The Bronx Children’s Museum celebrated the borough’s next generation, and honored two extraordinary Bronx luminaries, Valerie Washington and Sunny Hostin, at its 5th Annual Gala on Tuesday, June 21, coinciding with the night of the Summer Solstice. Held at Zona de Cuba, high atop the historic Post Office located on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, the museum hosted community members, longtime supporters, and Bronx dignitaries at “Summer Under the Stars,” the theme for this year’s gala.

 

Washington is a Lehman College (CUNY) professor emeritus, innovator in teacher education and former Bronx elementary school teacher. During her comments, she referenced the power of museum experiences. “When I became an elementary school teacher, museum visits became part of my curriculum planning. It was integrated into the curriculum. These were important learnings for my students; students, who like me, had seldom ventured outside their neighborhood.”

 

In the context of the opening of the Bronx Children’s Museum’s building, Washington remarked, “It’s been a long journey, but it’s been a wonderful, successful journey that we’re all looking forward to. It’s going to be very exciting. It took a very thoughtful, creative and insightful group of people to take on the challenge of developing the museum.”

 

In a special, pre-recorded tribute, Kerry Washington, actress, advocate and daughter of honoree, Valerie Washington, commended her mother for “always being a beacon and a positive force for good that reminds people that children in The Bronx matter.” She continued, “So many children have loved you, been loved by you, inspired by you, and have had their lives transformed by you. You have made The Bronx a better place for all of us, one child at a time.”

 

Long before the world was introduced to Camille Vazquez, one member of a team of lawyers representing actor, Johnny Depp, in the defamation cases he recently brought against both The Sun newspaper in the UK, and his ex-wife, Amber Heard, in the U.S., Hostin was already a trailblazer in the Afro-Latino community. She is a former federal prosecutor, a senior legal correspondent and analyst for ABC News, a three-time, Emmy award-winning co-host of ABC’s “The View,” a Ted Talk speaker, a documentary maker, and a New York Times bestselling author.

 

“By joining the Board [of the Children’s Museum], I wanted to give the children of The Bronx what my parents gave me, which was just the opportunity to experience culture and the arts,” she said.

SUNNY’S SUPERFAN SURPRISE: See @sunny surprise law student and #TheView superfan Dominique in front of our studio audience and gift her a trip to join us in the Bahamas! 🏝 https://t.co/cVclFZyKV0

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— The View (@TheView) June 16, 2022

 

“When you think about The Bronx, and the fact that kids dream so big, if we give them the support they need, what many don’t have, we can make a difference and fill in the gap,” Hostin added. “Let’s push forward and make sure the Bronx Children’s Museum not only opens in November, but continues to keep the doors open forever!”

 

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson presented the “Richard Abrons Impact Award” to Washington, while former Bronx Borough President Ruben Díaz Jr. presented the “Imagination Award” to Hostin. Another former Bronx borough president, Adolfo Carrión Jr., whose original idea it was to establish a children’s museum in the only borough that did not have one, was also in attendance.

 

According to The New York Times, Abrons was an investment manager who later turned to writing short stories and plays. He and his family underwrote Manhattan’s Henry Street’s arts classes and college scholarships; expanded its social services, including those for the homeless; helped the settlement acquire what became known as the Boys and Girls Republic community center; and transformed vacant lots adjacent to the settlement’s original building into Martin Luther King Jr. Community Park. Abrons was honored at the Bronx Children’s Museum gala in Manhattan in 2017. He was a benefactor of the museum in addition to the Henry Street Settlement.

 

On December 1, 2021, elected officials, along with City and State representatives gathered at the Bronx Children’s Museum to present then-Board president, Hope Harley, and executive director, Carla Precht, with the “key” to the museum. The event celebrated the end of the construction phase and the handing over of the keys to the museum from the City. The museum is set to formally open in November 2022. Video by Carla Precht and Harri Ramkishun

 

As reported by Norwood News, John Boudreau is the director of marketing communications for the Bronx Children’s Museum and told us, “The museum is opening up at the end of this year after a long time getting prepared. The inside of our building is all set. We’re moving in exhibits this summer, and then, we’ll be opening up the museum again by the end of the year.”

 

During the event, writer, actor and longtime museum champion, Sonia Manzano (formerly “Maria” of Sesame Street) introduced a powerful video, showcasing the museum’s 2022 Green Arts Afterschool Program at P.S. 55, located in Claremont Village. Norwood News also previously reported on the Green Bronx Machine program at Community School 55 in the South Bronx.

 

Manzano continued, “Having been involved with the museum since its conception in 2005, and for so long with Sesame Street, and now Fred Rogers, I know the importance of early childhood education, and having a place for children to use their imagination and flex their muscles.”

