“Museum of Care” Moves to NYPL’S Riverside Branch in Manhattan

It is scientifically proven that caring for each other is healthy for us individually and collectively; yet, there are so many barriers to receiving good healthcare. That disconnect was the springboard for the Museum of Care -- a new museum exploring the past, present, and future of care, that is now open in its latest location, New York Public Library’s Riverside Branch (127 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY).

About the size of a refrigerator, the special museum takes visitors on an exploration of caring across history and societies, using real stories from the front lines. It asks, “If the science is simple —our bodies and brains are designed to give and receive care— how did healthcare become so complex?”

Amplifying and celebrating the voices of healthcare workers as part of its exploration of the challenges plaguing our current healthcare system, this mini museum also models the skills it takes to provide care today and aims to empower people to investigate their local systems and make a change.

The Museum of Care comes to this location following its premiere last month at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch, and is slated to travel to other NYPL branches in Staten Island and the Bronx and will then travel to Queens in 2022.

Built by MICRO, an organization whose fleet of tiny museums engage communities in conversations about the natural world, and supported by Johnson & Johnson’s Center for Health Worker Innovation.

The Museum of Care was created with the guidance of an advisory team and MICRO collaborated with multidisciplinary design studio HunterGatherer on graphic design for the project.