Our Work
Cool Culture centers families in our work and co-designs programs with our community members
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.
As a learning organization, we use an iterative model to create a framework for collaboration, resources, platforms and tools that are responsive to the needs of families and communities, positioning them as drivers of change. Outcomes and learnings are shared with our institutional partners through a series of trainings for professionals. Over the past two decades, we have collaborated with families, schools and museums to redistribute cultural resources, increase cultural participation, build community and address cultural equity.
Locating families at the center of our work, we form strategic partnerships with schools, cultural institutions, artists, community leaders, government agencies, and community-based organizations.
As a learning organization, we use an iterative model to create a framework for collaboration, resources, platforms and tools that are responsive to the needs of families and communities, positioning them as drivers of change. Outcomes and learnings are shared with our institutional partners through a series of trainings for professionals. Over the past 18 years, we have collaborated with families, schools and museums to redistribute cultural resources, increase cultural participation, build community and address cultural equity. Cool Culture’s many program models are outlined below.
01
Citywide Cultural Access Program
The program provides 50,000 families in 450 Early Childhood Centers and Title 1 Department of Education schools with a Cool Culture Family Pass that offers families a year of unlimited, free admission for up to five people to our 90 New York City cultural institution partners.
Cool Culture offers Professional Development workshops to our educators and resources focused on family involvement through the arts. We also produce family events and multilingual educational materials. Our co-created events draw as many as 2,600 parents and children to a single museum event, and annually, parents and children make 185,000 visits to partner cultural institutions at no cost.
Your Family Pass
Removing barriers for 50,000 families with children in pre-K to 3rd grade to get free access to 90+ museums & cultural institutions.
Bring the Cool! Pop-Ups
Connecting museums & communities. Year-round family events co-designed with museum staff and educators help bring new audiences into cultural institutions, and build and strengthen new networks.
Family Pass & Visitation
Our diverse corps of educators from 450+ schools and early childhood centers ignite family interest in and prepare them for museum visits.
ArtVenture
Providing multilingual print and digital resources to showcase activities within our network and offer strategies for dynamic cultural engagement.
02
Neighborhood-based Action Projects
Brings art to neighborhood-based communities including Harlem, Chinatown, Corona, Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, building relationships between families, educators, and museum professionals who work together to develop tailored programming for children and families. Key to the success of the Intensive program is the Family Leaders component, which leverages adult caregivers’ leadership capacity. Family Leaders, as graduates of a multi-path training series, provide peer-to-peer outreach and support throughout the duration of the program.
03
Cool Culture Clubs
Mobilizes community-rooted learning spaces that unite families, educators, and cultural workers to co-create inclusive cultural experiences. Through a series of interactive gatherings, participants explore how art and culture can be tools for family engagement, healing, and advocacy. Clubs support the development of cultural awareness and leadership skills. Participants help shape programming that reflects the needs and strengths of historically marginalized communities. Together, we’re building a more just and joyful cultural future.
03
Cool Cultural Clubs
Mobilizes community-rooted learning spaces that unite families, educators, and cultural workers to co-create inclusive cultural experiences. Through a series of interactive gatherings, participants explore how art and culture can be tools for family engagement, healing, and advocacy. Clubs support the development of cultural awareness and leadership skills. Participants help shape programming that reflects the needs and strengths of historically marginalized communities. Together, we’re building a more just and joyful cultural future.
04
We Are All Curators
Partnerships with museum partners to ideate and co-create spaces where our families and educators develop agency in exploring objects in their home, classroom, and community and reassess what is considered and valued as art.
05
Parent Power Project for Cultural Equity
Co-created with parent leaders and cultural changemakers, the Parent Power Project is a bold initiative that centers families in the movement for cultural equity. Through community organizing, art advocacy, and collective leadership, parents shape more inclusive cultural spaces—and advocate for systems that reflect the creativity, histories, and power of their communities.
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
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 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
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.