Filled with Wonder at the WNDR Museum
Are you ready for a sensory expedition through color, sound and light? This journey transports you from the grey sidewalks of Chicago's West Loop district into a Willy Wonka-like world of wonder, complete with interactive selfie moments.
Here at the WNDR Museum, touching the art is encouraged and silly dances are celebrated. Visitors young and old create something new at every exhibit, joining the ranks of professional artists with masterpieces that last for a few moments.
The joy is pure, the colors are bright. We're all filled with wonder. Let's dive in.
Reversible sequin walls at the museum's entrance.
"Antibodies" by Studio Iregular
"We Are All Artists" by Brad Keywell
"Projection Dome" by WNDR Studios x Visual Feeder
Brandon drew me a pineapple in the sequin wall! He's so sweet.
"WNDR Light Floor" by WNDR Studios x BrightLogic
Jumping and sliding across this responsive digital floor, we released splashes of light. Each slow spiral followed us around the room, like lazy jellyfish or swirls of creamer in hot coffee.
"Human Hues" by WNDR Studios x Visual Feeder
Yayoi Kusama's career as an exhibition artist began in her youth, inspired by visual and auditory hallucinations. Her artwork almost always incorporates polka dots, her signature, in inventive ways.
This mirrored sphere infinity room is the featured fine art exhibit at the WNDR Museum, called "Let’s Survive Forever".
We had one brief minute inside the mirror room and were required to wear little cloth booties over our shoes to keep the reflective room pristine.
A fascinating timeline of Yayoi's personal life and groundbreaking art career. The artist turned 93 in 2022.
"Lumens" by WNDR Studios
Shaking hands with the door handle to the women's bathroom.
"Analog | Digital" by WNDR Studios
"Lost in Da Stardust" by Lauren Asta
"Flip Disc (Particles 45)" by Breakfast NY
Perceptive black and white disks followed our movements around this clickity-clacking wall, picking up not only on our outlines, but the shapes of our hair, glasses, and shirts as we danced around.
"Boxed In" by WNDR Studios
Local dancers and performers contributed their best moves to this film shown on harmonizing screens.
Graffiti phone booths
"Colorwave" by Sosolimited
At this interactive display, we texted the word "pineapple" to the provided number and the colorwave pixel columns responded with undulating wavelengths of blue, green and orange.
"VJYourself" by Playmodes Studio
A carefully-timed video delay and creative repetition turned our slow actions in an eerie journey of present and immediate past.
"The Wisdom Project" by WNDR Studios
Museum-goers share their thoughts and dreams in thick stacks of paper.
"If you're not first, you're last!"
"We are ETERNAL."
"Black women are everything."
"Love is in the details."
"Oracles of WNDR" by WNDR Studios
An ever-changing split flap board of ideas and dreams to ponder.
Adorable Chicago chachkies; I bought the hotdog enamel pin, of course. Gotta represent my new city!
In case you didn't know, Chicago is well-known for its hotdogs, both in restaurants and from street vendors. The iconic Chicago-style dog is "an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun...topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers and a dash of celery salt." - Wikipedia
"HI!" by WNDR Studios
"FLUX ROOM" by WNDR Studios
Projections of sweeping landscapes and watercolor scenes ebb and flow on the walls of this dark room, where visitors sit quietly on benches to relax for a moment of quiet.
"Enter the night shift" by Radah
If you're craving more Chicagoland adventure, read about some other fun things we've done recently: