Tag Archives: Kelley Bass

Labor Day Museum Monday: Museum of Discovery

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modThe Museum of Discovery is open today from 9am to 5pm. 

The featured exhibit (at the Museum until September 22) is How People Make Things. 

Every object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology.

The exhibit, inspired by the factory tour segments from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes – molding, cutting, deforming and assembly.  

Step into the exhibit’s main office, where you can don coveralls, lab coats, aprons, safety glasses, boots and hard hats to become a factory technician, worker or supervisor. 

hpmt small logoUse a die cutter to make a box and a horse, operate a 3-axis mill to carve a block of wax, assemble parts of a real golf cart and see who can assemble a replica of the signature trolley from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood the fastest. You can also mold pourable wax, explore vacuum forming and injection molding and match products to the mold from which they were made.  Or play the “People in Your Neighborhood” matching game, developed with The Saturday Light Brigade radio program, where audio clues and stories help you match the person to the object they make.

“Manufacturing is an industry critical to Arkansas’s economy, and we are proud the Museum of Discovery has leased this blockbuster exhibit that shows children and their families through hands-on experiences the variety of engaging activities that take place every day on the floor of manufacturing facilities,” said Kelley Bass, Chief Executive Officer at the Museum of Discovery. “Our museum’s mission is igniting a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment, and How People Make Things brings that mission to life for our visitors.”

The exhibit also features factory tour videos from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series that depict the making of crayons, carousel horses, balls, traffic lights, quarters, shoes, toy cars and toy wagons.

Additional products featured in How People Make Things include 10,000 Crayola crayons in 90 colors, 10,000 plastic pellets, traffic lights, cooking pans, sneakers, baseball bats, baseball mitts and matchbox cars.

Arkansas manufacturers will be represented through supplemental exhibit pieces, including valves from Cameron Valves and a pump produced by Franklin Electric. A streaming presentation from Cameron will also show how the company’s valves are made and can be deconstructed.

How People Make Things is sponsored by Cameron Valves, Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions and Franklin Electric. 

New Museum of Discovery Exhibit explores How People Make Things

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hpmt small logoEvery object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology.  This exhibit opens today and runs through September 22 at the Museum of Discovery

The exhibit, inspired by the factory tour segments from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes – molding, cutting, deforming and assembly.

Step into the exhibit’s main office, where you can don coveralls, lab coats, aprons, safety glasses, boots and hard hats to become a factory technician, worker or supervisor.

Use a die cutter to make a box and a horse, operate a 3-axis mill to carve a block of wax, assemble parts of a real golf cart and see who can assemble a replica of the signature trolley from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood the fastest. You can also mold pourable wax, explore vacuum forming and injection molding and match products to the mold from which they were made.  Or play the “People in Your Neighborhood” matching game, developed with The Saturday Light Brigade radio program, where audio clues and stories help you match the person to the object they make.

“Manufacturing is an industry critical to Arkansas’s economy, and we are proud the Museum of Discovery has leased this blockbuster exhibit that shows children and their families through hands-on experiences the variety of engaging activities that take place every day on the floor of manufacturing facilities,” said Kelley Bass, Chief Executive Officer at the Museum of Discovery. “Our museum’s mission is igniting a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment, and How People Make Things brings that mission to life for our visitors.”

The exhibit also features factory tour videos from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series that depict the making of crayons, carousel horses, balls, traffic lights, quarters, shoes, toy cars and toy wagons.

Additional products featured in How People Make Things include 10,000 Crayola crayons in 90 colors, 10,000 plastic pellets, traffic lights, cooking pans, sneakers, baseball bats, baseball mitts and matchbox cars.

Arkansas manufacturers will be represented through supplemental exhibit pieces, including valves from Cameron Valves and a pump produced by Franklin Electric. A streaming presentation from Cameron will also show how the company’s valves are made and can be deconstructed.

How People Make Things is sponsored by Cameron Valves, Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions and Franklin Electric.

Museum of Discovery Tinkerfest Today

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tinkerfestThe second annual Tinkerfest is coming to the Museum of Discovery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 15, offering the public a chance to build and create without limits.  The event is put on by the Arkansas Discovery Network, a six-museum partnership in the state for which the Museum of Discovery serves as the hub.

More than 40 tinkering stations will be set up both inside and outside of the museum.  Visitors will have the opportunity to create with 3D printers, disassemble a vehicle, meet robot makers, participate in water balloon catapulting duels, build and launch rockets, learn to crochet, create a cardboard city and much more.

According to Joel Gordon, the museum’s Visitor Experience Director, Tinkerfest grew out of the Maker Movement, which has recently soared in popularity globally.

 “In Arkansas, we are ahead of the trend when it comes to the movement,” Gordon says. “.  We have always been makers because we rely on self-reliance.” Gordon says Tinkerfest is one of a handful of maker faires in the nation.

