Spotlight On: Jane Werner, Executive Director, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

December 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Jane Werner, executive director of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, reflected on a year of creative adaptation. She emphasized the museum’s role in community revitalization, stating, “We knew we needed to be agents of change.” Award-winning touring exhibits now generate a third of its revenue, while expanded partnerships and a commitment to playful learning shape its forward-looking strategy.

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What changes over the past year have impacted the Children’s Museum?

It’s been an interesting year, not like any I’ve seen before. There are a number of things happening with families and children, and we’ve really had to become more nimble. That is something we’ve always been known for but that we move away from, going back to it has taken us back to our roots — acting more like a startup again.

When I first started here, the museum was only 20,000 square feet. Now we cover 150,000 square feet across two buildings. We’ve been getting scrappy again, thinking creatively and doing things a little differently, while still holding on to our core mission — being a place for innovative and inclusive museum experiences that inspire joy, creativity, curiosity and kindness.

It’s been a good time for reflection, and a good time to get back to what matters – investing in kids and families.

How has the Children’s Museum contributed to economic development in Pittsburgh?

We were founded over 40 years ago. The Children’s Museum is housed in a historic post office building from 1893. When we expanded in 2004, we were surrounded by vacant buildings — the first Carnegie Library, an empty mall, vacant apartment buildings, and a run-down park.

We knew we needed to be agents of change. We took over the planetarium next door, partnered with the Warhol Museum to incubate the New Hazlett theater across the street, and renovated the park. Eventually, the Carnegie Library reopened as MuseumLab. Even the developer of the old Allegheny Mall, now Nova Place, told me he wouldn’t have invested if we hadn’t stabilized the neighborhood.

Now that area is a thriving tech center with robotics companies, and the surrounding apartments are fully occupied. That’s the power of the arts. It doesn’t just enrich lives — it transforms communities.

How are broader economic changes influencing your programming?

The economic environment has made us take a hard look at how we support families. We’re doubling down on understanding what they really need.

We’re a tourism destination, a hospitality space, and a community hub. On any given weekend, we are partnering with artists, taking apart electronics, doing STEM workshops, hosting birthday parties and weddings, and more. This kind of energy is happening every weekend here.

Families want to escape. They want quality time together without thinking about all the stress out there. We provide that space. We’re the third-largest museum in Pittsburgh, after the Carnegie museums. The museum is a major cultural and tourism destination here in Pittsburgh and we really take that role seriously.

How are your exhibit designs contributing both to your mission and to financial sustainability?

We’ve always been known for our exhibit design, and we’ve won awards for it. That includes not just how the exhibits look and feel, but how they function. A third of our earned income comes from traveling exhibits we design and build in-house.

It’s a big part of our business model now. These exhibits allow us to reach audiences beyond Pittsburgh and to keep generating revenue while fulfilling our mission. That’s been a positive shift for us.

What trends in experiential education are influencing your work?

We’re seeing a shift in how people think about learning through play. We’ve had a learning and research department for years, with scientists on staff studying how kids learn in informal settings. We also run two schools — a middle school in our MuseumLab and two pre-Ks in the Children’s Museum.

What’s new is that schools are asking us to help them become more like children’s museums. We’re being invited into formal education spaces and asked to design classrooms, hallways or even entire schools using our principles of playful learning.

That’s a big change, and it’s exciting. It shows that the value of experiential learning is being recognized beyond museums.

How are you modeling inclusivity and accessibility?

It’s something we’ve been focused on for a long time, and now it’s just second nature to us. Our senior director of creative experiences Anne Fullenkamp is well known for her expertise in inclusive and universal design. She’s consulted all over the country.

MuseumLab won the first-ever Universal Design Award from the University of Buffalo. We’ve incorporated adult changing tables and adaptive materials so all kids can fully participate in the creative process.

Outside the museum, we partner with groups like the Homeless Children’s Fund and Hosanna House. We helped a nearby shelter design their women and children’s space, and they visit us regularly. We’ve also collaborated on traveling exhibits that support both our work and theirs financially. It’s all about meeting kids where they are — inside or outside our walls.

What are the main priorities of your 2024–2027 strategic plan?

When you build a strategic plan together, it becomes part of the culture. You live it. Our plan is rooted in community, creativity, financial sustainability and equity.

We have staff who are deeply connected to those goals. One of our team members, Teona Ringgold, is especially focused on community partnerships. She builds relationships that bring us into deeper, more meaningful collaboration with other organizations.

Personally, I’m focused on creativity. I believe it’s the key to solving big problems — whether we’re talking about the environment or education. If we help kids grow up to be creative and kind, they’ll be ready to tackle whatever comes next.

What partnerships are helping you expand your mission?

We have several on-site partners. Two schools are based here. Allies for Children, Reading Is Fundamental, and Saturday Light Brigade, a podcast and radio group, all have space in our building. Carnegie Mellon University also collaborates with us regularly.

We always say, if we care about the same thing — like child literacy — and someone else is doing it better than we are, let’s work together. That’s how we amplify our impact.

We also have partnerships across the country through our rentals and travelling exhibit work. Additionally, our “Tough Art” program invites artists to create pieces that can withstand the wear and tear of children’s hands. It’s been around for 18 years and is now being adopted by organizations like the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Riverlife. Even the Carnegie International is involved this year.

And we have licensing partnerships with major artists and brands — Fred Rogers Productions, Mo Willems, Eric Carle, Pixar and more. That helps bring beloved characters into the museum in meaningful ways and expands our reach nationally and even internationally.

What’s your perspective on the talent pool in Pittsburgh?

The region’s population loss has made hiring a bit more challenging, but we’ve been fortunate. Some of our leadership has been with us for a decade or more, and that continuity helps preserve our culture.

That said, we’re always bringing in new talent, either locally or from outside the region. What we look for are people who care deeply about kids and who understand that this is both an educational institution and an arts organization. That blend is unique, and not everyone is the right fit. But when we find the right person, we know it.

What is your outlook for Children’s Museum over the next two to three years?

The outlook is really positive. When you work with kids, the future always feels bright. Sure, there are bad days, but they’re outweighed by the moments of wonder. You see parents fall in love with their kids again. You see discovery. You see joy.

We plan to keep innovating, trying new things and can expect to fail sometimes because that’s part of being creative. Our team is committed to staying nimble and responsive. We’re not afraid of trying something new.

I hope we keep that spirit alive. It’s what makes us different.

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