Free GATEWAY Family Day Opens Banksy and Basquiat Show to All Ages at Mobile Museum of Art

MOBILE, Ala. — The Mobile Museum of Art is opening its doors for free on Saturday, Oct. 24, to celebrate its biggest exhibition of the year. The GATEWAY Family Day runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and invites visitors of all ages to explore GATEWAY: From Graffiti to Gallery, a show featuring work by Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, KAWS and Kenny Scharf.

The day combines time in the galleries with outdoor activities, collaborative art-making, poetry and food trucks.

A ‘blockbuster’ for Mobile

GATEWAY traces how a movement that began on city walls and subway cars changed visual culture around the world. The exhibition brings together 28 significant works by five artists whose careers bridged the street and the gallery. The Mobile Museum of Art is the exclusive host venue for the year-long exhibition, which will remain on view through Sept. 1, 2027.

“Our team is so excited to welcome our community to this special celebration of our new blockbuster exhibition,” Executive Director Jon Carfagno said. “We are grateful to our presenting sponsors who have supported our ability to design a day that will activate the creative lessons in the galleries and be fun for all ages.”

What families can do

The museum’s education team designed the day to mix hands-on fun with time spent looking at art, inside and out.

“This Family Day is all about getting creative and having fun together exploring art both outdoors and in the gallery,” said Curator of Art Education Kaitlyn Amanor. “From collaborative art making and poetry pop‑ups to hands‑on activities, food trucks, and quiet spaces to recharge, there’s literally something for everyone to enjoy. It’s a day to explore, play, and get creative together.”

Planned activities include:

• Collaborative art-making projects
• Poetry pop-ups
• Hands-on activities for kids and adults
• Food trucks
• Quiet spaces for visitors who need a break
• Time to explore the GATEWAY galleries

The inclusion of quiet spaces is a thoughtful touch for families with young children or visitors with sensory sensitivities, who may need a calm place to recharge during a busy event.

Meet the five artists

Each of the artists in GATEWAY helped carry art from the street into museums and galleries, though in very different ways.

Jean-Michel Basquiat first gained attention in late-1970s New York for the cryptic phrases he spray-painted around lower Manhattan under the tag SAMO. He became one of the most celebrated painters of the 1980s, known for raw, layered canvases filled with words, symbols and crowned figures, before his death in 1988 at age 27.

Keith Haring became famous for chalk drawings he made on blank advertising panels in New York subway stations in the early 1980s. His bold outlines, radiant babies and dancing figures became instantly recognizable. Haring used his art to support public causes, including AIDS awareness, before his death from AIDS-related complications in 1990.

Kenny Scharf was part of the same East Village art scene as Haring and Basquiat. He is known for brightly colored, cartoon-inspired paintings and murals that mix pop culture, science fiction and playful characters, and he continues to paint murals in cities around the world.

KAWS, the professional name of Brian Donnelly, started as a graffiti artist altering billboards and bus-shelter ads in the 1990s. He went on to build a global following with his “Companion” character and other figures with X’d-out eyes, which appear as paintings, sculptures and collectible toys.

Banksy is the anonymous street artist from England whose stenciled images, often carrying sharp political or social commentary, have appeared on walls around the world. Despite never publicly revealing his identity, Banksy has become one of the best-known artists of the 21st century.

Why street art belongs in a museum

For decades, graffiti was treated as vandalism rather than art. The artists in GATEWAY helped change that perception by showing that work made for public walls could carry the same skill, ideas and emotional power as painting made for a gallery. Their success also changed the art market and pushed museums to rethink what belongs on their walls.

That story makes the exhibition a natural fit for a family day. Street art is visual, colorful and often playful, which makes it easy for children to connect with, while its history raises good conversations for older students and adults about public space, self-expression and who gets to decide what counts as art.

Sponsors make free admission possible

The GATEWAY Family Day is sponsored by Lexus of Mobile, the exhibition’s presenting sponsor, with support from The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and from Mobile County.

About the Mobile Museum of Art

The Mobile Museum of Art sits in Municipal Park, the large west Mobile park many locals still call Langan Park, with a glass-walled lobby that looks out over the park’s lake. The museum traces its roots to the 1960s, when it opened as the Fine Arts Museum of the South. Carfagno has led the museum since February 2023, with a focus on broadening its audience and expanding programs for families and schools.

Make it a full Saturday

Oct. 24 is one of the busiest arts days of the fall in Mobile. After the family day, downtown offers Mobile Ballet’s all-new “Dracula” at the Saenger Theatre at 7:30 p.m. and the Alabama Contemporary Art Center’s Wild Things Ball for adults 21 and older, while Mobile Opera’s “Romeo and Juliet” plays The Temple Downtown on Oct. 23 and 25.

If you go

• What: GATEWAY Family Day
• When: Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Where: Mobile Museum of Art, Municipal Park, Mobile
• Cost: Free
• Highlights: Collaborative art-making, poetry pop-ups, hands-on activities, food trucks, quiet spaces and the GATEWAY galleries
• Exhibition: GATEWAY: From Graffiti to Gallery, featuring 28 works by Banksy, Basquiat, Haring, KAWS and Scharf, on view through Sept. 1, 2027