Dear Friends,

February was a busy time at CMEE! Early in the month, twenty children met to advise CMEE on the plans for a new active play exhibit. I really appreciated their thoughtful comments. To learn what they recommended, please read below. In February, CMEE also celebrated Chinese New Year and in honor of Valentine's Day, children at the Museum made over 100 Valentine Cards, which were delivered to the East Hampton Senior Citizens Center. You can see samples of the cards below. In April, CMEE will present Easter and Passover Cards to the Bridgehampton Senior Center as part of their Easter Celebration.

On February 18, CMEE hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its partnership with Long Island Head Start. As you know, CMEE has hosted a Head Start preschool since September. I was delighted that Assembly Representative Fred Thiele, County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, and the President of Bridgehampton National Bank, Kevin O'Connor could attend. During the ceremony, Legislator Schneiderman pointed out that programs like Head Start are crucial for setting children on the right track academically. Assembly Representative Thiele emphasized that partnerships like the one between CMEE and Long Island Head Start are important for expanding resources for non-profit organizations.

As I listened to their remarks, I realized I hadn't fully grasped the full effect of the Head Start preschool at CMEE. While I had focused on benefits for the preschoolers learning at the Museum, there is a larger social and economic impact. Because of this partnership, not only are children becoming life-long learners, Head Start can now provide jobs to more teachers, and parents have the ability to earn income during the day rather than look after their children. With the Museum's focus on educational goals, I think it can be easy to forget that arts organizations like CMEE are important economic drivers in our communities, too. According to the Alliance in the Arts, the arts industry generates almost 200,000 jobs annually in New York State.

I believe when we truly collaborate, both partners reap economic, educational, and operational benefits. If you know of an organization or person in the community that is interested in partnering with CMEE or you are aware of an existing partnership that could be model for the Museum, please let me know!

As always, I welcome your feedback and hope to see you soon at CMEE!

Sincerely,

 Stephen Long

Executive Director

Get Creative with help from the Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center

It's not everyday that you encourage your child to 'let the paint fly!' - well, at home anyway...but at CMEE on Saturday, March 12 at 10am, children will have just that opportunity to fling, drip and splatter away, channeling Abstract Expressionist Master painter, Jackson Pollock. And to teach this fun, creative technique, we're delighted to welcome Ruby Jackson from the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in East Hampton.

This program is fully or partially funded by the Suffolk County Executive's Office.

Pre-registration is required. Members: $10; Non-Members: $21, which includes the price of Museum admission.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little early at CMEE on Sunday, March 13 at 10am and bake and decorate "Lucky Cupcakes!"

Children can mix up a batch of cupcakes to bake in CMEE's own cupcake makers, and then decorate with green icing and sprinkles - just for good luck!

This program is fully or partially funded by the Suffolk County Executive's Office.

Pre-registration is required. Members: $5; Non-Members: $17, which includes the price of Museum admission.

Saturday, April 2

4-5pm

B East Fitness Studio

199 Main Street, Amagansett

Attention spin lovers! Here's a great reason to schedule your weekend spin class and cycle away to benefit a great cause - CMEE!

Thank you to B East Fitness Studio and Romaine (last name), for offering their 50 bikes - and especially their in-demand line-up of fantastic instructors - all to benefit the Children's Museum of the East End.  Funds raise will help fund CMEE's new active play exhibit.

The cost is $50 to reserve your bike. Following the spin, enjoy a reception of cheese, wine, fruit and  - yes, water!

To pre-register and secure a 'seat,' please email Barbara@CMEE.org, call 537-8250 or visit www.cmee.org.

 Many thanks to CMEE Board Member Barrie Glabman for helping to organize such a successful and informative Youth Advisory Meeting recently at the Museum. Hearing direct feedback from children is incredibly helpful to CMEE staff as we continue to refine our plans for adding a new "active play" exhibit to the Museum.

"Climber Exhibits" are extremely popular at many children's museums across the country, including Boston, Providence, Rochester, Garden City, Mt. Holyoke and others. While CMEE staff initially planned on installing a similar exhibit here, our youth advisors helped persuade us to consider other options. For instance, instead of merely wanting somewhere to climb, they recommended adding monkey bars, slides and a sliding pole, tunnels, an obstacle course, a maze, zip-line, places to hide, and a trampoline. While CMEE may not be able to accommodate a trampoline or zip-line in our space, the other elements could be included in alternate exhibit models we are reviewing. Rather than refer it to as a climbing exhibit, as we had done in the past, the children convinced us to describe it as an "active play" exhibit, which will help convey the many types of activities that they recommended take place.

We're still collecting feedback from of children so if your children (or you) have a different perspective or additional feedback on elements for an 'ideal' active play space at CMEE, we hope you'll take the opportunity to share it with us. Please feel free to email Steve@cmee.org.

Families had quite a 'waffle festival' at CMEE last month at our new "Waffel Day" workshop! Join us on the last Sunday of each month, and have fun creating your own circus shape Belgian Waffles. Mix the batter, add to our circus shape waffle bakers, top with syrup, and enjoy! Yum....

CMEE is delighted to announce a benefit evening of Fine Art and Fine Wine in New York City on Thursday, April 7

(6pm - 8pm) in honor of Tracy and Stanley Shopkorn at the home of Christine Mastro and Frank Gallipoli. The Shopkorns were instrumental in opening CMEE five years ago and developing it into one of the most visited museums in Eastern Long Island. On the occasion of Tracy's retirement from the Board of Trustees, we hope you'll join us to celebrate the Shopkorns' contributions to the Museum and support the effort to update CMEE's exhibits. Special thanks to Katie Brown for designing our invitation.