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| Kidspace Children's Museum | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kidspace Children's Museum |
| Established | 1979 |
| Location | Brookside Park, Pasadena, California |
| Type | Children's museum |
Kidspace Children's Museum Kidspace Children's Museum is a nonprofit museum for children located in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles County landmarks. Founded in the late 20th century, the museum emphasizes hands-on science and art experiences for families and school groups, partnering with regional institutions and community organizations. The institution operates within a park setting and collaborates with municipal agencies, educational districts, and cultural venues.
The museum traces origins to community initiatives in Pasadena, California and regional children's cultural movements influenced by institutions such as the Brookfield Zoo, Smithsonian Institution, Exploratorium, Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and the Boston Children's Museum. Early development involved partnerships with the Pasadena Unified School District, Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, and local philanthropies including families connected to Huntington Library benefactors and corporate donors from Northrop Corporation, Rockwell International, and The Walt Disney Company. The site’s redevelopment reflected broader urban cultural planning trends associated with Olmsted Brothers-influenced park design, regional planning offices, and municipal capital campaigns modeled after campaigns by the Getty Trust and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Over decades the museum expanded through grants from foundations such as the Annenberg Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and California Arts Council, and engaged consultants with histories at the National Endowment for the Arts, National Science Foundation, and leading children's museums including Please Touch Museum and Children's Museum of Manhattan.
Situated adjacent to Brookside Park and within sight of the Rose Bowl, the museum occupies indoor galleries and outdoor gardens on land that intersects city-owned recreation space and institutional parcels near Old Pasadena and the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County). Facilities include climate-controlled exhibit halls, workshop studios, a theater space for performances similar to venues like Pasadena Playhouse and A Noise Within, and outdoor learning environments inspired by botanical collections at the Huntington Library. Accessibility improvements have followed standards promulgated by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and consultants with experience at the Getty Center and regional transit connections via Metro (Los Angeles County) extensions. Site planning engaged landscape architects conversant with work at Griffith Park and maintenance partnerships with Pasadena Parks & Recreation.
Core exhibits foreground tactile exploration and STEM-focused interactions modeled on practices at the Exploratorium, California Science Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and Science Museum of Minnesota. Permanent galleries include sensory play spaces, engineering-building zones comparable to exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), and rotating galleries developed in collaboration with partners such as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and interactive designers affiliated with IDEO and Children's Museum of Manhattan. Programs include early childhood story times akin to offerings at the New York Public Library, maker workshops reflecting approaches by Maker Faire and the Lindsee Pierce Family Foundation, science labs inspired by the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian Science Education Center, and seasonal festivals that echo civic events like the Pasadena Chalk Festival and Renaissance Pleasure Faire. The museum offers birthday event services, traveling exhibit rentals, and professional development workshops for educators influenced by curricula from the Carnegie Mellon University's CREATE Lab and the Stanford d.school.
Educational outreach aligns with local school curricula in partnership with the Pasadena Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, and regional charter networks. The museum conducts outreach programs delivered in collaboration with community health partners such as Huntington Hospital and public agencies including the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Initiatives target early literacy supported by models from the Dolores Huerta Foundation and the Reach Out and Read program, and STEM access informed by research from the National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mobile units and community pop-ups have appeared at events co-sponsored with the Rose Bowl Flea Market, local libraries within the Pasadena Public Library system, and family festivals organized by Arts for LA and the California Arts Council.
The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit governed by a board with trustees drawn from corporate, philanthropic, and cultural sectors, mirroring governance practices seen at The Getty Trust, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and regional museums like the Autry Museum of the American West. Funding streams include admissions revenue, membership programs, corporate sponsorships from companies active in Greater Los Angeles, grants from private foundations such as the Annenberg Foundation and James Irvine Foundation, and government support from agencies like the California Arts Council and municipal cultural affairs offices. Capital campaigns and endowment strategies have been informed by consultants who previously worked with institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
The museum has received community awards and recognition from regional cultural organizations and local media outlets comparable to honors given by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Conservancy, and statewide cultural award programs administered by the California Arts Council and California Association of Museums. Programmatic grants and project-level awards have come from science and arts funders such as the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and philanthropic foundations including the Annenberg Foundation and Weingart Foundation. Peer recognition includes partnerships and citations in publications produced by the Association of Children's Museums, American Alliance of Museums, and regional cultural networks.
Category:Children's museums in California Category:Museums in Pasadena, California