The New Childrens Museum

The Museum opened in a La Jolla shopping center in 1983 and moved to its current downtown location in 1993. Renaming itself the San Diego Childrens Museum/Museo de los Nios, it was among the first childrens museums to emphasize bilingual engagement and cross-border artist commissions. In 2003, the Museum closed its doors to function without walls while constructing a new home. For five years, community outreach, including to San Diegos underserved communities and schools, was its entire focus.In 2008, the Museum opened in its current, environmentally sustainable, three-story, 50,000 square-foot facility (designed by architect Rob Quigley). The Museum renamed itself The New Childrens Museum, with the word new signifying that it was a new model of childrens museum, focused on commissioning immersive contemporary art. The Museum is a community resource serving all of San Diego, and a backyard for urban families living downtown. The Museum provides a safe and engaging place to play and impacts the San Diego economy by providing work for artists, classes and camps, and a destination for local families as well as regional, national, and international tourists.The Museum was one of only five museums awarded the 2019 National Medal for Museum and Library Service in recognition of its outstanding service to the community. Widespread access continues to be the cornerstone of the Museums philosophy; with over 26% of its annual visitors coming for free or at discounted rates each year through an array of community access initiatives and partnerships.In May 2021, the Museum reopened to the public after a 14-month pandemic closure. After two months of being open, the Museum welcomed its 2,000,000th visitors in July 2021. The following month, the Museum opened its first stand-alone satellite location in North County San Diego, called the Art + Play Space, with a smaller (2,000 square foot) version of its downtown offerings. The Museum also provides pop-up artmaking and programming at Studio by the Bay, an art studio partnership with Seaport Village.The Museum is an arts-based childrens museum that serves as a community resource for early childhood creativity through contemporary art and open play. It invites families to think, play, and create in multiple ways: Children touch, jump, climb, and crawl as they physically explore large-scale, interactive installations created by commissioned contemporary artists. Each is notable for its aesthetics, conceptual ideas, creativity, playability, and layered interactions. Recently commissioned installations (late 2020 2021) include: Energized! by Regan Russell; Brian and the Bugs by Katie Ruiz; El Ms All by Panca Villaseor; In the Balance by Risa Puno; and Teatro Piata by David Reynoso. The Museum offers art-making and educational themes in its studio spaces through drop-in activities and scheduled workshops that are free with admission. Studio spaces currently include tikitiko by Tanya Aguiiga, where young visitors explore manipulatives that stimulate the senses; The Rosso Family Foundation Innovators LAB, the Museums makerspace where children explore STEAM-based projects; Clay Studio, where visitors sculpt and take-home clay creations; Paint Studio, that lets children paint a full-sized object (currently a pickup truck); and Toddler Time workshops that include finger painting, movement, music, and story time. Distance learning offerings created during the pandemic through @thinkplaycreatefromhome continued the Museums commitment to art exposure and engagement for children and families. In 2020, the Museum produced 137 videos and 30+ art-making prompts for use at home or in school situations. Conversations with its community partners in diverse neighborhoods serving low-income families identified the need for low-tech creative options as well. The Museum responded with 13,240 Arts/Learning Kits containing basic art supplies like paper, colored pens/pencils, safety scissors, and activity pages (sometimes bilingual). The Art/Learning Kits continue to be offered to community partners and schools, enabling them to choose from in-person or virtual creative engagement based on comfort level.Community engagement is critical to our mission, and we continually evaluate the needs of underserved audiences. The imperative to meet the needs and provide access to all audiences has long been emphasized by the Board. The Museum has built relationships with hundreds of schools, social service agencies, and community organizations since opening in 2008. Fueled by research that students from low socio-economic backgrounds who are exposed to the arts make greater academic and professional increases than their more privileged peers, the Museum has developed a robust community access program to serve children and families (in order of attendance): Salute Our Troops San Diego is home to the largest population of active-duty military, returning veterans, and military families in the nation. These families face unique challenges, including frequent moves, deployments, and readjustments to home life. The Museums military access program focuses on providing military families with an affordable, enriching place to feel appreciated and at home. Partnerships include National Endowment for the Arts Blue Star Museums program (free admission to all military from Armed Forces Day to Labor Day); USO San Diego; and Support The Enlisted Program (STEP). School Visits/Title I The New Childrens Museum offers both in-person and virtual tours for schools and other groups from pre-kindergarten through high school. Students, teachers, and chaperones from dozens of schools throughout San Diego come for free or at discounted rates; approximately 60% of all school visits are from Title I schools and Head Start programs. Most school and group visits include participatory, hands-on experiences that encourage inquiry-based learning inspired by the Museums art installations; interdisciplinary applications in the classroom of the following subjects: visual arts, reading, writing, social studies and science and grade level, age-appropriate and standards-aligned activities. Library Access Program: Discover and Go The Museum has had a long-running relationship with San Diego County and City libraries, offering free admission to library pass holders. After the pandemic, the San Diego Public Library introduced Discover and Go, which provides cardholders the ability to reserve a free pass to visit the Museum. The pass covers admission for 2 adults and up to 6 children (8 people total). Museums for All This collaborative initiative between the Association of Childrens Museums and the Institute for Museums and Library Services encourages families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits. Visitors that use an EBT card (food benefits/WIC) can get up to four people into the Museum for $2/per person. The Museum also offers an Access for All Membership for EBT card holders for $40 (25% of the regular price). Museums for All admissions accounted for 11% of visitors in 2021 and 17% for 2022 year to date. pARTners in Creativity Children and chaperones come from 12 social service agencies working with abuse/neglect, homelessness, low literacy, mental and physical disabilities, substance abuse, and migrant issues. Groups enjoy free visits in a safe environment with activities geared to their needs. The Museum also assembles and creates kits with programming and supplies to bring to the organizations if their families prefer an at-home experience. Accessibility Mornings Children with disabilities and their family/caretakers can enjoy the Museums installations and programming for free on designated mornings once a month, prior to the Museum opening to the public. Other Kids Free October, Museum month in February, cross-membership promotions, and other initiatives provide additional opportunities to visit the Museum for free or deeply discounted each year. Mass Creativity Day and Workshops Since 2013, the Mass Creativity program has impacted more than 20 diverse community groups, including Barrio Logan College Institute, Barrio Logan; Casa Familiar; San Ysidro; City Heights/Weingart Library, City Heights; Paradise Hills/Skyline Hills Library, Paradise Hills; The San Diego LGBT Community Center, Hillcrest; Solutions for Change, Vista; and South Bay Community Services, Chula Vista. The workshop series culminates each June on Mass Creativity Day, when participants and the public come to the Museum and its park for a free festival of artmaking, music, and fun. Mass Creativity workshops were held virtually in 2020 and 2021 resumed in person in 2022.Feedback from evaluations, observations, and community partners consistently supports the Museums theory of change: that small successes experienced during open play and art activities reinforce the development of crucial skills like confidence, optimism, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration