History

KoKo NYC is the brainchild of Monika Wuhrer, who in 2007 was raising three young boys whom she’d often take to explore the urban outdoors. Walking by discarded household items on city streets, her boys made her see trash in a new light as objects that could be repurposed with just a small bit of imagination and ingenuity. Her kids were also obsessed with cars, and after speaking to an engineer friend about the idea of making vehicles out of trash, she landed on the Soap Box workshop that was to become an annual summer offering as one of the centerpieces of KoKo. But the name ‘KoKo’ wasn’t born until Raphaela Riepl, who was working with Monika to establish both programming at the Gallery and the education program, invited a small group of children to take a ‘build & create’ class in her home, where she came up with the name ‘KoKo’ for the program. The kids liked the sound of ‘KoKo’ and went on to design a logo and tee-shirts that launched what was to become a kid-centered, inventive and accessible program throughout NYC. 

Today KoKo serves more than 2,600 kids every year across New York City. The organic nature of KoKo’s foundations is key to how the program views education: at the heart of KoKo’s mission is empowering kids to build a world of their own making, from the ground up.