Chazz Palminteri To Be Honored at Bronx Children's Museum 2nd Annual Gala

On Tuesday, May 8th, the Bronx Children's Museum will hold its second Annual Gala, Building Our Future Together, at the Edison Ballroom at 240 West 47th Street in Times Square. Hundreds of friends and supporters will join Event Co-Chairs Kerry Washington (Actress; Producer; Activist), Richard Abrons (Playwright; Activist), and Rafael Collado (Entrepreneur) to celebrate Gala honorees Sonia Manzano ("Maria" From Sesame Street; Author; Activist),Chazz Palminteri (Actor; Director; Creator Of "A Bronx Tale"), and Kerry Malawista and Alan Heilbron (Donors of "Museum On The Go!" Bus).

The Bronx Children's Museum Gala will be highlighted by a cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner and a live auction. Master of Ceremonies for the event will be Sunny Hostin (Co-Host of ABC Daytime's Morning Show The View; Senior Legal Correspondent & Analyst for ABC News) with entertainment provided by renowned Bronx-born Jazz Pianist and Educator Dr. Valerie Capers. All Gala proceeds will help the Museum open the doors of its permanent facility in 2019 and continue to see more than 16,000 children and caregivers annually through "without walls" programs offered in schools, after school, at community based organizations, and at fairs and festivals.

"I know how vital it is to provide kids with places that inspire them to think, create, and dream. The Museum says to our children of the Bronx: we matter, your own community matters, this place that you call home matters and because of that, possibilities are endless and you can go anywhere and be excited about who you are today and who you will be tomorrow," says Kerry Washington, Event Co-Chair.

Gala Honorees

Raised in the Bronx, Sonia Manzano is an actor, author, spokesperson and activist who played "Maria" on SESAME STREET for 44 years. A long-time advocate for the Bronx Children's Museum, she authored the Museum's picture book,The Lowdown on the High Bridge, and has been featured as part of the Museum's "Dream Big" Summer Arts Enrichment program.

Bronx native Chazz Palminteri is an American actor, screenwriter, producer and playwright. His A Bronx Tale, now on Broadway, is adapted from the 1993 film of the same name (which was in turn adapted from his groundbreaking, autobiographical one-man show). Palminteri has more than 50 movies to his credit, and is a member of the Actors Studio in NYC.

Several years ago, Kerry Malawista and Alan Heilbron, gifted a redesigned former school bus entitled Sarah's "Got Art?" Bus to the Museum in loving memory of their daughter, Sarah. She had imagined bringing art to underserved city children. Bronx Children's Museum has operated for more than seven years "without walls" with this bus-redesigned and renamed "Museum On the Go!"-as its heart and soul, traveling to schools, parks, festivals, shelters, hospitals and community events throughout the borough.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM: Bronx Children's Museum (BxCM) seeks to inspire children from infancy to nine years of age and their families/caregivers to learn about themselves within the diversity and richness of their surroundings and the world BEYOND and to become caregivers of the planet. Founded in 2005, BxCM currently serves 16,000 Bronx residents annually through innovative mobile programming and ongoing in-school, after-school and summer programming at 70+ sites. In 2019 it will open a permanent home near Yankee Stadium, and thereafter always operate "with and without walls". It is one of a few cultural institutions in the Bronx geared toward families with children, especially those who cannot afford-or would not normally visit-a museum. For more information, please visit www.bronxchildrensmuseum.org.