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Read the press release here.

Children's Museum of the Arts Coming to Hudson Square

By Andrea Swalec | August 23, 2011 1:18pm
The mission of the Children's Museum of the Arts is to give all children access to art regardless of ability or socioeconomic status.
The mission of the Children's Museum of the Arts is to give all children access to art regardless of ability or socioeconomic status.
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Children's Museum of the Arts

MANHATTAN —The Children's Museum of the Arts has outgrown its SoHo space and will be moving to Hudson Square in October.

The downtown museum that has displayed and encouraged children's art since 1988 will celebrate its new home at grand opening events on Oct. 1 and 2, the museum announced Monday. 

The museum's move from 182 Lafayette St. in SoHo to a 10,000-square-foot former loading dock at 103 Charlton St. will triple its size and allow room for expanded programing, according to a spokesman. 

“This new space will enable us to empower more young artists and advance CMA’s role as a leader in innovative arts programming,” Executive Director David Kaplan said in a statement. 

The new location, where workers broke ground in December 2010, includes a clay bar; animation, video and sound equipment; expanded workshops and a 2,000-square-foot gallery. 

The museum has raised more than $5.5 million toward a $6.8 million funding goal. Its funders include its board of directors, the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and private donors, according to a statement.

The first exhibition in the new location, "Make Art (In) Public," aims to teach children how art that's accessible to all can help build community. It will include work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who famously brought the saffron colored Gates to Central Park; graffiti artist Keith Haring and street artist Swoon.

Workshops, performances and tours for the museum's opening weekend are being planned now. 

The museum will close its SoHo location Sept. 6-8 and again from Sept. 25 before the new space opens to prepare for the move. 

The museum's permanent collection includes 2,000 pieces of children's art from more than 50 countries, dating from the 1930s. To achieve its mission — giving children access to art regardless of ability or socioeconomic status — the museum brings instructors into schools and public spaces, including Governors Island, where it has a Free Art Island Outpost on weekends through Sept. 25.