FUN is a collaborative, interactive art exhibition that invites visitors to work with artist Mark Tucker to create large-scale kinetic 3-D sculptures.

With FUN, Tucker and UMMA plan to turn the usual museum exhibition model upside down, opening the show to the public before it’s been created. With the help of community participation, the new exhibition will transform UMMA’s Stenn Jr. Family Gallery into a real-life artists’ workshop, complete with all the tools and supplies needed for making Tucker’s brand of sculptures based on works of art in the museum’s collection. Working closely with UMMA’s Museum Teaching and Learning Curator Grace VanderVliet, Tucker is inviting the public to roll up their sleeves and have fun alongside fellow community members and students. FUN is scheduled to open on May 14, 2022. 

“This exhibition is an opportunity to meet community needs in a truly immersive way. There is much to be gained from working directly with an artist and with each other in a process of collaborative making. FUN also embodies UMMA’s vision and core values: that we seek to make the community a rich and stimulating place for artists of all ages and abilities, and that it’s vitally important to remember that everything in our collection began this way: as ideas and materials in an artists’ hands,” said Christina Olsen, UMMA’s Director.

For 15 years, Tucker, who is the Art Director and visual arts instructor for students in the Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts program at the University of Michigan, has engaged students and community volunteers to make his signature giant puppets and luminary sculptures. The works are often presented at the beloved local FestiFools event, of which Tucker is the founder. With FUN, UMMA is bringing the experience into the galleries and providing visitors the opportunity to transform an initial “pile of stuff” into whimsical artworks and to connect directly with the process of making. 

In addition to creating a colorful and chaotic space for creative exploration, UMMA and Tucker also aim to demystify the artistic process while making meaningful museum experiences more accessible. This workshop/exhibition/performance begins in May and culminates in a community-wide celebration at the end of August. Building on Tucker’s extensive experience making giant sculptures for the annual FestiFools parade, parts of the exhibition may also be found roaming around Ann Arbor in an upending of the way museum’s traditionally work. 

Art from the exhibition will be seen popping up at events such as the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Ann Arbor Art Fairs, music festivals, summer camps, libraries, and community centers.

“My goal is to bring the joy of making art and the power of creative collaboration to more people, while helping to break down the barriers to public engagement with great works of art”, says Tucker, who teaches art for non-art majors at U-M’s Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts program. 

Tucker also announced that this will be his final year overseeing creation of the sculptures for FestiFools. While this beloved annual event may continue under the direction of WonderFool Productions (a non-profit organization which Tucker co-founded), Tucker plans to move on personally and creatively, and is looking forward to this exciting chance to work alongside the supportive staff at UMMA. 

Tucker remembers the first time he ever visited a museum and how it changed his life. “So much humanity, and culture, and brilliant pieces of artwork and treasures were behind those museum doors, just waiting to be discovered! And now, whenever I want to lift my spirits, or experience something absolutely new, beautiful, vexing or amazing, I simply visit my nearby art museum. I always walk away having learned something new about the world, and in the process, something new about myself.” 

Tucker and VanderVliet hope to impart those same feelings and lessons on visitors and participants in FUN when the show opens in May. “We want everyone who comes to truly see themselves as an artist and take that feeling with them into the world,” VanderVliet said. “We want them to leave knowing, without a doubt, that their creative contributions to this exhibition and to society are valid. I mean, your work will actually be in an art gallery, how fun is that?!"