The event will promote the museum’s STEAM initiative mission (science, technology, engineering, art and math.)  Gordon says it also will teach people the importance of creating through trial and error.

 “Tinkering teaches us that it is OK to fail because when you do fail, you learn why and then work that much harder to succeed.”

Tinkerfest is sponsored by the Argenta Arts Foundation, Regional Recycling and Waste District, Arkansas School for Math, Sciences and the Arts, and Custom XM.

There is no extra cost to attend Tinkerfest. Regular museum admission will apply: $10 for adults, $8 for children, free for members.  To view the full list of activities or to learn more about Tinkerfest, visit www.museumofdiscovery.org.

Museum of Discovery, Clinton Library lower admissions during Riverfest

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rvrfstlogoIn support of and in cooperation with the 36th annual Riverfest, the Museum of Discovery and Clinton Presidential Center are offering visitors special deals on Memorial Day Weekend.

Both major River Market attractions will offer $5 admission all weekend – Friday-Monday, May 24-27 for the Clinton Center and Saturday-Monday, May 25-27, for the museum, which will be closed Friday, May 24.

Also, for Clinton Center, Clinton Museum Store and Museum of Discovery patrons not attending Riverfest, there will be free parking and a free round-trip shuttle from the designed lot located between 4th and 5th streets and Collins Street to each of the attractions.

“Riverfest will bring around 250,000 people to our backyard over Memorial Day Weekend,” said Kelley Bass, CEO of the Museum of Discovery. “A large part of the festival will take place on the grounds of the Clinton Center and Heifer International, so it only makes sense for us to join our neighbors and welcome Riverfest patrons to the museum.”

Besides $5 admission – which equals half-price for adults and $3 off for children – Bass said the museum is offering special programs at the museum throughout the holiday weekend to give people even more reason to visit. Museum educators also will be on-site at Riverfest doing hands-on “tinkering” activities with festival-goers at the Deltic Timber Kidzone Area from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 25, and from 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 26.

In addition to engaging with the 85 hands-on, interactive exhibits, museum visitors on Memorial Day Weekend will be treated to a full schedule of special programs, with “The Electric Show,” “Awesome Science” and “Meet the Museum Animals” being presented in rotation, on the hour, from noon until 4 p.m. Saturday, May 25; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, May 27.

Also, Tommy’s Terrific Magic Show, which will be presented Sunday at Riverfest, will be featured at 1 p.m. Saturday at the museum.

Operating hours:

Museum of Discovery
Friday, May 24: Closed
Saturday, May 25: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 26: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, May 27: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Clinton Presidential Center
Friday, May 24: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 25: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 26: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, May 27: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

BRAIN AWARENESS DAY at Museum of Discovery

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20120814-171022.jpgMuseum of Discovery will host Brain Awareness Day Saturday, March 16, in conjunction with National Brain Awareness Week.   The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include demonstrations and exhibits presented by the Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. The first 725 visitors will receive $2 off their admission.

Representatives from the Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Hendrix College and University of Central Arkansas (UCA) will offer hands-on exhibits and demonstrations on the brain for visitors of all ages.

“Scientific outreach activities such as Brain Awareness events are very important to help kindle interest in science and encourage scientific achievement in young students who participate,” said Dr. Jeff Padberg, assistant professor of neuroscience at UCA. “Engaging the youth of Arkansas in scientific exploration of the world around them, as well as increasing scientific literacy of students at an early age, are the goals of this event.”

 

Brain Awareness Day demonstrations include:

  • “Your Brain on Jell-O” is an interactive exhibit that will allow children to touch artificial brains made of Jell-O and powdered milk.   The activity will show the fragility of the human brain as well as demonstrate its overall size, shape and form. Children 5 and older will use cake frosting to place artificial arteries on the Jell-O brains. Children 4 and younger will use a “brain mold” to make a moon sand brain.
  • “Behavioral Tasks” will show how an Operant Test Battery assesses the intelligence of a monkey
  • “Your Brain and You!” is a hands-on exhibit that will offer many activities describing the shape of the brain. Visitors can color and create their own brain headband and sculpt brains out of clay. Adults will receive information on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research being conducted at the Brain Imaging Research Center at UAMS while children will learn how MRIs work from a display using magnets and iron filings.
  • “What Can We Learn from Animal Brains?” will show why some animals can give clues as to how the human brain works. Stained sections of armadillo and rat brains will be presented on a microscope along with a rat atlas.
  • “Visual Illusions: Fooling the Brain!” will provide a variety of visual illusions and explain how the mechanisms employed by the eyes and brain that support visual perception can also be deceiving.

