Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose is welcoming a new photo exhibit revolving around children at play opening on Saturday, January 18. The traveling exhibit, titled Potential Space: A Serious Look at Child’s Play showcases a collection of stunning, full-color photographs by award-winning photographer Nancy Richards Farese. The event will run through June 8 and will encourage children and their grown-ups to reflect on the importance of play and how it manifests in our daily lives, sometimes regardless of what is going on around us.

Captured over seven years across 14 countries – including Burkina Faso, Cuba, Haiti, Jordan, and the U.S. – the images featured in the exhibit celebrate children engaged in spontaneous, unstructured play, free from adult supervision. Farese’s evocative photos not only capture the joy and universality of play but also provoke reflection: Where does play fit in our own lives, and how can we ensure that all children have the opportunity to play their way into a healthy adulthood and a more equitable world?

In the introduction to her photo collection book, Farese writes, “Even as I carry my camera photographing the life of children at play everywhere, memories of my own play color and inform what I see in the field, contributing to the joy of the work. Though play can take seemingly infinite forms, we know it when we see it, anywhere in the world. Photography, therefore, is an ideal tool to capture the exuberance and complexity of what happens when we play. A game of jacks is recognizable whether it is played with stones in a dirt alley in Burkina Faso or with plastic pieces on a tiled floor in Bangkok. Dolls, kites, and balls appear everywhere in these photos, reminding us that many of these games, are our games too.”

About Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose

Kids lead the way at Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, exploring and discovering through open-ended, play-based learning. More than 150 hands-on exhibits and programs in sciences, humanities, arts, nature, and health spark curiosity and ignite family fun where children build life skills in creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and confidence. The nonprofit celebrates people and diverse cultures, creates authentic connections, and builds global understanding. 

Welcoming more than 10 million visitors since 1990, the award-winning museum inspires creativity, curiosity, and lifelong learning inside the stunning 50,000 square foot purple building designed by the late world renowned Mexico City architect Ricardo Legoretta, and outside in the half-acre nature space. For more information about the museum, visit www.cdm.org.