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We Are A Work of Art
Health + Wellbeing Initiative
Brings families and communities together to connect,
create, imagine, and act to inspire collective wellbeing and healing.
Cool Culture for
Families
The 2022-2023 Cool Culture FAMILY PASS is valid today through
October 31, 2023.
Cool Culture for
Families
The 2022-2023 Cool Culture FAMILY PASS is valid today through
October 31, 2023.
Strengthening Cross-Cultural Connections
Through Art
We collaborate with families and educators to advocate for cultural equity and social change.
Languages Spoken
Where Families Live
Background Demographics
Languages Spoken
Languages Spoken
Nearly half of Cool Culture families speak a language other than English at home.
Languages Spoken
Nearly half of Cool Culture families speak a language other than English at home.
Languages Spoken
Nearly half of Cool Culture families speak a language other than English at home.
Languages Spoken
Nearly half of Cool Culture families speak a language other than English at home.
Where Families Live
Where Families Live
Our families live across the five boroughs of New York city.
Where Families Live
Our families live across the five boroughs of New York city.
Where Families Live
Our families live across the five boroughs of New York city.
Where Families Live
Our families live across the five boroughs of New York city.
Background Demographics
Background Demographics
Our families are from diverse backgrounds and self-identify as part of these demographics.
Background Demographics
Our families are from diverse backgrounds and self-identify as part of these demographics.
Background Demographics
Our families are from diverse backgrounds and self-identify as part of these demographics.
Background Demographics
Our families are from diverse backgrounds and self-identify as part of these demographics.
Our Programs
At the core of Cool Culture's work is the use of art and culture as a vehicle for transformation that engages our emotional, intellectual and political imaginations
Cool Culture believes that art is a human right, a
powerful means of self-expression, and a bridge
that allows us to transcend boundaries between and
across cultures to build community and to increase
our capacity for dialogue and understanding.
- Citywide Cultural Access Program
- We Are All Curators
- Intensive Community Collaborations Program
- Laboratory for New Audiences Program
- Read More
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- Read More
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Cool Culture believes that art is a human right, a powerful means of self-expression, and a bridge that allows us to transcend boundaries between and across cultures to build community and to increase our capacity for dialogue and understanding.
Play Video
Three Words That Describe Cool Culture
Thelma Golden, Director and Chief
Curator at The Studio Museum in Harlem
describes Cool Culture as enriching.
radical and purposeful. Watch this brief
video to to learn why
Thelma Golden
Director and Chief Curator The Studio
Museum in Harlem
Impact
Since 1999, over a
million families have
been positively impacted
by our professional work
Impact
Since 1999, over a million families have been positively impacted by our professional work
Visit Us On Our Instagram
This August, we said good bye to our summer interns from the @studio_institute Bloomberg Arts Internship program with art-making and a trip to two of our cultural partners in Queens. Supervisors also attended a presentation where interns shared about their department projects and what they learned. Thank you, Sophia and Nay, for your hard work and positive energy!
“I was able to take what looked like an error and turn it into something beautiful.” @lisawade325 shares about the process for her piece “Black Joy” in the exhibition “Free Your Mind” at @jamaicaartscenter curated by @shennavaughn. Visit the gallery before the exhibit closes on September 1!
#CulturalPartner Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning is free and open to the public 10am-9pm Monday through Friday and 10am-6pm on Saturdays.
Video description: Lisa Wade, wearing a black dress with a piano print, speaks to visitors who are off camera while standing in front of her artwork, “Black Joy,” a framed photograph of a dancer.
Hey Cool Culture families! Do you have questions on how to make the most of your Family Pass? Check out this tutorial created by one of our summer interns to know where to use the pass and how to use it. Current Cool Culture Family Passes are valid until October 31. Happy adventuring!
Video description: Screenshots of the Cool Culture website with text and animated narrator reading through the steps.
