Children's Art Education Center Introduction
The Children's Art Education Center, which took five years to prepare, received funding from the TSMC Education and Culture Foundation and financial support from the Taipei City Government. With the efforts of museum staff and the architectural design team, it officially commenced operations on Children's Day in 2014, launching its inaugural exhibition titled "Gift," representing its mission: a present for future generations. The visual signage design resembles stacked geometric blocks, inspired by the tubular structural elements of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum; the window symbol signifies children's innate curiosity, peering into the sky from the corner of a window and exploring the broader world beyond. The center is based on existing spatial conditions, transforming its periphery into the operational core, gradually incorporating contemporary art education concepts. In addition to asserting the importance of learning as a core value, it aims to expand the definition of educational learning starting from 2015, which means creating new modes of knowledge production and museum experiences. Traditional museums, which primarily focus on "objects" in their collection and exhibition functions, are gradually shifting towards a "human"-centered positioning. The museum not only holds a rich collection of art but also serves as a friendly space for audiences to relax and socialize, allowing for an experience of art in daily life. Furthermore, it emphasizes participatory experiences, hoping that audiences will learn through interactive discussions with peers, generating diverse possibilities in their visiting experience, and developing a new relationship between the museum and the audience. Contemporary art encompasses a vast amount of cross-disciplinary knowledge and emphasizes critical thinking and social engagement. In 2016, the educational planning of the Children's Art Center officially transformed from the concept of exhibitions into "Educational Programs," launching one to two programs each year, combining thematic displays and creative workshops co-planned by museum educators and contemporary artists. In the "Educational Programs," museum staff act not only as mediators of artistic interpretation but also as experience facilitators; the role of artists is no longer just that of passive creators of works but can actively become constructors of learning experiences. On one hand, the educational programs of the Children's Art Center model artists, allowing children to understand a diverse world through the artistic perspectives, creative thinking, and problem-solving methods of artists. On the other hand, we invite artists to collaborate with staff to discuss and develop interactive installations for each educational program, transforming experiences from their works or other artists' works into learnable patterns, guiding audiences from passive visual appreciation to engaged participation on physical and perceptual levels. Through participation in educational programs, audiences become active explorers discovering the world and accumulate visual literacy and conceptual critical thinking skills. (Source: Children's Art Education Center)
