The New Children's Museum facts for kids
The New Children's Museum is a special place in downtown San Diego, California. It's a children's museum that uses art to help kids and families imagine, create, and think. The museum asks modern artists to build huge art pieces, called "playscapes," that children can explore and play with. Since it opened in 2008, many artists have worked with the museum. The building itself is very cool, designed by architect Rob Wellington Quigley, and it's one of the first "green" museums in California, meaning it's built to be good for the environment.
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History of The New Children's Museum
The museum first opened its doors in 1983 in La Jolla. Back then, it was called The Children's Museum of San Diego. After ten years, the museum moved to a big warehouse in downtown San Diego. Its name changed to Children's Museum/Museo de los Niños.
In 2008, the museum opened again with a new name: The New Children's Museum. The word "new" was added to show its fresh focus. This new focus was all about asking modern artists to create large art installations for children to interact with.
Key Moments and Exhibitions
Opening in 2008
The New Children's Museum celebrated its grand opening in its new downtown home with a big community party. The first art show was called childsplay. This show honored the artist Allan Kaprow, who had created important art for the museum in the past.
Exploring Art with Animals and Trash
In 2009, the museum opened the Animal Art exhibition. This show featured art that explored why animals spark our imagination. Later, in 2011, the TRASH exhibition opened. It helped children think about waste in new ways, showing how complex it can be.
Playing with Food and California Art
The Feast: The Art of Playing with Your Food exhibition opened in 2013. It featured 13 artists who created art all about food. In 2015, the Eureka! exhibition celebrated the state of California through art. That same year, the museum welcomed its one millionth visitor!
New Art and Big Milestones
In 2016, artist Wes Bruce created The Wonder Sound as part of the museum's artist-in-residence program. The popular Sketch Aquarium by teamLab opened in 2017.
In 2018, the museum celebrated two big birthdays: 35 years in San Diego and 10 years as The New Children's Museum. For this special occasion, two past artists returned. Jason Hackenwerth created Crystal Cortex, and Brian Dick brought back a popular piece from 2008 called No Rules...Except (2008/2018).
Awards and New Partnerships
The museum opened two exciting new art pieces in 2019: Whammock by Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam and tikitiko by Tanya Aguiniga. The New Children's Museum also won the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2019. This is a very important award given to only a few museums each year. The museum also started a new program called Studio by the Bay at Seaport Village. Here, families can watch artists work and join workshops.
Adapting to Challenges in 2020
In 2020, the museum received a grant for its Innovators LAB. This is a creative space where art, design, and science meet. It was renamed The Rosso Family Foundation Innovators LAB. The museum also worked with StoryCorps to record interviews with artists and community members.
In March 2020, the museum had to close because of the COVID pandemic. But they quickly launched #thinkplaycreatefromhome. This program provided fun, creative online activities for children and families at home. The museum also started offering virtual school visits and learning kits for schools.
