We are a team of parents and educators who have worked since 2018 to bring a STEAM-based children’s museum to South Bend. Our efforts began after Emilie and Mark lost their young son, Finn Sebastian Golitko, very suddenly in 2018. Finn loved children’s museums, and Emilie loved the chance to play with and learn from her curious, creative, kind little boy. Children’s museums prodded her to engage with Finn in new ways, and offered a window into his brilliant little mind at work. She and the rest of the team have worked hard to bring these enriching parent-child interactions to the families of South Bend, in Finn’s memory.

What started as a response to great personal tragedy has evolved into our love letter to the children of South Bend. In the past two years we have formed a board, received 501c3 (non-profit) status, reached 1300 followers on Facebook, developed our business plan, raised $100,000, secured a location, renovated our space, and constructed exhibits. We have a three phased strategy to create the museum that our children deserve. The small museum we are opening this spring represents Phase I of our plan. In this phase, we will offer activities and programming to children in a small, store-front location. This phase will help us to foster partnerships with local community groups and prove our viability to potential stakeholders. Next we will build towards Phases II and III, in which we will offer significantly more space and professionally designed exhibits.