"I wish they had it when I was little," Gilchrist, 24, said at a recent culture fair for parents and educators held by Cool Culture, the Brooklyn nonprofit that now provides its Family Pass to nearly 50,000 New York City families. The pair attended a painting course in Manhattan, and now they both dabble in painting. "He loves museums," Gilchrist said of Josiah. They attended the "Bodies" exhibit on human anatomy at South Street Seaport – and "he still remembers it, and that was two years ago."
From awe-inspiring powerhouses like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History, to smaller-scale gems like the Noguchi Museum and the Morris-Jumel Mansion, to lesser-known locales including the Weeksville Heritage Center and the Snug Harbor Botanical Garden, Cool Culture's programming swings the doors open wide. The group does that not only by making the sites free, but by providing the orientation, interpretation, tours and related educational projects that lower other barriers – such as the "intimidation factor" – for families who may never have visited a museum before.
Founded by two Head Start teachers a decade ago, Cool Culture reaches preschool-age children (and their parents and siblings – a Family Pass admits five people into the participating institutions) by partnering with hundreds of subsidized child care, pre-kindergarten and Head Start programs for families with incomes up to twice the federal poverty standard. The goal is not just to expose children to the riches of the city's museums, but to provide a potent form of early childhood education – showing parents how to be better teachers along the way.
"It's an opportunity to have discussions about what kids think, see and feel," says Cool Culture executive director Candice Anderson, "and just to enjoy beauty." The activities form "habits of mind that will continue."
In fact, she just recently bumped into a 14-year-old from the first cohort of Cool Culture participants at the Morris-Jumel Mansion in upper Manhattan: He was volunteering there.
"For the museums, it's really a long-term investment in their audiences," Anderson said.
At the Noguchi Museum, founded by Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi to house his work, education head Heather Brady said children take to the collection immediately. Although the adult eye may find the works in the small museum in Long Island City, Queens, abstract and therefore challenging, "the young ones are very comfortable the moment they step in, because they're surrounded by shape, color and texture." Visits from Family Pass holders have increased over the past several years, Brady said, diversifying the museum's audience and bringing in more families "who live in our backyard."
In New York City's arts and culture scene, arts educators said Cool Culture stands alone in its approach to increasing the accessibility of cultural institutions. (One example of the standard fees is at the Guggenheim Museum, where entrance costs $18 per adult, $15 per student, and kids under 12 are free.) For older kids, High 5 makes live theater performances affordable, offering $5 tickets.
