Wonder Ponder illustrator Daniela Martagón to co-create an interactive Philosophy for children exhibit with the UTEP Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands program

At Wonder Ponder we are very excited to announce that our illustrator Daniela Martagón will be working with the University of El Paso Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands program on an exciting project to co-create an Interactive Philosophy for Children exhibit for local children and families in the Museo Urbano in El Paso.

A Diversity and Inclusiveness Grant from the American Philosophical Association awarded to the UTEP Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands will make this special collaboration possible.

From the start of the Wonder Ponder project, we have explored all possible forms of presenting our Visual Philosophy for Children concept besides from our books-in-a-box, and museums were always on our radar. We are thrilled that this first concrete project in this direction is in collaboration with the founder of the UTEP Philosophy for Children in the US-Mexico Borderlands program, Amy Reed-Sandoval.

Amy Reed-Sandoval and Daniela Martagón met last year in Oaxaca.

"Daniela shared with me", says Amy, "the fabulous work that she and Ellen Duthie having been doing through Wonder Ponder. I was struck by how wonderfully they work together as a team, and also by the captivating images that Daniela produces, as the illustrator for Wonder Ponder, to inspire philosophical conversation. In El Paso I found that the Wonder Ponder "boxes"--which include images and accompanying philosophical questions--were excellent tools for getting very young kids engaged philosophically. I decided that the UTEP Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands program would benefit immensely from Daniela's talents as an illustrator. For that reason, we are bringing her to El Paso to set up an interactive Philosophy for Children museum exhibit at the Museo Urbano--so that children and families from both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border can become philosophically engaged through viewing and discussing Daniela's visual creations".

At Wonder Ponder, we had been following the work of Amy Reed-Sandoval, through her Oaxaca Philosophy for Children Initiative and her Philosophy for Children in the Borderlines program for a few years, and it is an honour for Daniela to have the chance to work with her. Though currently based in Spain, Daniela is herself Mexican, and is very much looking forward to working with Amy and her team on this project.  

"It is a privilege", says Daniela, "to have the chance to design an exibition for Philosophy in the Borderlands and the community the program works with. One of the important things for me is the very positive feedback we have received about how the children and the facilitators working for the program have used and become familiar with Wonder Ponder's materials (see the pictures of the materials in use at Rayito de Sol, as part of the program). Although I have never been there, I already feel a relationship has been established. In May, we'll have the chance to build on that connection and go beyond it. How will we take advantage of having a physical space for visual philosophy? I am curious. Up until now our work has focused on the book-person relationship and this is an opportunity to explore the space-person relationship. At Wonder Ponder we are very aware of the importance of format, so this is a new challenge, with different scales, conditions and possibilities. We have a community that is curious and open to the experiment, the support of the University of El Paso and a great deal of interest and enthusiasm on all sides. What more could we ask for? I'll be working on the border of my country and the target community is mostly Mexican-Chicano, which makes the project particularly exciting for me."