Peabody's Pop Up Children's Museum Opens March 31st
For Immediate Release
Peabody’s Pop Up Children’s Museum Opens March 31st
March 18, 2019 – Peabody, MA: After months of planning, visualizing, creating and coordinating, the pop-up children’s museum, CuriousCity, is set to open on Sunday, March 31st. The museum features 9 exhibits designed to be accessible and inclusive for children ages 2-10. This temporary, 3-month project will run through June 2019 and is housed within the George Peabody House & Leather Worker’s Museum at 205 Washington St, Peabody, MA.
Each room in CuriousCity will explore different themes to help children tap into their imagination, have fun exploring, and learning about the world around them. Peaceful City is a mindfulness exhibit offering yoga and meditation based activities for the whole family; CuriousTales is filled with stories of the world and features a puppet theatre with a 20×8 ft stage where kids will be able to act and play out folk-tale characters; EpiCurious was planned in conjunction with the Essex Agricultural Society, this exhibit uses agricultural education and the USDA “My Plate” model to help children discover the importance of a fresh, healthy diet; GenerousCity pays homage to local financier George Peabody and includes a bank playhouse where children can take turns playing the role of the teller or the customer, access the faux vault, or visit the drive-up window; Cozy City is a sensory exhibit providing a safe, relaxing space for children of all abilities who may become overwhelmed or overstimulated by their exploration of the museum as a whole; CuriousWorld is filled with maps, globes, and a play area to ”visit” the rainforest, desert, oceans, and the Arctic.
The largest exhibit space is Discovery City, dedicated to stimulating budding engineers, artists, and builders who want to create, investigate, tinker and immerse themselves in science, technology, engineering, and math. Concepts such as flight, air current, air resistance, and gravity are explored through play and hands-on investigation. Families will be able to learn about our habitat in the Natural History area and examine rock, fossil and mineral samples, fossil blocks, magnification station, life-size animal track books and play the ‘match a track’ game.
CuriousCity has been made possible through a partnership with the Essex County Community Foundation and organized by the Peabody Cultural Collaborative whose mission is to unite arts, business and cultural organizations in Peabody to better promote the creative economy and to enrich the cultural life of the region. If successful, the project could be used to gauge support for a permanent museum in downtown Peabody in the future.
The museum will be open to the public on Thursday 10-5, Friday 10-6, Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 12-5 through June 2019. Admission is $5 per person; some local libraries will have guest passes available. Admission is free with CuriousCity library passes or WIC/EBT cards and you do not need to reserve tickets online. All tickets must be purchased in advance, online at curiouscitypeabody.org as a limited number of tickets are available each day. On Tuesday & Wednesday, the museum will be open for school field trips and youth group tours by appointment only. For more information on booking a group visit, email info@curiouscitypeabody.org
Free parking is available on Washington Street in front of the Museum. There is limited parking behind the museum. The Museum is also accessible via public transportation. Bus #435 stops on Washington Street at Blaney Avenue in front of the Museum.
CuriousCity represents a true city collaboration of organizations including: Peabody Main Streets, Peabody TV, Peabody Library, Northeast Arc Early Intervention; Peabody Historical Society; businesses including ArcWorks Community Art Center, Eastern Bank, Holden Oil, Kick it Up Consulting, Network Coverage, Salem Five Bank; local artists such as Sheila Billings, Yetti Frenkel and Dirk I. Tiede; as well as generous support from sponsors including North Shore Bank and Lahey’s JB Thomas Foundation.
For more information contact:
Camille Bartlett, President
Peabody Cultural Collaborative
camille@peabodytv.com 978-977-0570
www.curiouscitypeabody.org
www.peabodyculturalcollaborative.org