Science Storms – Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, Illinois

Greetings all!

I thought today I would do something a little different and instead of discussing a traveling exhibit, I would like to discuss a brand new permanent installation at one of the top museums in the country; the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.

Science Storms banners at MSI Chicago North Entrance

In March on my birthday trip covering 5 museums in 3 days, the final museum of the trip was MSI, Chicago. I had not visited MSI since 1992, so to return there after 18 years was a big deal for me. I realized that although I had been to Chicago a gazillion times in that 18 years, the Field Museum, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Art Institute of Chicago have taken up my museum time while visiting the Windy City.

So, it was an odd homecoming for me to return to MSI after all this time, and impressed is not even close to the word I am looking to use here. Impressed doesn’t do it justice. How many exhibits do you know have a four story tornado in it?

Well this one does.

So I’m standing in the Grand Rotunda and I’m panning from the left, and see the transportation exhibit with The Great Train Story in the distance. If you’ve never seen The Great Train Story, it is very similar to Cincinnati History Museum’s Cincinnati in Motion. Ahead is the coal mine, and to the right is a sight so amazing that it was overwhelming. Science Storms.

A twista, a twista...

There was a lot going on. A tornado, balloons, a huge spinning table of sand, prisms, and lightning. All this and I haven’t even gone in yet!!! Of course, because I’m a Foucault groupie, the first thing I am attracted to in many museums is their Foucault Pendulum. While I understand that the concept is the same, it is always interesting to me how the pendulum is interpreted, and what is used as the medium to show the movement of the pendulum. While the Indiana State Museum’s brass pendulum knocks down wooden pegs, the COSi brass pendulum knocks metal balls onto wooden blocks, the MSI silver pendulum knocks down metal pegs.

Of course the main attraction was this 4 story tornado. Water vapor is controlled by visitors! There are levers all around the base and on the upper level of the tornado to make the funnel itself behave differently. You can make your tornado thin, slow, fast, thick on the top, thin on the bottom, whatever you want. The best part about the experience was there was not only the 4 story tornado, but there was an area of smaller individual tornados, and a virtual tornado! (I destroyed a barn TWICE with that bad boy!) Because there was diversity in the presentation of the content, a visitor can have the tornado experience that they wish to have.

The entire time, above head a Tesla Coil would crackle and spark and create, well, lightning. Due to the

Tesla Coil in Rest Mode

size of the coil itself, lightning is the only true word to describe what was going on there. I needed to investigate closer. I move up to the balcony level and am sidetracked by fire. There is a tank with fire, and visitors get to control the amount of fuel getting fed to the fire, the amount of water mist, and turn on cool lasers  that make it easier to see what happens when these things are all changed.

Made it closer to the Tesla Coil, and all I can say is I felt like a mosquito that couldn’t look away from the sparks and shiny, bright light.

The last highlight was the extremely neat Periodic Table. Visitors can select elements in a digital/virtual interface and put those elements together to make other stuff. For instance, if you select hydrogen and oxygen, it asks you to pick another hydrogen and voila; water! As an anti-chemist, I wasn’t quite able to make anything that made sense, but I don’t know how I do it, but every time I visit the exhibit, I make rocket fuel with like, two elements!

My professional opinion –

This is the best new permanent exhibit around. Period. While it may seem overwhelming initially, once you get started you are immediately learning about many different phenomenon in the natural world. Not only are you learning, it is fun, engaging, and interactive. The open floor plan is great, the space is well laid out, and with every step there is something to play with. As I write this post now, I have already been back to see the exhibit a second time because I was that impressed, and I’m planning a third visit this summer. The exhibit is so good and had so much more to offer that a second blog post might have to get written just to discuss it all. It is an extremely good exhibit for children of all ages.

5 out of 5 tickets! This exhibit is amazing! If you find yourself in Chicago, stop in and check it out.

For more pictures of my two journeys through Science Storms and other exhibits, check out my flickr page! http://www.flickr.com/photos/specialexhibits/

Please visit: http://msichicago.org

Follow at: http://twitter.com/msichicago

***Science Storms is brought to you through the generosity of The Allstate Corporation, The Allstate Foundation, and The Grainger Foundation. Additional major funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

Dead Sea Scrolls – Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

My 2010 birthday Midwest museum (dork) tour took me from COSi in Columbus, Ohio to Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Public Museum to see the much anticipated Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures. This would be my second visit to Milwaukee in my life ever. The first was to the breathtaking Milwaukee Art Museum only four years ago. I was excited to visit an institution similar to the past two institutions of my employment, and with its own distinct differences as well. Milwaukee Public Museum is not only a museum dedicated to the rich socio-cultural history of the “Great Place on the Great Lake” but also the natural history and native inhabitant history of the area.

