My three sons, husband, and I had been in the Pérez Art Museum Miami for over an hour and were running out of steam. A gallery attendant encouraged us to find the installation with all the lights around the corner because children usually respond to that one. Encouraged, our oldest son moved in that direction. Through double glass doors, we entered a dim room activated by 15 kinetic light sculptures. We were so captured by the mechanics of José Carlos Martinat’s installation that it took us a minute to comprehend the content of the installation. Surrounding us were symbols of violence, manipulation, racism, and migration common in our media. Visitors came in and out, but we stayed and watched without talking much.

In the moment, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to let my children observe the violent symbols or not. Before leaving, I asked them, “What are we supposed to do when we see so many problems in our world like the problems here?” They turned and pointed to the sculpture hanging from the ceiling that rotates to form a heart and then a cross. The boys answered as if they had already asked and answered that question on their own. “Don’t worry mom, the artist put a heart and a cross in here.” I thought about replying, but I was more inspired that they had tried to process the difficult artwork on their own. That was enough for me today, and we went outside to run through Jesús Rafael Soto’s “Penetrable BBL Blue 2/8” in the sculpture garden.