NEW CHILDRENS MUSEUM
200 WEST ISLAND AVENUE, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101 www.thinkplaycreate.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: The New Childrens Museum (the Museum) is a new model of childrens museum whose mission is to stimulate imagination, creativity, and critical thinking in children and families through inventive and engaging experiences with contemporary art.

Exhibitions+Studios - The New Childrens Museum focuses on early childhood learning through creative exploration and play through its inventive and engaging art installations and studios: Children touch, jump, climb, and crawl as they physically explore 12+ art installations. Each is notable for its aesthetics, conceptual ideas, creativity, playability, and layered interactions. Recently commissioned installations include: Whammock! by Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam; Wobbleland 2.0 by Marisol Rendn; No RulesExcept by Brian Dick; Sketch Aquarium by Team LAB, The Wonder Sound by Wes Sam-Bruce, Desert Derby by Roman de Salvo, and Return to Home by Alison Pebworth.The Museum also offers art-making and educational themes in 10+ studios, through drop-in activities and scheduled workshops that are free with admission. This includes a newly commissioned art installation in the Tot Studio Space, Tikitiko by Tanya Aguiiga, where the youngest visitors explore manipulatives that stimulate the senses. Other studios include: Innovators LAB, the Museums makerspace where children explore STEAM-based projects; Clay Studio where visitors sculpt everything from unique creatures to pinch pots; Paint Studio that lets children paint a full-sized object like a stagecoach or a truck; and Toddler Time workshops that include finger painting, yoga, and singing.Community Access - Serving the community is a part of the Museums strategic plan. Over the past several years, the needs of Latinx and minority neighborhoods have been continually discussed with stakeholders, and the imperative to meet these needs has long been emphasized by the Board. The Museum has built relationships with hundreds of social service agencies, schools, and community leaders. Fueled by research showing 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 serves children and family members through robust access programs.The Museums access programs include:Salute Our Troops The Museums largest access program, providing over 25,000 military visitors a safe place where children and parents can play, away from worries about deployment or even the next meal. Partnerships with USO San Diego and Support The Enlisted Program (STEP) for group visits; passes show the Museums further commitment to active military families.School Visits/Title I 12,600+ students, teachers, and chaperones from 176 schools came for free or at discounted rates for arts education; 60% were from Title I schools and Head Start programs. Tours and activities emphasized student-centered discussions and visual literacy. Many included art-making activities led by the Museums Teaching Artists. Check Out The New Childrens Museum City and County library branches (60+) offer free admission passes that can be checked out for ten days, like a book. This program reached 8,000+ visitors in 2019.Museums for All This newest program served 11,890 low-income visitors that used EBT card (food benefits/WIC) for $1 admission. PARTners in Creativity Served 1,760 children/chaperones 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 geared to their needs. Accessibility Mornings 355 children with disabilities and their family/caretakers explored the Museums exhibitions/activities in 2019, coming on designated mornings before the noise and crowds. Other Kids Free October, Macys Museum month in February, Smithsonian Day, cross-membership promotions, and other initiatives provide even more opportunities to visit the Museum for free or nearly free each year.Community outreach Community outreach programs are an important part of the many programs that engage families and children in creativity. The following outreach programs served 4,745 children and families in 2019, focusing on lower-income, primarily LatinX neighborhoods.Mass Creativity Day and Workshops Since 2013, this program has impacted more than 20 diverse community groups where Museum artists lead free art-making workshops each spring. In 2019, it included a series of hands-on art making workshops led by professional artists with the assistance of Museum staff at seven community centers in the San Diego region: Barrio Logan College Institute, Barrio Logan; Casa Familiar; San Ysidro; Made in Paradise Hills, Paradise Hills; The San Diego LGBT Community Center, Hillcrest; Solutions for Change, Vista; South Bay Community Services, Chula Vista; and Southern Sudanese Community Center, City Heights. The project culminated on Mass Creativity Day when workshop participants and the public came to the Museum and park on June 22, 2019 for a free festival of art making, music, and fun. Mass Creativity: Comunidad and Mi Familia, Mi Historia These other programs, each with deepened community engagement as primary goals, served additional families in 2019 and 2018. 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, critical thinking, and resilience. These skills encompass the overarching impact the Museum strives to have and align with the identified needs of various community partners.

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