Amid Mumbai’s restless rhythm—a city that hums with color, noise, and dreams—the Museum of Solutions (MuSo) became a sanctuary of imagination on October 11 and 12. The museum, a first-of-its-kind space for children, shed its quiet halls and bloomed into a living canvas during the Creative Quotient art competition. What unfolded over those two days was far more than an event; it was a festival of wonder — a luminous tribute to expression, curiosity, and the fearless creativity of young minds between nine and sixteen, who painted not just what they saw, but what they dared to dream.
With the generous support of JSW Paints and Apsara, the weekend unfolded like a grand symphony of color inside MuSo’s Lower Parel home—a space where creativity danced freely, and learning took the shape of laughter. One by one, children stepped in, clutching brushes like bats ready for a new innings, their crayons gleaming like fresh hopes waiting to strike.
Each stroke of watercolor, each splash of shade was a shot from the heart—fearless, instinctive, full of grace. In those tender, unguarded moments, they painted not just the world before them, but the world they longed to see—a field of endless possibility, where imagination bowled without boundaries and wonder was always the winning team. Their courage to express their dreams was truly inspiring.
Their imaginations danced across three stirring themes: “Portrait of Your Future Self,” “My Dream World,” and the intriguingly modern “What Can You Do That AI Can’t Do?” Each theme dared them to look inward, to reimagine tomorrow, and to answer through art—with heart.
For two luminous days, MuSo became more than a museum. It became a mirror of childhood — where every stroke was a dream, and every colour whispered possibility.
Children, aged between nine and sixteen, arrived with sketchbooks, palettes, and dreams that refused to fit within straight lines. They came not to compete for medals but to celebrate something purer—the joy of creating. This event was not just about showcasing their artistic talents, but also about fostering their creativity, confidence, and critical thinking skills.
The event, aptly titled “Creative Quotient,” was more than an art competition; it was a vibrant festival of emotion and color. Over two days, Mumbai’s young creators filled the air with questions, wonder, and the rustle of crayon boxes, creating an atmosphere that was both exhilarating and heartwarming. Their joy in creating was infectious, spreading to everyone present.
In collaboration with ArtyCurate India and Art India Magazine, the event became more than a competition—it was a movement to awaken the artist within every child and the nurturer within every adult. It sought to remind parents and teachers that creativity is not ornamental; it is essential — a life skill as vital as empathy or courage.
Behind this vision stand Bhavana, Ruchita, and Heetal, three artists, mothers, and co-founders of ArtyCurate, who believe that in a world racing toward automation, what children most need is not speed, but stillness — the freedom to imagine and the confidence to express what only they can see. Through art, they hope to keep children rooted in their individuality and wonder, to preserve the spark that no machine can imitate.
A distinguished jury of visionaries—filmmaker Kiran Rao, advertising icon Mohammed Khan, artists Shilpa Gupta, Sakshi Gupta, Sheetal Gattani, Jayesh Sachdev, curator Gourmoni Das, and creative leader Preeti Vyas Giannetti—will judge the works for originality, concept, and visual emotion.
The finest three in each category will see their names etched in Art India Magazine, their creations shining like well-earned centuries in the gallery of young genius. Another trio will have their artworks immortalized in porcelain by The Plated Project, each stroke preserved like a signature shot that lingers in memory. The selection process, overseen by a panel of masters, will judge every piece for its originality, concept, and spirit. The Top 50 artworks will be showcased at the MuSo Art Gallery, where their young creators will stand not just as participants, but as ambassadors of imagination itself. The scoreboard of dreams will be revealed on November 2, when talent, heart, and hope come together for their final applause.
Reflecting on the initiative, Tanvi Jindal Shete, Founder and CEO of MuSo, said, “At MuSo, creativity is a child’s first language—the way they question, connect, and make sense of life. When we let them explore freely, learning becomes discovery.”
Through Creative Quotient, MuSo continues to champion joyful, hands-on learning—nurturing curiosity, confidence, and creativity that last far beyond childhood, shaping the artists and thinkers of tomorrow. The event is a testament to the transformative power of creativity, instilling hope for a future where imagination and innovation reign supreme. It’s a beacon of hope for the future of creativity and innovation.
THE MUSEUM THAT BREATHES CURIOSITY
At first glance, MuSo appears to be an art installation itself—a space of light and possibility. Walls curve, colors flow, and every corner invites touch, dialogue, and discovery. Founded by Tanvi Jindal Shete, the museum stands as a response to an age where learning often feels transactional. Our mission is to provide a space where children can learn through exploration, creativity, and discovery, rather than rote instruction.
“Here,” Tanvi says with her characteristic calm, “children don’t learn by listening—they learn by doing, by feeling, by building.”
For her, creativity is not an extracurricular; it is a language—the first language of childhood. “At MuSo, we see creativity as a child’s natural way of understanding the world,” she explains. “When they explore freely, learning transforms from instruction into discovery.”
That philosophy formed the heartbeat of Creative Quotient.