There’s still time to see “Black Power to Black People: Branding the Black Panther Party” @posterhousenyc with your #FamilyPass before the exhibition closes next month! Listen to what curator Es-pranza Humphrey shares about her hopes for family engagement, and visit the space on September 10th for a special Poster Kids activity. Participants will explore how the Black Panthers expressed themselves through clothing, accessories, poses, gestures, and words then create their own self-portraits. Admission to the program is free but advanced registration is required.
Video description: Interview footage with Es-pranza Humphrey standing in front of a section of the exhibit with a clear wall and a circular poster with a dove, broken chains, and the words “Peace and Freedom.” Images of Es-pranza leading a tour in the space and photos of other sections of the exhibit with posters and newspapers are also shown.
We love visiting our cultural partners with our @bai_studio summer interns! Enayzah (she/her) and Sophia (she/they) join the Cool Culture team for two months through the Bloomberg Arts Internship (BAI) program in partnership with @studio_institute, where they support our communications and development teams as they explore careers in the creative sector, prepare for college, and expand awareness of cultural spaces as civic resources.
Swipe through to read more about their goals for the internship and to see where else we’ve visited.
Image Descriptions:
1 - Four Cool Culture team members pose for a selfie in front of a hat exhibition at @museumatfit
2- Photo of Enayzah on a yellow background with a red Cool Culture logo and white text on red blobs, “Meet the interns!” and “Enayzah, Development”
3- White text on a red background where Enayzah is quoted sharing her hobbies, hopes for the internship and a favorite art experience. (See comments for direct quote)
4- Photo of Sophia on a yellow background with a red Cool Culture logo and white text on red blobs, “Meet the interns!” and “Sophia, Communications”
5- White text on a red background where Sophia is quoted sharing their hobbies and hopes for the internship. (See comments for direct quote)
6- Three Cool Culture team members pose for a selfie in front of a waterfall at @brooklynbotanic’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden
We are excited to launch enrollment for our 2023-2024 program year of Cool Culture’s Citywide Cultural Access Program. Principals, directors, family coordinators and other education leaders, please visit our website at coolculture.org/centers-schools (or the link in our bio) for details on eligibility and to access the enrollment form.
Caregivers and families, you can advocate for your school or center to enroll or re-enroll by sharing your experiences and the link above. Your passes are valid through October 31, 2023 and we hope your family continues to enjoy the offerings of our cultural partners throughout the summer.
Thank you to the local education providers who have partnered with us to connect to the community and share upcoming enrollment information. Enrollment for our 2023-2024 program year is launching next week for schools and child care centers!
The Cool Culture team has been meeting with teachers, educators, district leaders and families to spread the news about our CityWide Cultural Access Program at events organized by @uft_elementary, @ucs_unitedforbetter, Columbia University`s @combocommunity team, Mothers on the Move, the NYC Department of Education`s Arts and Cultural Education Services, and Office of Family and Community Engagement. Thank you to the organizations for their invitations and to every person who stopped by our table.
Keep an eye on your emails and check our website for the timeline and eligibility requirements. If you are a parent or caregiver who wants to bring Cool Culture’s CityWide Cultural Access Program to your child’s school or child care center, please speak with your principal, director, or family coordinator and encourage them to visit coolculture.org/centers-schools for details on how to enroll.
Image Descriptions are below in the comments.
As New York City residents, we see symbols everywhere, every day! Now through September, your family can visit the @cooperhewitt’s latest exhibit, “Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols” using your #FamilyPass. A unique language of their own, symbols connect, instruct, and evolve our communities.
While exploring symbolism from the neighborhood and across the globe, children can create their own signs, discover hidden symbols behind doors, and imitate various sports pictograms through this interactive exhibit.
Image Descriptions:
1. Lightbox station for visitors to create their own signs with various colored pencils and drawing templates. Background shows a wall covered in visitors’ sign creations on small slips of paper.
2. Interior of the exhibit area where a cyclist pictograph is being projected onto a sheet hanging in front of the entrance to the room. Underneath is a black carpet reading “can you mimic the sport symbol using your body?”
