2024 Highlights at The New Children's Museum
A message from NCM’s CEO + Executive Director Elizabeth Yang-Hellewell:
As we welcome a new year, I am filled with pride and gratitude for the incredible milestones we’ve achieved together at The New Children’s Museum in 2024. This past year was a celebration of creativity, innovation, and community—making a lasting impact on everyone who walked through our doors.
We are celebrating:
🌟 Nearly 250,000 visitors experienced wonder, discovery, and connection in our Museum!
🌟 New Exhibitions:
• “Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures”—Part of @pstinla by @getty, this exhibit invites us to imagine equitable futures through the lens of science fiction.
• “Disco Rainbow Cave” by @tanyaaguiniga—A funky, sensory-filled toddler space with reflective surfaces and a dance floor.
• “Miraj” by @sosolimited—A mesmerizing digital installation that turns words into visual art, celebrating creativity.
• “Future Ancestral Technologies: Odyssey” by @cannupahanska—A thought-provoking look at the future through ancestral knowledge + land.
✨ Expanded Spaces:
We completed our 8,600-square-foot expansion, adding new gallery spaces, an Education Commons, and a renovated Art Studio—paving the way for even more creative programming in 2025 for toddlers, kids, teens, and families.
✨ Programs That Inspire:
• Mass Creativity Day—Thousands joined us for a celebration of sustainable art-making and Museum fun!
• Seed to Tree Workshops + Author Visits—Programs inspired by Octavia E. Butler brought multigenerational audiences together to dream of alternative futures.
• Innovators LAB—Our hands-on workshop space kept creativity alive with new themes each month.
• Summer Camps—Kids spent the summer making art, friends, and lifelong memories!
✨ Looking Forward:
None of this would’ve been possible without YOU—our visitors, members, donors, staff, and partners. Thank you for your support in fostering creativity, belonging, and learni
"Future Ancestral Technologies: Odyssey" by Cannupa Hanska Luger
✨ A new exhibit greets you as you enter the Museum. “Future Ancestral Technologies: Odyssey” by Cannupa Hanska Luger is our latest immersive exhibition that invites children and families to imagine their role in shaping our landscape, and more importantly, the future.
Part of the @PSTinLA series, themed Science Fiction Creates the Future, Cannupa’s work provides a fresh and vital perspective, blending his Indigenous heritage with speculative fiction to explore the intersection of ancestral knowledge and futuristic ideas. 🏜️
In this exhibition, Cannupa has created a remarkable airship inspired by the form of a whale shark and the dazzle camouflage used on ships during wartime. This vessel symbolizes future technologies, a transportation system for populations yet to come, with a design that reflects both the past and the future.
Visit today to step into a landscape of towering hoodoos—rock spires formed by natural erosion—and become active participants in the evolving installation, adding new elements to the 3D landscape. Visit today to shape and transform this new exhibit! ✨
#ThinkPlayCreate @pstinla #PSTArt
✨ "I've always been a fan of the work that the museum has done because that use of art-making as a vessel—as a way for people to understand themselves and the world they are living in—is a beautiful way of being." —Wes Bruce (he/him), creator of Wondersound and Cavern Light ✨
Through our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program, we’re using visual arts to empower students, teachers, and classrooms across San Diego. 💛 So far, this initiative has helped thousands of students express themselves, build community, and find a sense of belonging.
With your support, we can reach even more kids in need. We have made great progress, but we need your help to end the year strong. Every gift made by December 31, 2024, will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $20,000—doubling your impact!
🎥 Watch this inspiring message from Wes Bruce, donate at the link in our bio, and help us create a brighter future for children in San Diego.
#ThinkPlayCreate #ArtEmpowers @wes_bruce_
Art Empowers at NCM: Double Your Impact Today!
