Image: Brooklyn Museum, New York
The Brooklyn Museum is promoting a summer slate of family-friendly programs that place 'Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses' at the center of its outreach to visitors with babies, children and multigenerational groups. In a newsletter sent July 21, the museum described the exhibitions and activities as opportunities to “make a memory,” and pointed families toward stroller tours, a mobile-museum visit to Coney Island and other hands-on offerings.
The clearest of the newly listed programs is 'Stroller Tours: Iris van Herpen', scheduled for Wednesdays, July 22 and July 29, from 10 to 11:15 am. The Brooklyn Museum’s ticketing page describes the tour as an interactive, stroller-friendly visit to 'Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses', calling the exhibition one that celebrates “one of the most forward-thinking fashion designers of her generation.” The program is designed for children up to 24 months old and includes touchable objects, exploration of works on view and time to connect with other adults.
The museum’s framing links the exhibition’s couture subject matter with early-childhood access, presenting high-fashion display as something that can be experienced by very young visitors as well as adults. The newsletter’s language suggests that the museum is using the van Herpen exhibition as a gateway into gallery-going for families who might otherwise need more age-specific programming, while the ticketing information confirms that the stroller tours are an add-on to the exhibition rather than a separate project.
Family programming also extends beyond the museum’s walls. On Saturday, July 25, from 10 am to 2 pm, 'Museum on Wheels: Coney Island' is set to return to Coney Island for City of Water Day, described in the newsletter as a region-wide day of free, family-friendly events on or near the water. The mobile museum will be at Kaiser Park, along the Coney Island Creek, with activities including hands-on discovery and play inspired by New York City’s waterfront. The museum says visitors can transform beach finds into art, discover coastal treasures through touch tours, create pinwheels and connect with local organizations that support the community.
A second 'Museum on Wheels' program follows on Saturday, August 1, from 4 to 7 pm at Pacific Park in Prospect Heights. That stop is billed as an afternoon of creativity, discovery and family fun, with art-making, hands-on activities and games for visitors of all ages. The museum says the visit will share stories from its collection and invite families to learn together, whether they stay briefly or for the full afternoon.
The newsletter also points readers to broader public programming for adults and families, including 'Brooklyn Talks: How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up with Julian Shapiro-Barnum' on Thursday, August 6. That event is described as a reading and conversation followed by a signing, and the museum says Shapiro-Barnum draws on five years of interviews with thousands of children in his debut book. The announcement is presented alongside the family offerings rather than as part of the children’s schedule itself.
For the stroller tours, the museum’s ticketing page lists admission at $40 per family for one adult and one child, with additional adults at $16 each and member tickets at $36. The page also notes that general admission is included. The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, and the family-program newsletter invites visitors to sign up for updates on youth and family events.
