Frederic Remington Art Museum Education Specialist Lauren V. Gilmour kept the Kid’s Place open on Martin Luther King Day for children in the community who needed a creative outlet.

The Kid’s Place is open whenever schools are closed for a holiday or a break from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Ms. Gilmour said, to provide a safe place for free expression.

“There are always materials on hand,” Ms. Gilmour said, gesturing at the roomful of art supplies.

On Martin Luther King Day, brother and sister Cooper and Lexi Stuntz were brought to Kid’s Place by their father, Conrad.

After seeing paper towel tubes, Cooper was inspired to construct cardboard towers reminiscent of the Middle Ages. By midday he was working on his second tower – a more ambitious construction complete with a large, green roof.

His sister was likewise inspired by the paper towel tubes, but in an entirely different way.

Lexi, with a healthy dose of purple and yellow paint, turned hers into a tropical bird, complete with feathers found in the Kid’s Place artistic arsenal. In addition to the normal winter operational hours of 3 to 5 p.m. Fridays and 1 to 4 p.m. on weekend days, Kid’s Place will have several more opportunities for the community’s children to be artistically inspired.

Kid’s Place will be open with special school holiday hours on Feb. 18 and 22, March 15 and 29, April 1 through 5 and May 27. For each of these days, Kid’s Place is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There is no admission fee.

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