Jeffrey Patchen: Celebrating China through a child’s eye

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Jeffrey PatchenPresident and CEO of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Jeffrey Patchen, tells us how the world’s largest children museum is celebrating Chinese cultures and traditions.

Jeffrey Patchen is the president and CEO of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis – the largest children’s museum in the world.

He believes having the Take Me There: China exhibit has value behind learning about another culture.

“For adults, who have never been to China, it dispels stereotypes,” said Jeffrey Patchen, president and CEO of The Children’s Museum. “Americans may think, ‘well, all Chinese live in a traditional, Chinese architecture home’ when that’s absolutely not the case.”

Jeffrey Patchen: Celebrating China through a child’s eye

Jeffrely Patchen, president and CEO of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, talks about the Take Me There: China exhibit.


In recreated Chinese buildings and environments, museum visitors can explore the daily life and celebrations of Chinese families. They can do this through seeing art, experiencing music and creating faux food based on the Asian culture.

“We also wanted to be able to have children and families learn some language, learn some calligraphy, not just ‘oh, China must be about Terracotta Warriors and ancient architecture, etc.’ but we wanted them to understand urban China,” Patchen said.

From Indianapolis, Jeffrey Patchen joined May Lee in our Los Angeles studio with more about how the world’s largest children’s museum is celebrating Chinese cultures and traditions.