NCM is an arts-based children’s museum focused on early childhood creativity and learning through contemporary art and open play including:

• Exhibitions – Children touch, climb on, crawl in, and physically explore colorful, large-scale, interactive installations created by NCM-commissioned contemporary artists.

• Making Studios – Creative art-making and early education studios, plus NCM’s STEAM-based makerspace, offer daily activities and scheduled workshops.

• Education and Creative Community Programming – NCM offers a robust roster of programs targeting in-school and out-of-school populations, family groups, and more. In addition to dozens of Title I schools and Head Start groups, NCM’s intentional collaborations with 20+ diverse community groups and dozens of artists have enhanced its reach. Mass Creativity offers workshops in the community and a day-long celebration at the Museum each year. Exciting workshops, lectures, and other activities are offered in conjunction with thematic installations. An Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funded project with the San Diego Unified School District is prototyping and training teachers to integrate art-based Social Emotional Learning into G4+5 curriculum, with plans to scale more broadly. Most of these programs are offered without charge.

• Communities of Belonging – NCM’s offers free entry/deep discounts to ensure it is able to be accessed by as many families as possible. These programs include targeted initiatives benefiting: active military families; families receiving WIC/EBT benefits; families with library cards; educators and their families, and more. For many, NCM is their first museum experience.

At least a third of our visitors come to the museum through free programming and admission offerings. Leadership changes have revitalized NCM’s commitments around diversity, equity, access, and inclusion. This includes considering additional ways to refine and improve its core work, cost-effectively activating the park across from NCM, better collaborating its large Latinx demographic, and more.