✨ Martha Stegeman, Art Education Specialist for San Diego Unified, and Bernice Badillo, Ph.D., LMFT, ATR-BC, share how our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program is helping students build confidence, process emotions, and thrive through the power of visual arts. 💛
This innovative program has already empowered thousands of students across San Diego. With your support, we can reach even more children in need of creative tools to express themselves and build community.
With your help, we can end the year strong. Every donation made by December 31, 2024, will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $20,000—doubling your impact! 🎨
📽️ Watch the video, donate at the link in our bio, and help us shape a brighter future for children in our community. #ThinkPlayCreate #ArtEmpowers #ArtHeals
Empower Students Through Art at NCM
Megan Swiertz (she/her), our Education Manager, shares how The New Children's Museum's Social Emotional Learning program is transforming students, teachers, and classroom across San Diego.✨
So far, this program has supported thousands of students through visual arts education programs, to express themselves, build community, and find a sense of belonging.💛 With your help, we can expand this vital initiative to reach even more kids in need. Every gift made by December 31, 2024, will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $20,000—doubling your impact!
🎨 Watch, donate at the link in our bio, and join us in creating a brighter future for children in San Diego. #SupportSEL #ArtForAll #TheNewChildrensMuseum
Chief Curator and Director of Art + Engagement shares NCM's Impact
Gabrielle Wyrick (she/her), our Chief Curator and Director of Art + Engagement, shares how The New Children's Museum is transforming lives through the power of art. ✨
Through initiatives like our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program, we’ve supported 2,000+ students annually in partnership with San Diego Unified School District. These programs inspire creativity, learning, and belonging, helping students build emotional skills and stronger connections.
💛 With your help, we can expand this vital initiative to reach even more students in need. Every gift made by December 31, 2024, will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $20,000—doubling your impact! 💗 Give today: https://bit.ly/give-ncm
🎨 Watch, donate, and join us in creating a brighter future for children in San Diego. #SupportSEL #ArtForAll #TheNewChildrensMuseum
This #GivingTuesday, join us in empowering young minds and hearts through art at The New Children's Museum!
This season we are raising funds for our Social Emotional Learning Program, which currently impacts 2,000+ students in partnership with San Diego Unified School District. Through the power of art, this program helps students build emotional skills, foster creativity, and strengthen connections.
Now’s the perfect time to give! 💛 Every donation made by December 31, 2024, will be matched dollar for dollar—up to $20,000. That means your generosity goes twice as far in bringing transformative arts education to more classrooms in need.
Your gift helps us expand this vital program and ensure that more students have the tools they need to thrive, both academically and emotionally.
🎁 Make your gift today: https://bit.ly/give-ncm
Together, we can make a lasting impact. #ThinkPlayCreate #ArtEmpowers
Experience "Miraj" by SOSO at The New Children's Museum
✨ Your words have the power to transform the world around you! ✨
Step into “Miraj” by @sosolimited and watch your voice turn into stunning digital art! This interactive installation invites you to speak, create, and immerse yourself in a vibrant, ever-changing landscape. Speak your favorite English or Spanish into the speaker and watch your words shape a breathtaking display on a geodesic dome, sparking creativity like never before. ✨
This all-ages experience is waiting for YOU!
🎟️ Plan your visit at thinkplaycreate.org/visit/
#ThinkPlayCreate #Miraj #InteractiveArt
This installation is supported in part by Cox Communications. @coxcommunications
Guess who popped by NCM to explore our colorful immersive exhibits!? That's right, it's Ms. Robin ReadsALot and Mr. Dom from It's Circle Time ✨ Check out this short clip of them counting the funky stairs leading down into our “El Más Alla” exhibit by artist @aypanca ! Did you know this space has a 40-foot slide? 👀 🎉
📽️ To watch the full video of their exciting visit to the Museum, click here: https://bit.ly/3YvhXcY
You'll also find tons more fun and educational videos for preschoolers and kindergartners featuring creative educational songs for the whole family!
#ThinkPlayCreate #ItsCircleTime