NEW YORK, NY.- On September 9, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open the newly designed 81st Street Studio, a science and art play space for children ages 3 to 11, in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education. The renovated 3,500-square-foot area, designed by KOKO Architecture + Design, will be an interactive space that reimagines how the Museum can inspire exploration of its encyclopedic collection, amplify curiosity, and create new experiences for The Met's youngest visitors.

The new space will open with a children's festival on September 9. The daylong celebration will offer science-based making, art activities, play, games, music, and more.

Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of The Met, said: "Education is a critical—and very exciting—part of The Met's mission, and we are proud to open the extraordinary new 81st Street Studio and further advance our role as a tremendously engaging resource for local and global communities. Through immersive activities, the Studio inspires children to explore connections between art and science, which is so valuable for creating a lifelong love and appreciation for art and artistic practices. This is a project that was made possible by so many and with strong support to create something unique for our younger audiences. We would also like to thank KOKO Architecture + Design for their vision in developing this innovative space with us. We are also grateful to Yamaha and Bluecadet for their contributions in making the space an interactive learning experience for children."

Heidi Holder, the Museum's Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chair of Education, said: "With its focus on interdisciplinary learning through the five senses, the 81st Street Studio is a further catalyst for how The Met engages with all visitors. It positions the Museum as a place where visitors can make delightful discoveries, take risks, and ask questions, activities that are imperative to reimaging the future role of museums in our communities."

The 81st Street Studio is an interdisciplinary, multisensory drop-in discovery and play space that supports science learning in everyday life through art and materiality. Designed for children ages 3 to 11 and their caregivers, it will offer dynamic digital and analog experiences that stimulate and encourage making, investigation, critical thinking, problem solving, and appreciation for the diverse dimensions of materials and their properties. Drop-in activities and self-directed art- and science-making activities will be available during Museum hours, along with a noncirculating children's library featuring books that support exploration of materials as well as scheduled storytelling times led by Met staff.

Through seven interactive stations and the children's library, the Studio facilitates the exploration of materials. Different materials will be featured on a rotating basis. For example, many of the inaugural activities are inspired by wood, and kids will be able to explore a variety of wood types and finishes through touch and smell, participate in activities such as woodblock carving and drum making, and use digital tools to discover the secrets of wood, clay, and metal. Another highlight is a unique musical station, designed by music and audio brand Yamaha, where kids can understand how materials influence sound through instruments such as a standing guitar, a castanet wall, an organ, and a marimba. Yamaha also designed a bird chime that will play sounds to mark important times of the day in the Studio. Other stations will also engage the senses through hands-on building using cardboard boxes, tape, wooden blocks, wheels, fabric, and Velcro.

At the 81st Street Studio, kids can also pick up a Met Field Guide, a packet of cool tools that guides exploration of the Museum and Central Park. The guide encourages kids to learn more about the scientific aspects of The Met collection and Central Park as a Field Scientist, collecting data while also collecting stickers and badges.

81st Street Studio is conceived by Heidi Holder, The Met's Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chair of Education, in consultation with departments throughout the Museum including Conservation, Scientific Research, Curatorial, Design, Digital, and Capital Projects departments. It is designed by the New York–based firm KOKO Architecture + Design. Bluecadet, an experience design firm, served as a strategic digital design partner and produced interactive media for the space. Concept and design creation for the music space was led by Kip Washio of Yamaha. RoundSquare Builders served as construction manager and Mark Richey Woodworking and Design fabricated the millwork.