In the months leading up to the opening of the Children's Museum of Phoenix, we invited the public to become artists and creators by building parts of the Museum together! Our Built By You! projects gave everyone the opportunity to become a lasting part of this Museum.  

Our Built By You! projects are completed now.  Here are some of the exciting projects that were part of the initiative.  Thanks to all who particpated. You helped to make this Museum the wonder-filled space it is!  

Monroe School Stories (ongoing)
The history of the Monroe School building is rich and relevant to children. Alumni are being invited back to tell stories of their experiences here as schoolchildren. These stories will spark a multigenerational treasure hunt throughout the public spaces of the Museum.

Kid-Built Characters (October, ‘07)
Wireframe sculptures, life-sized or larger, will be clad with a wide variety of materials by participants. The figures will be installed in the Museum in unexpected places. You will have the opportunity to participate in this project October 27th & 28th at Boo! at the Zoo.

3-D Collage Installation (November, ‘07)
Children will have the opportunity to create three-dimensional collage panels using a wide range of interesting materials, with inspiration and support from a young and inventive local artist, Legend Logsdon. Their creations will be displayed as a collaborative work of art in the Museum. This project will be presented November 4th at Sunday at Shemer.

Wish Fish Sculpture (December, ‘07)
In this partnership with the Homeless Christmas Tree Project and National Gratitude Project, over 14,000 children will use colorful markers to express their wishes and dreams on donated CDs which will then be attached as shimmering scales to a large sculptural form. These children take away a very important message about themselves--they are part of something big and good.

West Lawn landform sculpture (Fall ’07-Spring ’08) One of the goals of the Museum is to recognize and celebrate the inherent play behaviors of children. Many of us have childhood memories of playing around stepping stones or hopscotch, walking lines or skipping from rock to rock. Plans for the east entry of the Museum require relocating several tons of dirt to the west lawn. There, it will be smoothed into low hills by a group of corporate volunteers, and paved (scaled, skinned, dressed) with jeweled mosaic pavers, which will be created off-site by local school children in a series of workshops coordinated by local Southwest Public Art Group. The landform paths will provide a lively activity and simple embellishment on the west lawn, outfitted with picnic tables and shade trees.

Origami project (Winter ’07-Spring ’08) Thousands of children will attend community events like Matsuri Festival, Kids Art Detour, and Children’s Day at the Japanese Friendship Garden in the coming year. With inspiration from artists Ken Koshio and J. Jules Vitali, children can fold their own sculptures, taking one with them and leaving one for the Museum. When the Museum opens, people can find the cranes they made among thousands, displayed in a dynamic sculpture. A child will be able to make the whole flock of sculptures dip and sway in unison.

10,000 Blocks (Fall ’07) Building with blocks is a universal pastime for young children. A main gallery of the Museum will be dedicated to block play, and an important aspect of this area is the sheer volume of blocks that children will be able to work with. In addition to standard unit blocks, over 10,000 Kapla blocks will be purchased by the Museum and embellished by Museum without Walls participants at community events. In addition, the Children’s Museum will put out an Open Request for Proposals to artists for odd and unusual block sets. These might have unique shapes, include embedded objects or surface imagery, or be made of bizarre or repurposed materials.