HUDSON SQUARE — The Children's Museum of the Arts will complete its move from SoHo to Charlton Street in Hudson Square on Saturday, when grand opening festivities are scheduled to begin.
The museum dedicated to fostering and displaying children's art has tripled in size and has loads of new kid-friendly features, executive director David Kaplan said on a sneak preview tour Tuesday.
A slide that can be taken in lieu of stairs and a "ball pond" filled with dozens of large, plastic spheres are likely to be childrens' favorites.
"You'll be able to literally bounce from wall to wall in here," Kaplan said.
Parents may be more fond of a dimmed, soft-sided "quiet room" intended for children or parents in need of some downtime.
The 103 Charlton St. museum's WEE Arts room for children from 10 months to 5 years old has pint-sized tables and chairs, and adjacent stroller parking accessible from the street.
Animation, sound and video equipment and classes will be available for older children, and a clay bar and art workshops will be available for children of all ages.
The first exhibit to occupy CMA's 2,000-square-foot gallery is called "Make Art (In) Public" and includes a large painting by street artist Swoon, which was commissioned for the museum.
An untitled early work by Keith Haring, several of his personal artifacts, as well as a life-size sculpture of New York street artist Moondog are also part of the exhibit.
CMA's permanent collection — 2,000 pieces of children's art from more than 50 countries, dating from the 1930s — is displayed on a touch screen on the second floor.
Though text on the walls of the museum is hung lower than usual, the museum will not talk down to children, Kaplan said.
"We try not to dumb things down here. A fifth-grader can understand what we can understand," he said. "We try not to do 'big world made small' here. We say young artists should be respected on their own terms."
Amale Andraos of Work Architecture Company, which designed the space, said every detail of the museum was designed with children in mind.
"For kids, every day is such an adventure and discovery, and we were inspired by that," she said.
CMA's opening weekend is scheduled to begin with a block party from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Chalk art, face painting and an interactive photo booth will be available for free outside the museum until 3 p.m.
Workshops, presentations and use of the museum's media equipment will be available inside for a $10 per person admission fee. Infants under 12 months of age get in free.
