The Children's Museum, Boston
Traveling exhibit
Opened Summer 2003
Making America's Music website

This exuberant traveling exhibition celebrates the joy and diversity of American music and the people who make and enjoy it. JKA developed and designed for The Children’s Museum and its partner, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with two key goals in mind: to promote a lifelong love and appreciation of music and to encourage active participation in music making. The exhibition is filled with hands-on, ears-on fun in playful settings that evoke the flavor and spirit of musical genres from jazz to country, from rock to rap. Custom software introduces young visitors to basic elements of music – melody, rhythm and tempo – and interviews with famous musicians from Yo-Yo Ma to James Taylor and Harry Connick, Jr. explore childhood musical memories and the source of inspiration.

<click on images to see them larger>

Featured Components:

You’re the Conductor! Take the podium to lead the Boston Pops in their signature rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever” at Symphony Hall. With a wave of your arm, you can change the tempo or control the volume of sections of the orchestra.

Jumpin’ at the Jazz Club: Sing along with the Mother Goose Jazz Band in a role play activity featuring karaoke versions of best-loved nursery songs while you watch yourself fronting a Big Band.

Street Beat: Even the fence is a musical instrument in this urban hip hop streetscape. Join a group drumming activity or be your own DJ, mixing and sampling sounds.

Travelin’ Tour Bus: Get on board to pick and strum along with country musicians as they rehearse on the road. Sit in the driver’s seat to make the windshield wipers change speed in time to classic country tunes, or sing along with Old MacDonald as the American landscape rolls by outside the window.

School Gym: Dress up and see yourself on the big screen as you dance the night away. Whether it’s the Twist, Stayin’ Alive, the Conga or Rapper’s Delight, the beat goes straight to your feet.