By Christine Feeley, Young at Art Museum

Anyone who has driven along I-595 in the last few months has noticed the architecturally stunning building under construction between Hiatus and Flamingo Roads. It’s the new $21 million, 55,000 square-foot GOLD LEED-certified Young At Art Museum and Broward County Library scheduled to open in the spring of 2012.

A giant crane recently hoisted a Live Oak, the official tree of the Town of Davie, atop the building to mark the formal topping off ceremony before an audience of donors and board members. It turned out to be a dual celebration as Mindy Shrago, founder and executive director of Young At Art Museum, announced during the ceremony that Young At Art Museum stands alone in the state of Florida as the only children’s museum to achieve accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition to be bestowed on a museum. Young At Art also is one of only six children’s museums in the nation to receive this accreditation.

Of the 779 accredited museums in the entire country, 49 are in Florida and Young At Art is the first children’s museum in the state to be approved. Young At Art was noted for its steady, smart and strategic approach to expanding its service to the public, which has been the museum’s mission since 1989; developing model art programs for children and families; and creating strong school and community partnerships.  The public-private partnership with Broward County also was recognized as a national model for working with local government.

This puts Young At Art firmly on the map not only as one of the top museums in the country, but as an example of what government and community partnerships with the arts can achieve.  The new Young At Art Museum will be the epicenter of cultural arts education for families and will include four permanent, unique galleries: GreenScapes, CultureScapes, WonderScapes and ArtScapes, as well as expanded community programs to reach audiences throughout South Florida.