Magnets, Mod Podge and old tape scraps might not sound like traditional art supplies — but at the Long Island Children’s Museum, New York–based artist Kelly Olshan brings that creative clutter front and center.
As part of her new interactive exhibit, Amethyst Playground, opening Jan. 31, Olshan led a hands-on workshop and artist talk before the holiday season, showing how recycled fragments and discarded studio materials can become part of a playful, immersive landscape.
“It started from a place of — I think the stuff is beautiful, and I don’t want to throw it away,” Olshan said. “Some of the stuff that would wind up on my palette I thought was more compelling than what I’d actually painted that day.”
The exhibit, designed for LICM’s youngest visitors, features dreamlike staircases and gem-like structures made from oil-painted wood, layered textures and repurposed materials. Originally trained as a painter, Olshan said this shift to kid-friendly, durable materials challenged her to adapt while keeping her core artistic values intact.
“They don’t have the same barriers to engaging with art that adults do,” she said of her new audience. “They’re also incredibly honest. If they weren’t into it, I’d know immediately — adults will lie to protect your feelings.”
The event also included a Q&A, a guided artist talk and a reflection prompt: “What’s something weird you throw away that could be an art material?” Answers included tennis balls, candy wrappers, milk cartons and sponge scraps.
Although actual amethysts will not be part of the show, Olshan hopes it will be in the future. She said she would like to build a collaboration to bring drawings and references of the rocks.
“That is a question I had – what images or videos do you think would help children or visitors understand the process,” she said.
At the workshop, participants created magnets from dried paint, broken plaster, airbrushed tape and other scraps — some of which may end up in the final exhibit. Guests could keep their creations or donate them to the installation’s magnetic wall, where kids will help shape the display over time.
In a few weeks the walls would coated with dozens magnetic and filled with laser-cut shapes that visitors can rearrange with each visit. A custom-built “look and feel” book — created with a professional bookmaker — invites kids to touch real textures from Olshan’s studio, from plaster to pencil shavings.
“We knew kids would want to touch everything, and we didn’t want it to feel like torture — ‘look but don’t touch,’” she said. “We found ways to let them explore safely.”
Olshan, who also works with the New York Foundation for the Arts, said the concept evolved from years of sketching surreal, staircase-like shapes that eventually reminded her of crystals — a nod to her childhood, growing up around her father’s rock collection.
“Rocks are kind of like nature’s architecture,” she said. “They signal that you’re entering a space that’s a little otherworldly.”
Amethyst Playground transforms LICM’s outer lobby and Artists’ Corner into a shimmering, surreal environment — and it won’t be finished when it opens. The exhibit is meant to change, grow and be shaped by the children who visit.
“Kids just dive in,” Olshan said. “They don’t need permission to create.”
Amethyst Playground was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
