Boston–Boston Children’s Museum will open the art installation, “Outside In/Inside Out”, by Meaghan Schwelm on April 14. Outside In/Inside Out explores the artist’s personal and evolving relationship with the natural world.
“Outside In-Inside Out reflects the whimsy, the depth, and the imagination that would flow naturally from someone who is both an accomplished artist and a children’s librarian,” said Faith Johnson, Arts Program Manager at the Museum. “She plays with our sense of wonder, discovery, and our dependence upon the natural world as our home.”
Meaghan Schwelm is drawn to places and things that play with the notion of being outside or inside. At the heart of the installation are representations of seeds, a metaphor for potential and growth, as well as interdependence. Schwelm incorporates objects from Boston Children’s Museum collections with her own drawings and materials to reference the joy of being outside, even while being inside.
Visitors can interact with a felt story about “How Seeds Travel.” Children may also enter an open-frame play-fort built from sustainably-sourced timber, in which they are invited to play, imagine, and explore. Schwelm’s drawings and juxtapositions of natural history materials with dollhouses invite visual interaction, as Museum visitors engage in a seek-and-find.
Meaghan Schwelm has exhibited her drawings and sculptures in Boston at spaces including Aviary Gallery, The Artist’s Foundation, Arnheim Gallery, and the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library. Her work has been shown internationally in Cork and Galway, Ireland. Currently she lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts and finds endless inspiration on neighborhood walks observing other people’s gardens. In addition to being an artist she is a Children’s Librarian.
The art installation is scheduled to run April 14 – June 9.
For additional information, please visit www.BostonChildrensMuseum.org.
