We have exciting news to share! The New Children’s Museum is a winner of the 2019 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries for making a positive impact on their communities! The Institute of Museum and Library Service has been awarding this medal for the past 25 years and this year it awarded the medal to 10 institutions, of which five were museums. The New Children’s Museum is the only children’s museum nationwide to win the award.
The Museum was nominated for the award by Congressman Scott Peters.
Winners were selected for their “…dynamic programming and services that exceed expected levels of service and bring about change that touches the lives of individuals and helps communities thrive.”
“This is an incredible honor for The New Children’s Museum, and for the entire San Diego community. Our partnerships with community centers, social service organizations, schools and other groups over the past 11 years have enabled us to share our unique approach to art, creativity and play, which is what this award is all about,” says Judy Forrester, Executive Director/CEO of The New Children’s Museum. “It’s also a testament to our strong Board of Directors and wonderful staff, whose efforts truly made this win possible.”
Our community outreach programs are designed to reach deeply into local communities to stimulate, cultivate and nurture creativity for children and families. These include the Museum’s Mass Creativity, Comunidad and Mi Familia, Mi Historia programs that bring art-making and creativity to various San Diego neighborhoods. In addition to these outreach programs, the Museum works with social service organizations in San Diego through the pARTners in Creativity access program to bring children and families to the Museum that might not otherwise be able to visit.
We interviewed 2018 artist-in-residence, Rizzhel Javier, who collaborated with the Museum on the People + Places project and took part in workshops at community partner organizations as part of our 2018 Mass Creativity program. Watch the video below to learn more about how we engage with local artists to inspire art-making and creativity in our community.
2019 IMLS Award Community Partner Interview
On June 12, representatives from the Museum will receive the award at a ceremony in Washington, DC. Thanks to the support of our community we are able to continue developing programs that address your needs and be recognized for the work we do at the Museum and beyond.
THANK YOU to the following organizations and individuals for making it possible for us to travel to Washington to receive the award: Southwest Airlines, SDGE, Cox and Congressman Scott Peters and Lynn Gorguze.
To learn more about the award and the full list of winners, visit the IMLS website.
