XOXO: An Exhibit About Love & Forgiveness

January 25, 2025 - May 4, 2025

XOXO: An Exhibit About Love & Forgiveness is a place where families can come together to spend time to reflect and focus on one another. The exhibit was designed to be a space that fosters conversations and experiences that bring love and forgiveness to the forefront of families’ minds.

This exhibit is recommended for children ages 2 to 12 and their families. The subject of the exhibit is well-suited to audiences of all ages.

Holding Hands +

Some things are impossible to do alone. Hold hands and touch the sensors to complete the circuit and reveal the message. Holding hands is a universal demonstration of friendship, trust and compassion.

Reflection Table +

Manipulate colorful granulated material across an internally lit sculpted landscape – covering and uncovering the surface of the table. As certain areas are uncovered, soothing music is played. Once covered, the music fades away and other areas and sounds are discovered in the table.

Empathy Blocks +

Create unique faces and build a variety of expressions by combining a variety of diverse eyes, noses and mouths in multiple configurations. The facial features are printed directly onto hand-made wooden blocks, adding to the personal experience of looking carefully at another person’s face.

Release the Negative +

Write or draw something that makes them angry, sad or afraid on a piece of paper. Then, place it into a slot and turn the crank to manually shred the paper. Shredding the paper helps to release the negative thoughts or feelings and turns the negative into something positive – a colorful display wall of patterns, created using clear jars filled with the shredded paper.

Silhouettes +

Trace a friend’s profile, also known as a silhouette, onto a sheet of paper. Or sit still as you have your silhouette drawn. Tracing requires concentration and careful attention to the person sitting for the portrait. Once drawn, silhouettes can be displayed and compared – allowing participants to note the similarities and differences in each other. A unique set up of light boxes make the process accessible to all ages and abilities.

Story Puzzle +

Words and symbols are used to tell stories, make connections and stimulate conversation. The two puzzle shapes fit together to form paths, shapes and patterns, while also expressing key themes of love and forgiveness. A large tabletop allows several groups to work at the same time, letting them create their own unique puzzles, or perhaps join with another to form one big shared story.

Response Walls +

Writing is an important way to express your emotions. Answer questions about love and forgiveness, and then tie them to a wall for others to read. The result is a constantly changing collection of tags that form an emotional narrative of thoughts and feelings.

Phone Booths +

The sound of someone’s voice conveys feelings and emotions that a text message can’t. Talk to someone you know or meet a new friends using custom designed telephones housed in round tent-like booths, which provide a comfortable setting to have a private conversation.

Tone Phones +

What you say is important, but how you say it is just as important. Speak into the telephone handset and watch as your voice changes the shapes on projected on the screen. How is a loud, angry tone different from a soft, kind tone? Tone of voice conveys emotions that impact how our words are heard and understood.

XOXO: An Exhibit about Love and Forgiveness was created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh with support from The Fetzer Institute, which works to foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community.