Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut renamed Niantic Children's Museum
East Lyme — The Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut has renamed itself the Niantic Children's Museum and released a new logo.
The museum announced the new name and logo at its annual gala, held virtually, on Sept. 11. The changes came out of the strategic planning the museum began in 2017, subsequent focus groups and surveys.
"It soon became apparent that many people didn't know that our name wasn't the Niantic Children's Museum," John Burkhardt, president of the museum's board, said in a news release Friday. "Colloquially, that's what people have called us for years."
The new logo — designed in-house — features the purple silhouette of a child standing on a boat and looking up at the stars, with blue waves rising up around the boat in the shape of a scallop shell, the symbol of Niantic.
"The new logo represents exploration, discoveries, dreams, and the symbols of the village we call home," Burkhardt said. "We really wanted the logo to be a love letter to our community."
Museum Executive Director Holly Cheeseman, who also serves as a state representative, said the original plan was to unveil the logo when announcing renovation plans but "like many other things in 2020, those plans had to change."
The museum was founded in 1992, and the first logo stemmed from a contest, in which 230 entries came from children 12 and under.
The museum website is now NianticKids.org.
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