 

She added, “It’s important for children to have a place to come to where they can escape what’s going on in their lives. The thing about kids is that you do not have to take them the whole way; you just have to point them in the right direction. The Bronx Children’s Museum does just that!”

 

For her part, Gibson said she was extremely proud to see what she called “this moment in history” when The Bronx will open the doors of its first ever Bronx Children’s Museum. “Our families will have their own museum to enjoy for their children and the generations of young people who will visit,” she said.

 

Díaz Jr. agreed. “It’s thrilling to be here tonight to kick off the museum’s countdown to opening and honor two Bronx luminaries. Sunny Hostin and Valerie Washington exemplify the talent and determination found in Bronx children,” he said. “The Bronx Children’s museum facility was one of the first capital projects I supported when I was elected to the role of borough president. We finally have an amenity where children and their parents will be able to regularly come to have fun, learn, create, and bond for years to come.”

 

Also present on the night was NYC Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, who said, “The Bronx Children’s Museum does an extraordinary job sharing the joy, excitement and transformative benefits of arts and culture with youth across the Bronx and beyond.” She added, “Congratulations to the ‘Summer Under the Stars’ gala honorees, Sunny Hostin and Valerie Washington, who we’re proud to join as supporters of this amazing institution. I can’t wait for the opening of the museum’s incredible new facility in Mill Pond Park. My son and I will be some of the first people in line to visit!”

 

New York Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez, Assembly Member Latoya Joyner (A.D. 77), City Council Members, Althea Stevens (C.D. 16) and Marjorie Velázquez (C.D. 13), and City Parks Deputy Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa were also among the other special guests.

 

The museum’s executive director, Carla Precht, and board president, Arlene Bascom, thanked the many supporters and attendees of the museum’s most important fundraising event of the year, ahead of its opening. “It has been a long journey with many obstacles on the way to opening the doors to the first-ever children’s museum facility in The Bronx,” said Precht. “However, the museum’s building will open this Fall, even if all of our exhibits are not 100 percent complete. It is so important that children and families start coming into the building, experience the beautiful space, and grow with us as we fully realize our dream.”

 

For her part, Bascom thanked all the museum’s sponsors, funders and the elected and appointed officials. “In today’s environment, it is vital that we provide safe spaces for children to be children, spaces where they can play, learn and grow, spaces that encourage them to explore, experiment, create and to express themselves, spaces of yes!” she said.

 

Gala sponsors included Louis & Anne Abrons Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bronx Care Health Systems, Hayloft Auctions, Kimelman & Baird, L&M Development Partners, Lostand Foundation, Montefiore, National Basketball Players Association, Ponce Bank, Precht Rodriguez Family, Ileana Vargas-Rodríguez, Sidley Austin, Kerry Washington, Karen R. Whyte-Smith & Family, and Works-In-Progress.

 

According to children’s museum website, to give the children of The Bronx a fun portal to playful learning, as above, the museum will formally open its doors in November 2022. “The museum is one of few cultural institutions in the Bronx geared toward young children, especially those children and families who cannot afford ― or would not normally visit ― a museum,” representatives said. “The Bronx has 1.3 million residents. It is larger than Boston, has 250,000 children under the age of 9 years, and is the only borough in New York City without a children’s museum facility.”

 

The site of the museum is the Powerhouse facility, an old City-owned, decommissioned powerhouse built originally in 1925, located on public park land on Mill Pond Park on the Harlem River in the South Bronx, just steps from Yankee Stadium. Situated on the second floor of the former power plant, in a beautiful 12,800 square foot LEED-certified historic building, the museum will serve nearly 75,000 children each year and will feature bright, open exhibit spaces; age-appropriate permanent and temporary interactive exhibits exploring the richness of The Bronx in the arts, culture, community, natural resources, greening and energy; flexible studio space for community gatherings and meetings; and offices for Bronx Children Museum staff.

 

When asked during Bronx Week 2022 if admission to the museum would be free, Boudreau said, “Admission will be $8 for everyone, but we’re going to have a lot of discounted programs and programs that will help people get in.”

 

For more information about the Bronx Children’s Museum, visit the museum’s website here.

 

According to National Geographic, Solstices occur because Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted about 23.4 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the sun. This tilt drives our planet’s seasons, as the northern and southern hemispheres get unequal amounts of sunlight over the course of a year. From March to September, the northern hemisphere is tilted more toward the sun, driving its spring and summer. From September to March, the northern hemisphere is tilted away, so it feels like autumn and winter. The southern hemisphere’s seasons are reversed. The Summer Solstice is sometimes referred to as the longest day of the year in terms of daylight hours.