Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

― Plato

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                       Sarah H.                  Sarah E.                                        Amber                                  Chantel

 

The Virgin Islands Children's Museum is the inspired idea of Sarah Hughes, Executive Director. In early 2013 she partnered with, Sarah Erickson, Director of Development and Curator. Together, the museum was co-founded in August of 2014, and received our official 501(c)(3) designation on October 17, 2014.

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On July 26, 2015 the Virgin Islands Children's Museum went public with our first fundraiser at Scoops and Brew, Crown Bay Marina, St Thomas. We attended a fateful Downtown Revitalization Initiative meeting in the beautiful and historic Grand Galleria. We went to try to drum up some support, but fell in love with the building! On October 1, 2015, we took possession of this incredible space and went to work to bring it back to its glory. With a ton of hard work, armies of volunteers, and one dedicated crew from DCM Corporation, we were finally able to make our vision come true.

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On March 20, 2016,  The Virgin Islands Children's Museum opened our doors. In the first 3 months we were open we welcomed over 1000 visitors and had gained 200 museum members. We facilitated 28 field trips, reaching 578 children from 8 public schools. Summer 2016 saw our first Kids Yoga Summer Camp. And on October 22, 2016 we debuted Phase 2 which included the final renovation of 3000 more square feet and 4 new exhibits.

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In 2017, the USVI was ravaged by two category five (5) hurricanes, Irma and Maria. The first hurricane damaged the roof of the museum and the second flooded the space. Thanks to generous donors, lots of blood sweat tears and volunteer help, the VICM team was able to open an interim location in the Buccaneer Mall. While schools were still closed and power was scarce on island, the VICM offered a comfortable space for families to Explore, Play and Discover together. 

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At the end of 2018, the VI Children's Museum moved into its current location at Buccaneer Mall. In under 3 years, the museum had 3 iterations, which was not easy, especially given how much was lost in the storms. The team was able to garner enough support to rebuild and outfit the museum in time to hold the Masquerade Ball Fundraiser. At the beginning of 2020, the world experienced a global pandemic that put life on the island on hold and the museum, like most businesses, were forced to close its doors for 6 months. During that time, we tried to pay employees something so they could live and hopefully come back to the museum to work. We were able to keep all our employees and reopened the VICM in October 2020 with a new Executive Director of Programs and Facilities/ Curator Amber McCammon, and a new Executive Director of Operations and Development, Chantel Hoheb. 

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You can follow the museum's journey from 2020-2024 on Facebook. Our team simply can't believe that 4 years have passed since our shutdown and 8 years since the opening of the museum. As the VICM has proven the impact of children's museums in our community, we continue to look for support for our overall operations and programming, in the form of donations, in-kind support and volunteer assistance. We would love to state that the museum is operating on a solid foundation of funding, however we need the help of our community to stick around for the next four or forty years. ​​​​​​​​

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We are honored to bring this incredible resource to the community of the Virgin Islands, and those who visit our beloved home. With your support, we will continue to introduce new and fun educational exhibits, programs and services as we move forward into the future. Thank you to all who have embraced us and helped us create this museum for the children of the Virgin Islands.

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At the VICM, we believe that nothing in the life of a child has more impact than the ability to acquire knowledge. When a child learns something new it becomes a part of them in a way that defines their future, building confidence and self-esteem through the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. In fact, children who are able to participate in early learning programs are estimated to increase their future productivity and raise the income in their adult lives by an average of 25% to 33%. Margaret Mead, the American Cultural Anthropologist said, “Children do not need to be taught what to think, they need to be taught how to think.” And that, in essence, is what a children’s museum strives to accomplish. The children of these islands, and indeed all the world’s children, deserve to be educated. It is the single most important metric of the health of a society, how we treat our children.

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The scrolling photo marquee above is a glimpse at what it took to build The Virgin Islands Children's Museum. (scroll to the left). It is a daily labor of love and commitment by so many people! Check out our gallery and be sure to visit and donate to the VICM today!

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