THE THEMES: MIRRORS, DREAMS, AND QUESTIONS
The competition unfolded across three deeply imaginative themes—each designed to pull young minds out of routine and into reflection.
- PORTRAIT OF YOUR FUTURE SELF—a challenge to imagine not what you want to be, but who you might become.
- MY DREAM WORLD—a canvas for pure imagination, untethered by logic or limitation.
- WHAT CAN YOU DO THAT AI CAN’T DO?—the most audacious of all, asking children to assert their humanity in an age of algorithms.
The third prompt sparked the most conversation. Parents exchanged amused glances while children debated furiously—Can machines dream? Can they love? Can they make mistakes beautifully?
A twelve-year-old girl, clutching her paintbrush like a wand, declared, “AI can draw faster, but it can’t feel rain.” Her painting—a swirl of blues and silvers—showcased a boy standing under a paper umbrella, smiling as colors bled into one another. Somewhere in that smudge of watercolor lay the entire point of the event.
COLOURS OF COLLABORATION
The competition was organized in partnership with ArtyCurate India and Art India Magazine, with the support of JSW Paints and Apsara. But it was the energy of the founders—Bhavana, Ruchita, and Heetal—that gave the event its pulse.
All three are artists and mothers who believe that creativity is not a luxury, but a life skill. “In an AI-driven world,” said Bhavana, “children need space to be imperfect, to imagine without outcome. That’s where true originality begins.”
Their collaboration with MuSo was organic. Together, they built a platform where children could get messy, make mistakes, and rediscover joy in the process, rather than focusing on perfection.
“Art is not about producing something ‘beautiful,’” added Ruchita, “it’s about producing something honest.”
INSIDE THE HALL OF IDEAS
Step into MuSo’s main gallery during those two days, and it felt less like a competition and more like a collective heartbeat. Tables were draped in white cloth, soon splattered with every hue imaginable. Pencils danced across paper; brushes glided in reckless, radiant strokes. Volunteers moved softly between aisles, offering tissue, water, or quiet encouragement.
One corner smelled of fresh crayons. Another hummed with whispered advice from parents who couldn’t resist bending low to watch their children work.
“With the generous support of JSW Paints and Apsara, the weekend unfolded like a grand symphony of colour inside MuSo’s Lower Parel home—a space where creativity danced freely, and learning took the shape of laughter”
A nine-year-old girl, her fingers smeared with purple and gold, was drawing a city floating among clouds. “This is where I want to live,” she said shyly. “There are no exams there, only libraries.”
Her father, standing nearby, smiled with quiet pride—as though seeing, for the first time, the landscape of his daughter’s mind.
THE JURY OF DREAMS
Judging such unfiltered creativity demanded sensitivity, not scoring sheets. The jury MuSo assembled reflected precisely that.
Among them were filmmaker Kiran Rao, advertising pioneer Mohammed Khan, celebrated contemporary artists Shilpa Gupta, Sakshi Gupta, and Sheetal Gattani, curator Gourmoni Das, designer Jayesh Sachdev, and creative strategist Preeti Vyas Giannetti.
They spent hours walking through the art displays, pausing frequently and smiling to themselves. “We’re not looking for technique,” Kiran Rao remarked, “we’re looking for truth.”
Mohammed Khan, now in his late seventies, was visibly moved. “In advertising, we spend decades learning how to say something simple,” he said. “These kids already know how.”
Each artwork was evaluated on originality, concept, and emotional impact, but the real reward was witnessing imagination in its rawest form.
THE LANGUAGE OF COLOUR
Across the hall, the themes took on shape and soul. A boy from Chembur painted his future self as a street musician, serenading traffic with a violin made of bamboo. A thirteen-year-old girl from Pune filled her page with handprints instead of paint strokes, calling it ‘The Things AI Can’t Touch.’
Another child, only ten, drew two planets shaking hands—Earth and Mars—beneath a banner reading “We’re All Neighbors.”
Each painting carried a heartbeat—sometimes messy, sometimes fragile, but unmistakably alive. Artist Sheetal Gattani summed it best: “There’s no fear in their lines. That’s what adults lose first—the courage to draw without knowing where it will go.”
A SYMPHONY OF SPONSORS
For JSW Paints and Apsara, supporting the event was more than a branding exercise. Both have long invested in education and creativity initiatives across India.
“Paint, pencils, and paper are not tools—they’re bridges,” said a JSW representative. “They connect children with their own imagination. And when that imagination grows, so does the nation.”
Apsara, known for its decades-long relationship with schoolchildren, provided art kits for every participant. “We wanted each child to take a piece of this day home,” said brand manager Neha Bhatia. “A blank sheet can be the beginning of a revolution.”
A MUSEUM TRANSFORMED
As dusk fell on the second day, the museum glowed—literally. Strings of fairy lights framed the entrance, and the walls shone with a fresh coat of paint. The energy inside had shifted from chaos to calm.
The organizers gathered around to pack up entries, but the air still vibrated with creativity. Some children lingered, reluctant to leave. Others clicked photos beside their art, their faces marked with streaks of color and pride.
