41°49′00″N 74°24′34″W / 41.81661°N 74.40954°W The Providence Children's Museum (PCM) is a non-profit children's museum in Providence, Rhode Island. The museum is located at 100 South Street in the city's Jewelry District.
Originally named the Children's Museum of Rhode Island, it was the first children's museum in the state upon its founding in 1976.[1] Originally, the Pawtucket Congregational Church leased its Pitcher-Goff House to the museum, and the building was renovated with exhibits, play spaces, and activities for children and opened in 1977.[1] Due to increasing attendance, in the 1980s, the museum sought out a larger site as its building could only hold 100 people at once and had 3,000 square feet (280 m2) of exhibit space.[2] It reported attendance of 40,000 in 1986.[2] In 1997, the museum moved to its current location in Providence's Jewelry District, and adopted its current name in appreciation of the city's $450,000 donation to the capital campaign for the move.[3]
A large sculpture of a colorful dragon, named Nori, is perched on a corner of its rooftop. Originally created for an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the sculpture was donated to the PCM in 1997 and given its name by an 11-year-old boy through a contest.[4][5]
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the museum's temporary closure in 2020, and interactive online programs were offered during this time. Upon reopening in late 2021, the museum reported that attendance had greatly reduced, noting as an inhibiting factor that children younger than 12 years old could not yet receive COVID-19 vaccinations.[6]
The museum has had three executive directors:
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "History". Providence Children's Museum.
- ^ a b Hummel, Jim (April 15, 1987). "Pawtucket's Children's Museum growing and seeking new home". The Providence Journal. p. A-15. Retrieved November 7, 2024 – via Newsbank.
- ^ Meade Kirk, Laura (March 27, 1997). "Museum says thanks with name change". The Providence Journal. p. B-01. Retrieved November 7, 2024 – via Newsbank.
- ^ "Photos: The dragon is back atop the Providence Children's Museum". The Providence Journal. August 27, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ Doiron, Sarah (August 29, 2019). "Dragon sculpture returns to roof of Providence Children's Museum". WPRI. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ Gagosz, Alexa (August 26, 2021). "Rhode Island museums still struggling to recover from the pandemic". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Borg, Linda (November 25, 2014). "Providence Children's Museum executive director to step down". The Providence Journal. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ "Loss to the Children's Museum". The Providence Journal. March 8, 1985. p. A-15.
External links
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