“Hosting Brain Awareness Day is in lockstep with our mission at the Museum of Discovery,” said Kelley Bass, museum CEO. “We strive to ignite a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment – and that’s all about engaging the brains of our visitors. So many of our programs and exhibits are about helping visitors understand how things work, as are so many of the exhibits and demonstrations that will be featured during Brain Awareness Day. It’s a perfect fit.”

For more information on Brain Awareness Day at Museum of Discovery, contact 501-396-7050.

Museum of Discovery Earns National Recognition

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20120814-171022.jpgThe Institute of Museum and Library Services announced last week that the Museum of Discovery was a National Medal for Museum and Library Service finalist. The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for service to the community and celebrates institutions that make a difference for individuals, families, and communities.

“On behalf of the dedicated staff at the Museum of Discovery,” we’d like to thank IMLS for recognizing the impact our newly refurbished museum has had on the 170,000 people who visited us in the first year after our grand reopening,” said Kelley Bass, museum CEO. “Among the 33 institutions named as finalists, the Museum of Discovery is one of only six science and technology centers that target children, which makes this honor even more notable for us.”

Medal finalists are selected from nationwide nominations of institutions that demonstrate innovative approaches to public service, exceeding the expected levels of community outreach. This year’s finalists exemplify the nation’s great diversity of libraries and museums and include an aquarium and marine science center, conservatory and botanical gardens, county library systems, individual libraries, children’s museums, an art museum, science centers, and more, hailing from across the country.

“Museums and libraries serve as community gathering places and centers for lifelong learning, and we are very proud to announce Museum of Discovery as a finalist for the 2013 National Medal,” said Susan Hildreth, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “This year’s finalists exemplify the many wonderful ways museums and libraries can respond to the needs and wants of the communities they serve.”

Finalists are chosen because of their significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. IMLS is encouraging community members who have visited Museum of Discovery to share their story on the IMLS Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/USIMLS. Visit the IMLS Facebook page to learn more about how these institutions make an impact. National Medal for Museum and Library Service winners will be announced this spring.

To learn more about the 2013 National Medal finalists, visit http://www.imls.gov/medals.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.  Our mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Our grant making, policy development, and research help libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive.  To learn more, visit http://www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Museum of Discovery 

Located in Little Rock’s historic River Market District, the Donald W. Reynolds Science Center at the Museum of Discovery is central Arkansas’s premier science, technology and math center. With nearly 90 state-of-the-art interactive exhibits in three galleries focused on health, physical and earth sciences, and a highly trained staff, it is a leading resource for informal science-related education. The Donald W. Reynolds Science Center at the Museum of Discovery’s mission is to ignite a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation awarded the Museum a $9.2 million grant solely dedicated to the renovation. The money paid for the renovation of 44,000 square feet of existing space, a 6,000 square-foot addition and new exhibits throughout the facility.

25th Arkansas Business of the Year finalists include cultural institutions

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Arkansas Business earlier this week announced the finalists for the 25th Arkansas Business of the Year.  The winners will be announced at a ceremony presented by Centennial Bank and Arkansas Business on Tuesday, February 26 at the Statehouse Convention Center.

As is often the case several of the finalists in the business and business leader categories are supporters of cultural life in their communities.  In addition, two of the finalists in the Non-Profit categories are connected to Little Rock’s cultural scene.

christinalittlejohnChristina Littlejohn is a finalist for Non-Profit Executive of the Year.  Since 2009 she has been Executive Director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  Since coming to the ASO, she has not only led it through the current recession, she also worked with the selection of Philip Mann as the Music Director.  Whereas many symphony orchestras are cutting musicians, concerts and series, the ASO has been embarking on new outreach concerts including the new Intimate Neighborhood Concert series..

Prior to joining ASO, she served as Executive Director of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, Director of Residencies for the Cleveland Orchestra, and Executive Director of the Mobile Symphony.  She is also a cellist.

The Museum of Discovery is a finalist for Non-Profit of the Year. Established in 1927 as the Museum of Natural History and Antiquities, the Museum of Discovery is the oldest museum in Little Rock.  It has been housed in a storefront, the third floor of Little Rock City Hall, the Arsenal Tower in MacArthur Park, and since 1998 has called the Museum Center in the River Market its home.

The new facility provided more hands-on, interactive exhibits and programs, and the museum began to focus more intensely on science, technology, engineering and math. In 2003, the museum merged with the Children’s Museum of Arkansas and assumed responsibility for addressing the needs of preschool children. Also in 2003, the museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate.

In 2011, the museum closed for nine months in order to add a new entrance and undergo a total renovation. This project, funded by a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, also provided funding for new, interactive science exhibits, completing the museum’s transformation from a collecting museum to a science center.  Nan Selz led the Museum as Executive Director from 2004 through 2012.  Kelley Bass, a former member of the museum’s board, became the Museum’s CEO earlier this month.