In one corner, volunteers pinned the first fifty shortlisted entries — the Top 50 artworks that would soon adorn the MuSo Art Gallery. They looked less like competition results and more like a map of childhood dreams.
The final list of champions— the young prodigies who turned imagination into art — will be unveiled on November 2, when the curtain lifts and creativity finds its rightful applause. Like a scoreboard lighting up after a hard-fought innings, the moment will mark not an ending, but the beginning of many bright journeys yet to unfold. The Top Three entries in each age category will be featured in Art India Magazine, giving these young artists a space beside professionals they’ve only read about.
Another three will see their creations transformed into ceramic wall plates by The Plated Project, turning imagination into tangible art for homes and collectors.
“Art should travel,” says Gourmoni Das, one of the jurors. “From paper to wall, from one heart to another — that’s how culture grows.”
THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND IT ALL
Tanvi Jindal Shete believes that creativity, if nurtured early, can develop into empathy later in life. “Children who learn to express themselves through art also learn to listen to themselves and to others,” she said.
Her words echoed through the museum’s corridors, now quiet again after two days of laughter and color. “The purpose of Creative Quotient isn’t to find the best artist,” she continued, “but to remind every child that creativity is a way of seeing — and that way of seeing can change the world.”
THE PARENTS’ AWAKENING
For many parents, the weekend was revelatory. Watching their children pour color onto paper without inhibition reminded them of something they’d long forgotten.
“I realized my son never paints inside the lines,” said Meenal Sharma, mother of a ten-year-old participant. “At first, it bothered me. But now I see — maybe that’s his strength.”
Some parents left the museum not with trophies, but with perspective. “We push them to memorize formulas,” said another father. “Today, I saw my daughter invent her own universe.”
Perhaps, in that realization, MuSo’s mission was fulfilled.
THE QUESTION THAT LINGERED
Of all the prompts, the question “What Can You Do That AI Can’t?” stayed with everyone long after the paints had dried.
The answers were unpretentious, profound, and often humorous. One boy drew a robot trying to hug its own reflection. Another painted two hearts — one mechanical, one human — and wrote beneath: “Only one beats.”
Filmmaker Kiran Rao lingered on that entry for several minutes. “Children instinctively know what makes them human,” she said softly. “We, as adults, are the ones forgetting.”
ART AS THE ANTIDOTE
In an era of screens and algorithms, MuSo’s weekend felt like an antidote—a reminder that creation begins not with data, but with wonder.
Advertising legend Mohammed Khan put it poignantly: “We are entering a time when imagination is rebellion. These children — with their crayons and stories — are rebels in the best possible way.”
Indeed, rebellion never looked so gentle.
A ROOM OF THEIR OWN
By late evening, the paint-smudged tables stood empty, and the faint scent of turpentine lingered. But the walls of MuSo seemed to hold something invisible—the energy of five hundred young hearts that had dared to imagine.
One could almost hear the whispers of unfinished stories, waiting to be told. A nine-year-old had painted her dream world as a library made of clouds. A sixteen-year-old had drawn her future self teaching art to children.
Each creation, in its small way, was a manifesto for a more thoughtful tomorrow.
BEYOND THE FRAMES
In the coming weeks, the museum will transform its gallery into a celebration of these artworks. Visitors will walk through a kaleidoscope of dreams — cities floating in the air, oceans that sing, forests that whisper poetry.
Tanvi hopes the exhibit will inspire more schools to integrate art as a form of inquiry rather than ornament. “If education builds knowledge,” she says, “art builds understanding.”
For her and the team at MuSo, Creative Quotient was not a weekend event, but the beginning of a movement—one that re-centres curiosity as the core of learning.
On the museum’s last open evening, a group of children gathered near the exit to look once more at their work. One of them, eleven-year-old Nivaan, said thoughtfully, “When I paint, I feel like my hands talk faster than my mouth.”
Another added, “I think drawing is like dreaming while awake.”
At its heart, Creative Quotient was not about brushes or awards—it was about reclaiming imagination as a human right. In a city that often races ahead of itself, MuSo offered a pause—a space where children could turn questions into colors, and fears into form.
Art, after all, is not about what is seen, but about what is felt. And for two luminous days, the Museum of Solutions became the heartbeat of a generation that still believes in wonder.
The museum plans to make Creative Quotient an annual event, expanding participation across India and introducing new mediums, including sculpture, digital art, and storytelling installations.
“Children don’t need to be taught creativity,” Tanvi says with a smile. “They just need permission to use it.”
If that permission can ripple outward—into classrooms, playgrounds, and living rooms—then perhaps this little museum in Mumbai will have sparked something much larger: a quiet revolution of imagination.
As the last light flickered out over the gallery that night, a single half-finished painting remained on one table—a swirl of oranges and blues, titled simply “The World I’ll Build.”
No name. No age. Just a vision waiting to grow. And maybe that’s what Creative Quotient was all about — not competition, not perfection, but possibility. Because in the end, every child who picked up a brush that weekend wasn’t just painting. They were building the colors of tomorrow.
