn patterns. Choi is a designer and stylist, influenced by Korean culture, Japanese gardens, and futurist design. Modern, colorful, and playful themes are found in their work, and Lin regularly creates cartoon animal characters.
This family of artists has been tapped to conceptualize, design, and reinstall Kids’ Corner, a dedicated space for children of all ages that has existed at the Delaware Art Museum for more than 36 years.
The Museum’s first Family-in-Residence installation was installed in 2016, and installations continued annually through 2019. The pandemic allowed the Museum to look at formalizing the program, and 2023 is the first year a formal search for a new artistic family took place.
“I was blown away with the quality of applications we received for this project. I’m so excited to share this Pennsylvania family’s reimagining of the space,” shares Rayna DeReus, the Museum’s Studio and Youth Program Coordinator.
The family’s original design proposal leaned heavily on vertical movement opportunities, such as climbable structures informed by ancient ziggurats, as well as murals and custom fabrics.
“We had to redesign to create a site-specific installation that fit the space” says Choi. Lin painted murals of colorful patterns to create an otherworldly immersive environment, Choi designed a colorable wallpaper and they filled Kids’ Corner with interactive activities to stimulate imagination.
The couple is inspired by Teo regularly. “We are trying to see the world through his eyes. He is growing up so fast our design for Kids’ Corner can’t keep up. He used to be into the moon, stars and clocks but now is fascinated by revolving doors and make-believe with his stuffed animals,” says Lin.
Lin describes his hopes for the inclusiveness of Kids’ Corner: “I want to create an immersive space, and also, as people of color, we are creating our own environment. Being a kid, you’re discovering the world and you are playing make believe and trying to figure things out, and that’s part of creating your own world. As people of color, we are more aware of our differences, but we are co-existing in a place and trying to make sense of the world and where we fit.”
The Museum is grateful to the 2023 “Art of the Cocktail” committee that fundraised for the new installation, as well as all Kids’ Corner donors, including the family of Thelma “Tee Jay” Evans Cox King, who sponsored the space’s new reading nook. Join us for the next Art of the Cocktail event on April 20 to help raise further support for DelArt’s education programs.