AN AMAZING PROGRAM THAT BRINGS ART TO SIX COMMUNITIES IN SAN DIEGO

Come and join the party June 24th, Mass Creativity Day from 10:00 to 3:00 p.m.

NCM- Mass Creativity. Photo courtesy of TR-PR

Mass Creativity, is The New Children's Museum's signature outreach effort that has reached thousands of people since launching in 2013. Mass Creativity includes a series of complimentary hands-on art making workshops held in diverse communities throughout the county and culminates in a free all-day community celebration at the Museum on June 24th.

Each year Mass Creativity takes on a relevant and meaningful theme. This year, the program centered on cultural diversity. The Museum’s Creative Team led by Gabrielle Romberger, Hannah Mykel, Iyari Arteaga and Mayra Chavez collaborated to develop unique workshop experiences celebrating the diverse communities of San Diego using the art of storytelling. These Museum teaching artists and play workers had the unique opportunity to develop the workshops from scratch as well as lead their implementation.

NCM- Mass Creativity. Photo TR-PR

Workshops entitled “Celebrate Your Story” include painting, writing, and music-making, which will be woven together to make a colorful and collaborative community display. The workshops allow the Museum to build important relationships with the San Diego community and connect with families who might not otherwise be able to visit the Museum or take part in creative art-making experiences. Mass Creativity’s reach has expanded this year, including community centers as north as Vista and as south as San Ysidro:

Workshop Locations:

1. South Bay Community Services (Chula Vista)

2. Casa Familiar Civic and Recreation Center (San Ysidro)

3. Barrio Logan College Institute (San Diego)

4. Southern Sudanese Community Center (San Diego)

5. The San Diego LGBT Center (San Diego)

6. Solutions for Change (Vista)

The six locations, summed 500+ people total for the workshops.

NCM- Mass Creativity. Photo courtesy of TR-PR

"There's a lot that has evolved and changed along these past years of the program. One of the highlights is that we have reached over 10,000 people since we started. That is definitely a big accomplishment. This year we will get close to 12-13,000".-

Kara Baltazar, Manager of Community Programs at the Museum.

This program is special not only for what it highlights and teaches, it is also special because they go to the communities and bring these workshops instead of having people come to Downtown. They use their creative team to develop this in order to really highlight what the museum is about and teach people the experience.

"We go physically to them because otherwise they might not be able to afford to get to the museum and experience what we have. Then the big goal is to bring all of the people that we touch in all of those different communities to our location for a free day, providing transportation and making sure that it will happen".

Kerri Fox, Vice President, Marketing+Communications of the Museum.

People of all ages are participating in the workshops, from babies to grandparents, aunts, etc.

"In the beginning we did not know how this was going to look like. We have established relationships with communities we had not worked before. We have gotten additional funders to continue with the program which we now call our signature program. It is really rewarding to see what has happened with it".

The Museum’s Creative Team led by Gabrielle Romberger, Hannah Mykel, Iyari Arteaga and Mayra Chavez. Photo TR-PR

Cultural Diversity

How does the museum come up with a theme each year?

"Diversity is an important thing to highlight" adds Baltazar "Whether it is cultural diversity, diversity of communities, diversity of families and really try to highlight San Diego as a diverse place with all kinds of people from different backgrounds and make that special in a celebratory and welcoming way".

-diversity- is part and has been part of the Museum always.

In the workshops there were different fun ways to celebrate your story. For example one project is called Story Tiles where people will paint or draw their story on a tile and explain it on the back. Those tiles will be created into six sculpture that will be exhibited at the museum and or travel "We have been getting some deep stories. We did not know how much people would be willing to share. We've seen stories about immigration, opportunities in life...it has been pretty neat to see these personal stories come to life because they are also really artistic and beautiful". Explained Kara.

The other project is called Our Community Is, a flag and banner project where people are working on this giant curtain. The last project is a Music Making experience, using unconventional instruments showing that music, is a language that anybody can communicate in.

"Mass Creativity has allowed us to get involved in people's lives in a deeper way, in a deeper level and really hopefully diversify our audience, when they come into our building show how diverse San Diego is reflected in our space. This program is a way to do that. it is really important for us".

June 24th The Big Celebration

Free open to the public with food, music, dance. And, a really great way to see the Museum for the first time.