3. Chart explaining how symbols evolve over time, featuring many symbols from the Olympics.
4. Chart explaining the Tokyo 1964 Olympics and what symbols were used during that time. The passage is surrounded by sports pictographs.
There`s still time to vote on how the city will use funding in your neighborhood! This is an opportunity to use your voice and power to take care of our community. All New Yorkers, ages 11 or up, regardless of immigration status, can vote to fund projects in their borough through The People`s Money, a participatory budgeting process. #CivicWellbeing
Swipe to see some of our director’s stopping by the @thepeoplesbus at The Museum Mile Festival where @nyccec shared ballots and information on #ThePeoplesMoney
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.
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VOTE! #ThePeoplesMoney gives ALL New Yorkers 11 and older a chance to decide how to spend $5 million of the city budget. Speak up for your community: on.nyc.gov/pb
¡VOTE! El dinero del pueblo (The People `s Money) le da a TODOS los neoyorquinos mayores de 11 años la oportunidad de decidir cómo gastar $5 millones del presupuesto de la ciudad. Represente a su comunidad: on.nyc.gov/pb
踊跃投票！“人民的钱”(The People’s Money) 让所有年满 11 岁的纽约人都有机会决定如何支配 500 万美元的城市预算。为您的社区发声：on.nyc.gov/pb
Image Description: black, green, blue and pink text, “Your money, your community, your vote. Vote for projects online by June 25” on white with a digital illustration of people in a park with a skyline in the background. The Civic Engagement Commission’s logo is on the top left along with the People’s Money Logo. A compute mouse arrow hovers over a yellow button with the website “on.nyc.gov/pb”
“Together with others we can stand up against injustice and make demands for fairness so that over time, things change and the children who come after you can see a more fair world,” writes author and educator Carla Shalaby in our #CivicWellbeing Toolkit. Consider posting these #pride signs to show solidarity with LGBTQ+ community members and visit the link in our bio to check out our toolkit to support discussions on participating actively and responsibly in community at all ages. #GetInvolved #pridemonth
Posted @withregram • @cshalaby Pride signs for the spaces serving our littles. These designs and a few others.
Free downloads: https://tinyurl.com/5n6uuf77
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Get Involved
Donate
Volunteer
Advocate
Get Involved
Get Involved
Cool Culture partners with families, educators, cultural institutions, volunteers, and donors. We invite you to get involved!
Get Involved
Cool Culture partners with families, educators, cultural institutions, volunteers, and donors. We invite you to get involved!
Get Involved
Cool Culture partners with families, educators, cultural institutions, volunteers, and donors. We invite you to get involved!
Get Involved
Cool Culture partners with families, educators, cultural institutions, volunteers, and donors. We invite you to get involved!
Donate
Donate
Make a donation to continue the necessary work and become a part of a movement to create more equitable communities.
Donate
Make a donation to continue the necessary work and become a part of a movement to create more equitable communities.
Donate
Make a donation to continue the necessary work and become a part of a movement to create more equitable communities.
Donate
Make a donation to continue the necessary work and become a part of a movement to create more equitable communities.
Volunteer
Volunteer
Volunteer at our Family Festivals, Cool Pop Ups, and other in-person events, or offer virtual art-making sessions.
Volunteer
Volunteer at our Family Festivals, Cool Pop Ups, and other in-person events, or offer virtual art-making sessions.
Volunteer
Volunteer at our Family Festivals, Cool Pop Ups, and other in-person events, or offer virtual art-making sessions.
Volunteer
Volunteer at our Family Festivals, Cool Pop Ups, and other in-person events, or offer virtual art-making sessions.
Advocate
Advocate
Tell your school or child care center about us! Contact your local elected representatives to support our work.
Advocate
Tell your school or child care center about us! Contact your local elected representatives to support our work.
Advocate
Tell your school or child care center about us! Contact your local elected representatives to support our work.
Advocate
Tell your school or child care center about us! Contact your local elected representatives to support our work.
