Future Bronx Children’s Museum Gets Moveable Art Museum

Although a Bronx Children’s Museum is still a couple of years away from being a place to visit, a preview of the museum can now visit the children.

Freshly painted out of Baltimore, Maryland, a colorful school bus was delivered via tow truck to its temporary holding spot at the Bronx Atlantic Express bus yard on 399 Exterior Street on Friday, April 8.

The colorful mobile museum will make its debut in the borough on Sunday, May 22 at the 40th Annual Bronx Week Parade that will begin on Mosholu Parkway North and will allow children of the Bronx to visit the new educational exhibit.

After its debut, the bus will serve as a mobile art exhibit that will make monthly visits to Bronx elementary schools, parks, community organizations, and neighborhoods with other exhibits and hands on programs.

“The brilliantly colored bus will be a visible symbol to the borough that a children’s museum is finally coming to the Bronx,” said Carla Precht, executive director of the Bronx Children’s Museum. “It’s as though we can open the doors of the museum before the museum is actually open.

The bus was donated by the Malawista family from Potomac, Maryland in honor of their daughter Sarah, who committed suicide in 2006 while suffering from bipolar disorder at the age of 18.

Sarah Malawista came up with the bus idea while in high school to offer children exposure to creative arts.

In Sarah’s honor, her parents purchased an old school bus and turned it into a mobile art gallery. After learning that the Bronx is the only New York City borough without a children’s museum, the family offered to donate the bus to the borough.

“My husband and I thought, what a perfect way to continue her dream,” said Sarah’s mom, Kerry Malawista. “We’re thrilled with the idea of it having a home in the Bronx for kids, just like Sarah would have wanted. This bus has so much character, its presence is so perfect. I could see it traveling around the Bronx.”

The Bronx Children’s Museum, an idea that developed in 2005, has been a highly anticipated addition to the borough since its plans were first established.

The museum is currently slated to begin its operations in Building J at Mill Pond Park near Yankee Stadium in 2013, and the theme of the future museum is “Dream Big,” and Carla Precht believes Sarah Malawista’s dream will live on with the addition of the bus.

More information about the bus and the Bronx Children’s Museum can be found at Bronxchildrensmuseum.org, or by calling (347) 834-7378.