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Cool Culture's programs are designed to address the financial, informational,
and perceptual barriers that prevent low-income families from making visits
to cultural institutions with their children.
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Cool Culture Family Passes
The entry fees at many cultural institutions are often prohibitively
expensive for low-income families. Most families with whom Cool
Culture works fall under federal poverty guidelines. Though many
institutions offer free or reduced-fee time periods, these are often
during weekdays or evenings when families are unable to attend.
Additionally, "pay-what-you-wish" or suggested admission policies
can be difficult to negotiate, especially for families who are not
used to visiting museums.
To address these issues and through its partnerships with cultural
institutions, Cool Culture is able to give each family a Cool
Culture Family Pass that provides free entry at any time
to over 71 museums, botanical gardens, and zoos.
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Family
Time
Many low-income families don't know about New York City's many
cultural institutions, where they are, or what they offer. Outlets
usually employed by cultural institutions to promote their programs
often do not reach low-income families.
Cool Culture provides each participating family a subscription to Family Time, a quarterly publication that provides a borough-by-borough listing of cultural attractions, including practical information on hours and public transportation, as well as a calendar of events especially geared toward families and young children.
Click here to download a PDF
of the latest issue > (396 kb)
Haga
click aquí para Family Time en Español >
(60 kb)
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Cultural Liaison Training
Focus groups conducted with low-income families and staff at Head
Start/Day Care programs showed that many feel that cultural institutions
are intimidating, offputting, or "not for them." Providing
access and information about cultural institutions is futile unless
these cultural barriers are addressed. For this reason, Cool Culture
provides training for Head Start, Day Care, and public school staff
and parents/guardians to help them feel welcomed and comfortable
in these environments and to instruct them on how to maximize the
educational value of these experiences for young children.
Cool Culture's training first focuses on the fears, concerns,
and pre-conceived notions that prevent low-income families from
making their first visits to museums and presents ways to address
and overcome them.
Workshops
also provide educational tools and resources, including pre- and
post-visit learning activities, questions and discussion guides
that foster verbal literacy, and ways to link visits to the classroom
curriculum. Parents and staff who have completed training become
Cultural Liaisons, peer advocates who help other families at their
Head Start center, Child Care program, or school to take advantage
of cultural resources in the city.
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