Urgent $5M campaign to ensure the future of PTM

Please Touch Museum’s closure due to the public health crisis has created an unanticipated earned revenue gap and urgent resiliency support is critical to ensure the future of the Museum. Creating the Future of Play must secure $3.5M in working capital and $1.5M to institute The Otto & Portia Sperr Fund for Museum Learning, named after our Museum’s founder.

Important work is already underway to create the future of play at Please Touch Museum, and we will have more news to share in the coming weeks. Here are a few ways we are impacting community and supporting play-based learning:

• Summer Discovery Backpacks – distributed to 1,000 children ages 4-8 living in West Philadelphia’s Parkside neighborhood which were filled with educational activities to promote social-emotional learning lost due to school closures. READ MORE
• New Market Exhibit – a complete reimagining of the much-loved Market experience, funded through a $1.2M leadership gift by The GIANT Company, and scheduled to open in October 2021. READ MORE
• Centennial Innovations Exhibit – a brand new gallery focused on innovation inspired by the 1876 World’s Fair, funded by The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, ready for visitors when we reopen.

Learn more about how you can support our Creating the Future of Play Campaign to continue the magic, wonder, and learning at Please Touch Museum.

Yours in Play,

Patricia D. Wellenbach
President & CEO
Please Touch Museum