History & Highlights
History
Madison Children’s Museum was founded in 1980 as a vision of a group of early childhood specialists. The founding board of directors and volunteers built traveling exhibits that were displayed at neighborhood centers, parks and playgrounds. They also operated a pilot museum in the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. The success of the pilot program prompted the Museum to relocate to a warehouse at Bedford and West Washington. The new location was a success and the Museum was often filled to capacity.
After a successful capital campaign, Madison Children’s Museum opened its doors on 100 State Street in 1991. Madison Children’s Museum continues to flourish at this location, and plans are underway for future relocation and expansion.
Highlights
1996 - MCM’s Brazil project was named one of the top 50 international projects, International Partnership Among Museums
1999 - MetLife Foundation and Association of Children’s Museums Promising Practice Award for First Feats
2002 - MCM was rated one of the top 10 children’s museums in the nation, Child Magazine
2003 - MCM was selected as one of just nine children’s museums in the country to receive a grant for the Freeman Foundation Asian Exhibit Initiative, administered by the Association of Children’s Museums
2004 - MCM won the American Folklore Society Dorothy Howard Prize for Folklore and Education for the Hmong at Heart exhibit
2007 - MCM was rated as one of the “Top 20 Children’s Museums in America” by Grand Magazine
Consistently ranked in Best of Madison Awards
