Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum
By Jack Delaney | jdelaney@queensledger.com
The world’s oldest children’s museum turned 125 this week, and will be celebrating the occasion with special programming this weekend at its Crown Heights location.
The now-beloved Brooklyn Children’s Museum opened on December 16, 1899, with the goal of engaging kids from an urban background in studying natural sciences. In many respects, the museum’s initial iterations were unrecognizable from its current form — a visitor traveling back in time to the turn of the century would find exhibits in a complex of Victorian houses, for example, which were demolished in 1975.
They would also have met Plato, a monkey who wandered freely through the museum during the early 1900s, and would have been able to join a taxidermy club.
In the lead-up to BCM’s big milestone, its staff has been combing through the archives for details like these, said Atiba Edwards, the museum’s president and CEO. For him, these stories — the museum hosted one of the first wireless telegraph stations, and later a transmitter radio club that the government shut down during World War II — illustrate that “[BCM has] been a space for curiosity to really run rampant and grow in an unfettered way.”
Curiosity was also the word New York State Assemblymember Brian Cunningham gravitated towards in describing the museum, which serves about 300,000 visitors each year.
“Equipped with toys and technology, [BCM] encourages young people to unapologetically tap into their boundless curiosity—curiosity that could one day transform them into scientists, botanists, writers, or creators of the unimaginable,” said Cunningham. “For 125 years, young people from across New York and around the globe have visited the Museum to awaken their senses and discover joys that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. We hope to preserve this cherished community fixture for another 125 years—and beyond.”
Today, the museum is housed in a bright green-and-yellow building, built in 2008, and has become a hub for cultural exploration as well as science. One exhibit, ‘World Brooklyn,’ allows kids to walk through a diverse micro-neighborhood replete with miniature storefronts, in which they can play the roles of shopkeeper, baker, grocer, shopper, designer, performer, and builder, gaining an appreciation for the cooperation it takes for a community to thrive.
Elsewhere, young visitors can experiment with physics in BCM’s ‘AirMaze,’ or — in the spirit of Plato the monkey — interact with animals from the museum’s living collection. Edwards said a renovation is in the works, which will enable two new installations: a garden space where kids can learn about 3,000 years of Brooklyn’s geological history, and its role as a terminal moraine for glaciers; and a 200 year cultural history of the borough, for which the museum received $150,000. BCM also received $100,000 this fall to sponsor free field trips for low-income students.
Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum
In pushing to fund BCM, many elected officials have spoken to their own memories of the institution. “The city is proud of its long-term partnership with and investment in this institution, which is a model for how culture can be at the center of strong, healthy communities while playing a critical role in educating and engaging young people,” said New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. “I had my own early career experience at the Museum, and my young son has spent many happy hours under its iconic yellow roof. So many New Yorkers have similar stories to tell about this extraordinary place. Happy 125th to Brooklyn Children’s Museum!”
Yet for all these expansions, the museum has also faced its share of challenges.
For one, its target audience ‘ages out,’ which makes it harder to retain a steady base of attendees. Another unique factor is that BCM is situated in a mostly residential area, without the Brooklyn Museum’s ability to grab tourists who happen to be walking by Prospect Park or the Botanic Garden. While BCM still attracts visitors from across the borough, this dependence upon the local community can be both a strength and a vulnerability as residents contend with the city’s housing crisis.
“Often the offshoot of gentrification is that people start to see themselves pushed out and no longer included in some of these traditional spaces, or sometimes spaces go away,” Edwards noted. “How do we make sure more and more families see themselves welcomed in a way that is additive to the fabric we have made here?”
At its core, Edwards emphasized, the museum’s mission is not only to teach kids, but to give them the leeway to play and simply be their age. At a recent event for nonprofit leaders at Columbia, a fellow participant approached him and mentioned that they’d spoken to a man in his 60s who attested to just that aspect of BCM.
“The museum was a space I went to every single day,” the man was quoted as saying, “because it was a space where I felt safe. It was a space where I could do my homework. I could just run around and be free and not worry about bullying and not worry about anything else. It created this really welcoming, warm environment where I was able just to exist and be present.”
“[Hearing that] brought such a big smile to my face,” Edwards added, “because that’s what this space is about.”
From 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, children, families, and caregivers will be able to dance alongside an instructor, slide around BCM’s ArtRink skating rink, meet the artists behind a new exhibit, ‘In The Works,’ watch birthday episodes from fun throwback Saturday morning cartoons in BCM’s movie theater—and take part in art-making, photo ops, animal programs, and more.
Admission is free for the birthday party weekend. All programs and experiences will be free as well, with the exception of entry to ArtRink, which is $5 per person.
