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CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN ANNOUNCES “GATEWAY TO THE ARTS” INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT CULTURAL EQUITY IN NEW YORK CITY

CMOM Provides Children with an Exciting, Impactful First Introduction to the Arts and Serves as a Pipeline to New York City’s Vast Cultural Offerings

New York, NY – Sept. 10, 2015 – The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM), which combines first museum experiences with learning about the importance of the arts, today announced Gateway to the Arts, a long-term initiative aimed at improving cultural equity by bringing to CMOM a diverse sample of New York City arts and culture institutions and introducing new audiences to the city’s vast cultural riches.

The goals of the initiative are to continue to provide access to the city’s best arts and cultural offerings for all children and families by expanding CMOM’s roster of cultural partner organizations, which include performances and workshops from Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and El Museo del Barrio, as well as fostering arts appreciation among children and low-income communities by growing partnerships with community-based organizations, public schools and Head Start centers.

Gateway to the Arts celebrates and nurtures the relationships between the arts and the child and serves to support parents in their role as their child’s first teacher. With an equal emphasis on “art for art’s sake” and art as a tool for learning, CMOM has long combined high quality performances and programming with an expertise in adapting sophisticated concepts for all audiences. Building on these efforts through Gateway to the Arts, children who visit the museum will have the opportunity to express themselves through various art forms in a variety of mediums that they wouldn’t otherwise experience simultaneously anywhere else in the city.

“The Gateway to the Arts initiative is about breaking cultural barriers and making all families comfortable in taking advantage of the wonderful arts and culture experiences New York City has to offer. Many of our visitors lack information on the major arts and cultural destinations in the city. CMOM is uniquely positioned to introduce these families to New York’s cultural riches through both programming at the Museum and outreach programs across the city,” said CMOM’s executive director Andrew Ackerman.

“Expanding access to arts is a priority in the City of New York and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan’s Gateway to the Arts initiative is helping lead the way building partnerships throughout the five boroughs to ensure every child and their families are engaged in meaningful cultural experiences that make our City great,” said New York City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee. “I want to thank the Children’s Museum of Manhattan for launching this initiative and for their continued commitment to providing access to the arts for all children in our City.”

Laurie Tisch, CMOM board chair emeritus and president of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, said: “CMOM is in a unique position in New York City to reach new audiences of families with young children to create pathways to the cultural riches of our city. CMOM, through creative family-based programs, helps parents and caregivers to understand the importance of the arts and creates memorable experiences for children. The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund applauds CMOM for making access and opportunity the core of its mission and daily work and is proud to support this initiative, which will strengthen all of our cultural organizations.”

“Art and culture have so much to offer our children and families, from developing critical thinking skills to discovering the power of creativity, and it’s essential that we make sure that these benefits are experienced by all New Yorkers” said NYC Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. “I applaud the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and its partners from across the city on this extraordinary collaboration.”

Arts education and engagement is vital to a child’s development. Studies have shown that children aged three to five years old demonstrated higher levels of language development, self-expression and improved school-readiness skills by engaging in arts-based experiences.

The visual image, music and sound, as well as movement – by virtue of being universal languages – are integral to all of CMOM’s exhibits and programs. Gateway to the Arts is a conscious combination of the interplay of performances and workshops strategically curated with CMOM’s successful methodology in arts-based, child-centered learning.

As part of CMOM’s Gateway to the Arts initiative, a child visiting the museum will experience:

•  One of the more than 100 programs presented every year by premier New York City arts organizations. Partners include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 92Y, Lincoln Center, New Victory Theater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and El Museo del Barrio, among others.
• Open studio sessions with direct access to professional New York City visual artists who provide insight into their artistic process and opportunities for children to engage with working arts – understanding their vision, process and inspiration. Participants include Erik Hougen of the Lower East Side Print Shop, Lina Puerta, the art duo of Bolo (Saks Afridi and Qinza Najm), and Shanti Grumbine.
• Thematic weekend and weeklong cultural festivals such as Black History Month, Chinese New Year and Muslim Arts Festivals that offer performances designed to engage children, and art-making workshops to help nurture cultural understanding.
• Daily education programs led by trained CMOM educators who encourage children to explore new art forms, express themselves creatively and engage with new artistic media.

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About Children’s Museum of Manhattan The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) is the vibrant home to 350,000 visitors a year from all segments of the NYC community and tourists from around the world. The museum’s educational mission in early childhood education, creativity, health and culture thrives within our home on 83rd Street and in dozens of communities across the city as well as through national initiatives with leading authorities and government agencies. Child development is at the core of CMOM’s values and mission and our vision is to be the bridge that connects children and adults in the community, school and home in order to prepare our children for the global world in which they live. For details regarding all of CMOM’s programs and initiatives, please visit www.cmom.org.