When children approach artwork created by adults, they are expected to look, not touch. What if instead, they were allowed to play with, and even to transform what they see? What if they didn’t realize the material they were engaging was intended as “art”?

Loose Parts is part of a series of projects by artist Corin Hewitt that explore and activate the open-ended character of children’s play. The ICA will host screenings, presentations, and a panel on art and adventure play.

2:00 PM-3:30 PM Film Screenings

Two films about the history and culture of adventure play will be screened in the ICA auditorium. Erin Davis’s film The Land (21 min) (2015), and Yoshiki Shigee and Hitoshi Simamura’s new film, Time of Yumepa (2023) (55 min excerpt). Scenes of Corin Hewitt’s in-process film Fountain (2023), a collaboration with artist and VCU professor Massa Lemu, will be playing in the lobby. Each film observes young people engaged in unscripted, loose parts outdoor play in experimental playspaces. Hewitt’s Fountain is the first of his series of films that examines children’s interactions with undisclosed artist’s provocations in spaces of open-ended play.

3:30 PM-5:00 PM Presentations

Corin Hewitt and ICA Director Dominic Asmall Willsdon will introduce Hewitt’s proposal for a new long-term play space in Richmond that would open in Spring 2025. Louisa Penfold (Co-Chair of Arts and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education) will discuss the historical relationship between play and art, and then facilitate a conversation between playworker Lu Le, Hewitt, and artist Brandon Ndife.They will discuss the proposed playground, past and future films, ideas surrounding children’s play, and how this relates to contemporary art.

Corin Hewitt’s collaborators on Loose Parts include VCU Professors Jesse Goldstein, Aspen Brinton, and Kristin Carleton. Partnering organizations for the long-term project include the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation, Blue Sky Fund, and partnerships within Richmond Public Schools. VCU undergraduate playworkers who worked on Fountain include Mars Connor, Isa Dray, Lu Le, Syd Lewin, Katherine O’Connor, Dakota Van Houten, Ke Xiao, and Claire Walsh. Financial support for Loose Parts comes from a grant from Virginia Humanities and incubator funding from the VCU Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment and the Humanities Research Center at VCU.