Collection Connections

Explore your curiosity and creativity with fun, playful activities inspired by works of art from the CMA’s collection. Gather your family and dive into creative challenges, games, music, stories, and more—all from home. New themes, artworks, and activities will be added each week. Spark your imagination with Collection Connections, then share your creations using #CMAatHome!

Sculpture

A sculpture is a three-dimensional artwork and can be created with many kinds of materials. Sculptures can be of people or things, or sculptures can be abstract. What will you make?

Let’s build
A white marble sculpture depicts Terpsichore Lyran, a muse standing next to a square column on which stands a lyre, a small, u-shaped harp. She wraps her left arm around the lyre, grasping its outer edge as she leans against the column, looking to her right, her legs crossed. She wears a tunic wrapped around her in rippling folds. A band wraps around her curly hair, pulled back in a ponytail with ringlets framing her face.

Perspective

Perspective is a technique that artists use to show depth of space or distance in drawings and paintings. Perspective is also the way that you see the world, your unique point of view. Everyone has their own way of seeing things. What’s your perspective?

Let’s explore your point of view
A vertically oriented pen and brown ink drawing with blue-gray wash depicts a deep, vaulted arcade. Symmetrical rows of columns on our left and right border a grid-patterned floor receding into the distance. Light from our left creates long, blue-gray washes for shadows across the walkway. Fine brown ink lines define the architectural ceiling. Through a far archway, sketched buildings appear. A signature rests at the bottom right.

Pattern

Patterns are repeated arrangements of colors, shapes, or lines. Create your own work of art inspired by the museum’s collection. Where can you find patterns in your life?

Let’s make a pattern
Close-up of a beaded panel with a "V" pattern alternating dark blue outlined with white and pink, red, and light blue.

Abstraction

Abstract artists use shapes and lines to create their designs. Create your own abstract works of art inspired by artists in the museum’s collection. What are your favorite shapes?

Let’s explore shapes
A vertically oriented abstract lithograph depicts an industrial composition of black geometric shapes. In the center, stippled triangles and circles overlap with gridded rectangles. Small human silhouettes stand on horizontal platforms at various heights. A tall rectangle with a wood grain pattern dominates the lower right, where a small bird perches on a ledge. Cross-hatching and stippling create textures across the interlocking forms, suggesting a complex, towering mechanical structure.

In the Kitchen

Explore objects inspired by the food we eat. Investigate your kitchen, draw an imaginary feast, and design a snack for you and your family. What is your favorite food?

Let’s eat
A colorful, horizontally oriented oil painting depicts various foods on a table including a basket overflowing with vegetables, meat on platters, and fruits scattered across the tablecloth.

Adventure

Many artists like to capture their adventures in their work. Be a home adventurer and show us how you like to explore. What was your most daring adventure?

Let’s go on a journey
A square ceramic tile depicts a three-masted ship sailing right across a stylized sea of dark blue tiered waves. Billowing sails and mast pennants are rendered in cobalt blue against a white, crazed glaze. Scrolling floral motifs fill the corners. The composition focuses on the ship, detailed with streaking lines and light shading, while a network of fine cracks covers the surface.

Adorn

Explore wearable objects from different times and places. Play dress up and put on a family fashion show! What is your favorite thing to wear?

Let’s dress up
A wide, T-shaped satin weave silk garment features dense floral embroidery in primarily warm orange-red, gold, and white. Vertical blue, yellow, and red stripes flank the central panel and sleeves. Large white panels at the sleeve ends are embroidered with birds and flowers, while scalloped white edging wraps the neckline. Gold characters are embroidered near the shoulders, and a layer of blue fabric is visible beneath the center.

Dream

Artists express their dreams, hopes, and wishes in many ways. Dive into the strange world of Surrealism and explore your dreams through collage and poetry. What do you dream about?

Let’s dream
A horizontally oriented watercolor depicts a singular pink rose growing out of the barren brown ground of a rock outcropping. The rose and ground are surrounded by the ocean, all under a blue sky with a few white clouds.

Music

Some visual artists are inspired by music and sound. Create your own artwork based on the music you hear! What kind of music do you like?

Let’s listen
A vertically oriented pastel drawing depicts two horizontal sections. The upper half features overlapping peach, lavender, and white fields marked by tangled black scribbles and small colorful rectangles. A large orange triangle with diagonal gray stripes occupies the top right corner. The lower half contains a black field hatched with white diagonal lines, featuring three pink triangles and scattered blue and gray stars. A light blue band runs across the bottom edge.

Feelings

Artists express feelings in many different ways. Discover masks from around the world and explore your feelings through drawing and dance. How do you express your feelings?

Let’s explore feelings
A painted wood mask depicts a smiling face. The surface of the mask is chipped, leaving a mottled mix of black, reddish-brown, and gray.

Landscape

The outdoors is full of colors and patterns. Take a closer look at landscapes and objects in the CMA’s Collection Online, then explore your own neighborhood landscapes! What do you see outside your window?

Let’s look outside
A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts a vivid sunset over a dark wilderness landscape. The clouds in the sky are painted with warm shades of reds and oranges. Dark mountains are silhouetted against a sliver of bright yellow sky and the lake below them reflects the glow of the reds and oranges of the clouds.

Still Life

A still life is a picture of different things like food and flowers. Go on a scavenger hunt and see what you can find to make your own still life! What are your favorite things?

Let’s find more
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a still life on a table draped in dark blue velvet and white linen. A tall silver ewer and amber glass vessel stand behind a blue and white bowl of peaches. To our right, a platter holds sliced ham and bread, while a curled lemon peel hangs over the edge. Green grapes cluster on our left. Strong light creates brilliant reflections and deep shadows across the composition.

All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Fortney, Florence Kahane Goodman, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous supporter, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, the Lloyd D. Hunter Memorial Fund, Marta Jack and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, William J. and Katherine T. O'Neill, Mandi Rickelman, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Education programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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