Newsroom - Boston Children's Museum

Welcome to Boston Children’s Museum’s Newsroom. The Museum public relations staff is available to assist in scheduling interviews, providing background information, coordinating on-site photography and videography requests, and submitting images of exhibitions, programs, and special programs and events. Members of the media are invited to visit the Museum at any time.

Media Contact

Jo-Anne Baxter

(617) 986-3702

PR@bostonchildrensmuseum.org

Museum Facts

110 Years of Milestones

Founded by Boston Public School teachers in 1913 in Jamaica Plain
Shares extensive collections of rare artifacts and objects with children throughout the early and mid-1900s
Opens groundbreaking, interactive exhibit What’s Inside? in 1964, the first hands-on exhibit in any museum anywhere
Brings hands on learning to classrooms with MATCH Box Kits in 1964
Opens in new location on Museum Wharf at Fort Point Channel in 1979
Completes $47-million expansion and renovation project in 2007 with 88,000 square feet of exhibit space
Becomes Boston’s first LEED-certified “Green” museum in 2007
Welcomes 600,000 visitors in 2012
Receives the National Medal for Museum and Library Service (2013)
Accepts International Lifetime Achievement Award – The Children in Museum Award (2015)
Earns coveted 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator (2017)
Opens You, Me, We! Exhibit – Complex topics of identity exploration that fosters respect and empathy (2023)

Click here to find out more about 100 years of pioneering work at Boston Children’s Museum

News Releases

2020

Coming soon

2019

Coming soon

2018

Coming soon

Awards & Recognition

2021

New England Museum Association

Excellence Award
Carole Charnow, President & CEO

2019

Boston Magazine
Best Neighborhood Diversion of Fort Point

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Rebranding
First Place: Rebranding Materials / New Logo
Project Director: Peter Broderick
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Annual Reports
First Place: STEAM Learning and Discovery: Annual Report 2018
Project Director: Peter Broderick
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Invitations
Third Place: Wonder Ball Invitation / Save the Date
Project Directors: Allyson McGinty and Sue Kim
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Annual Fund, Capital Campaign, & Other Development Materials
Third Place: The Wonder Ball Program
Project Director: Allyson McGinty
Designer: Lex Piccione

2018

Governor’s Citation 2018
STEAM Team
In Recognition of Boston Children’s Museum Participation in the Commonwealth’s First STEM Week

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Marketing/PR Materials
First Place: Explore•a•Saurus Campaign Posters
Project Directors: Peter Broderick and Kate Marciniec
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Annual Reports
Second Place: We Asked: Boston Children’s Museum Annual Report 2017
Project Director: Peter Broderick
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Invitations
Second Place: The Wonder Ball Invitation
Project Directors: Sue Kim and Allyson McGinty
Designer: Karin Hansen

Association of Children’s Museums – Champion of the Field Award: Jeri Robinson

2017

Boston magazine’s Best of Boston® 2017 – Best Birthday Party Location, Kids
Boston Parents Paper – Top 5 Winner of Reader’s Choice Family Favorites in the Museum category

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Capital Campaign, & Other Development Materials: Wonder Ball Program Booklet/Project
First Place: Wonder Ball Program Booklet
Project Directors: Sue Kim and Allyson McGinty
Designer: Lex Piccione

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Marketing/PR Materials
First Place: Maker Faire Campaign Posters
Project Directors: Tim Porter & Alice Vogler
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Educational Publications, Materials, & Kits
Third Place: Family Tinker Kit
Project Directors: Kathryn Jones & Jessie Kravette
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Annual Report
Third Place: Annual Report: Everyday Impact
Project Director: Peter Broderick
Designer: Karin Hansen

2016

Boston Parents Paper – Family Favorites
Baystate Parent – Best Museum – Special Needs
Implementation Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for Native Voices Exhibit
National Leadership Grant to Directly Support School Readiness through Partnerships

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Annual Report
First Place: Annual Report: Breakthrough Moments
Project Director: Peter Broderick
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: Educational Publications, Materials, and Kits
Second Place: Tinker Kit
Project Director: Beth Fredericks and Jessie Kravette
Designer: Karin Hansen

New England Museum Association (NEMA) Publication Award Competition
Category: PR/Marketing Materials
Honorable Mention: Small World poster
Project Director: Beth Fredericks and Jessie Kravette
Designer: Karin Hansen

2015

International Lifetime Achievement Award – The Children in Museum Award – Hands On! International Conference
Distinguished Alumni Award – Emerson College – Carole Charnow
4-Star Rating From Charity Navigator
Interactive Media Awards™ – Best in Class (Museum Category – Website)

2014

Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2014

2013

2013 National Medal – Museum and Library Service
Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2013

2012

Family Favorite Indoor Play Space – Boston Parents Paper
Certificate of Excellence – Trip Advisor
Beyond the Chalkboard – Best of the Web (Education) – Museums and the Web
Foreign Minister of Japan’s Commendation • 12 Best Children’s Museums – Forbes.Com
Honorable Mention – 2012 Promising Practice Award program
Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2012

2011

Parents Magazine Names 10 Best Children’s Museums in the Nation

2010

Boston Business Journal’s Green Business Summit Award – Invention – Our Green Trail
Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2010

2009

Merit Award – AGC Build New England Awards Program
Favorite Museum – Boston’s Parents Paper
Boston’s Best Museum – Nickelodeon’s Parents’ Picks Awards 2009
KIDS @fterschool – MetLife Foundation and Association of Children’s Museums Promising Practice Award
Leadership – MCC Commonwealth Award – Lou Casagrande
Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2009

2008

Boston’s Greenest – American Institute of Architects and Mayor Menino
Bell Ringer Award, Marketing Communications Campaign: General – Publicity Club of New England
LEED® Gold Certification – U.S. Green Building Council
Preservation Achievement Award for Significant Restoration and Renovation – Boston Preservation Alliance
Professional Award – American Society of Landscape Architects
Green Award – City of Boston and Mayor Thomas M. Menino
Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2008

2007

Best of the New – Boston Globe Magazine
Best Family Hangout, Rainy Day – Boston Magazine
Silver Level Reader’s Choice, Museums – Community Newspaper Company
Boston Parents Paper Family Favorite Museum Winner 2007First

Photography

The following high resolution, print quality images may be downloaded. For additional images, please email your request. Permission to alter any images in any way, except for size and resolution, must be granted from Boston Children’s Museum in advance. Please note that media images are for use only by members of the media. By downloading images, you agree to all terms of use.

	President and CEO, Carole Charnow, outside the Museum — © Karin Hansen
	Mother and daughter creating together in the Art Studio — © Joel Haskell
	Boy at the Museum’s Tinker Tent during the Mini Maker Faire — © Karin Hansen
	Girl marveling at giant bubble in the Museum’s Bubbles exhibit — © Lex Piccione
	Two boys having fun at the Museum’s Block Party event — © Lex Piccione
	Museum at Night — © Robert Benson Photography
	Museum Side View — © Karin Hansen

Boston Children’s Museum Annual Report 2024