El Museo from an 8 year old's perspective

As any parent will tell you, as soon as you have kids you can’t stop talking about them! My days are usually filled with meetings, e-mails, and phone calls, but before all that, before my professional life begins, I get to have breakfast with my two kids. Elinor is 4 ½ and Alexandre will be 8 in a couple of days. All things considered they get along quite well (except those times when Alexandre, who is a great admirer of Tintin books, insists on calling his sister Milou only to infuriate her). After breakfast, Alexandre and I walk together to his school at P.S. 199 often talking about what we will do during the weekend.

Whoever said New York is not a great place for kids has obviously not lived here long enough to discover it. I have often taken Elinor and Alexandre to many cultural organizations and they always have a blast at the events organized for children. At El Museo, every third for Saturday of the month we have bilingual workshops which give kids the opportunity to make art projects and they are a great opportunity to teach children about Latino, Latin American and Caribbean art. They are truly worthwhile. Come see for yourself and don’t forget to bring your kids.

I was recently invited by the Alliance Federation for the Arts to write something for their Seasonal Kids Calendar. I couldn’t think of anyone better to interview but my son Alexandre and I think you will enjoy reading it. After this experience, I realized the importance of focus groups and I learned that visitor information gathering should always start at home.

Please enjoy this verbatim account of his favorite cultural organizations in New York City.

—Julian Zugazagoitia