Now, let’s come to a clear understanding early in our blog relationship. I don’t like getting my picture taken by the people that are waiting to take your picture right at the top of the escalator and charge you two times the amount on the dice as shown for a 5×7 or four wallets. I don’t like it at Kings Island, and I definitely think it is a little much for a museum. I have operated a photo opportunity during special projects and exhibits such as Lord of the Rings: The Exhibition, and The Indiana State Museum’s Celebration Crossing as well as Scales and Tails Festival. Never have I had to almost scare and confuse people into taking and purchasing a photo, but i digress…

So after the gauntlet of photographers, and up another escalator, it was time to enter the exhibit. I’m serious, with timed tickets it actually was time. Upon entering the exhibit you walk through a corridor with panels that set up the area of the world that we are going to be exploring. You enter the exhibit hall itself that is appropriately outfitted with floor to ceiling stone walls, Jerusalem Temple arches, ambient noise, and palm trees to give the visitor the feeling that they had stepped right into old Jerusalem. Much like the best exhibits that there are, an immersive environment is key to making the visitor feel like they are apart of the story. The many cases around the hall held many different artifacts ranging from combs, to funeary objects – one even mentioning Simon of Cyrene – the man who helped Christ bear the cross. The surprise is that you expect to see, learn, and understand more about the scrolls, but instead the exhibit is full of archaeological, historical, and biblical information. The Western Wall of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount was impressively recreated  in the back of the main exhibit space. Transitioning visitors from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.

About midway through the exhibit was a lengthly video that may have worked better near the exhibit entrance as an introductory video for the exhibition. Then a room with a facsimile of the coveted Isaiah Scroll. Although it was not the actual scroll, it gave the visitor the opportunity to understand the sheer length of the scroll itself.

I have to admit, by this point, I was not all that impressed, but after going through another environmental experience, the visitor is in a dimly lit room, serving as a re-creation of the cave where the scrolls were found, with the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Over a dozen cases with the fragments lined the room with panels above them with the information about what each case’s fragments represent. There were fragments from many books of the bible. The Western Wall at the end of the exhibit is a place for visitors to leave comments or prayers in the cracks of the wall which was really a stunning visual.

My Professional Opinion –

This is a 16,000 square foot exhibit loaded with artifacts and an interesting bible collection near the end, and  the sheer number of loaning institutions from around the globe that made this exhibit possible is cause for applause…a standing ovation even. Not often can so many individual loans be secured for one exhibit, and it speaks to the leadership and organization of the registration, collections, and curatorial team on staff in Milwaukee.

There was a lot of academic information supplied on many large wall panels throughout the exhibit that slowed the traffic through the exhibition. There was a room at the very end with interactive activities for families to enjoy that may have worked near the areas in the exhibit that they were trying to interpret rather than removed from the exhibit space to make a connection from the interactive to the artifact.

Overall, I would have to give this exhibit 4 out of 5 tickets. Although text heavy, the exhibit showcases great immersive environments and fantastic artifacts for this once-in-a-lifetime exhibit. If you live in or will be visiting Milwaukee soon take advantage of the exhibit. You have until June 6, 2010.

For more information –

http://www.mpm.edu/dead-sea-scrolls/

 

Titanic – Center of Science and Industry (COSi), Columbus, Ohio

Welcome to the first content blog for Special ExhiBITs. After having so many views of just the introduction since yesterday’s launch, I am excited to get started on the first review of an exhibit.

I celebrated my 28th birthday last week and took a minor tour around the Midwest visiting 5 museums in 3 days (not including my home museum Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, or my home “emeritus” museum the Indiana State Museum of Science and Culture). My first stop was the Center of Science and Industry, better known as COSi, in Columbus, Ohio. It was my second trip to COSi, the first being a visit to Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science (That will be a later blog). I was fortunate enough to attend their Titanic Steerage Party and exhibit preview on Thursday, March 25.  I was given my Titanic boarding pass, and prepared to enter the exhibit.

Upon entry to the exhibit you are in a dark room with a few cases of artifacts. One thing that I found technically impressive about these cases was the lighting of the artifacts themselves. The artifacts are lit from small yet powerful lights inside the cases rather than relying on lights suspended on tracks from 10 feet above the cases. This provided an intimate setting and really got the visitor into the proper mentality for what they were about to see.

Moving through the exhibit’s galleries, I recognized some of my favorite artifacts from when I saw the exhibit at Louisville Science Center this past November including a few dozen au gratin dishes in a case of sand just how they were found after the disaster. Then as you moved past the first few galleries you enjoy immersive spaces where the artifacts and the story come alive…the story that you are a part of. Each boarding pass includes a name and some information about someone who was aboard the Titanic. In Louisville I was a third class passenger, but in Columbus I had graduated to second class drastically increasing my odds of survival…but I’m not holding my breath.

The First Class hallway and First Class room re-creations were great, combined with the Third Class hallway re-creation they all served to provide the visitor with a visual and immersive comparison between the two classes. The Veranda Cafe was terrific, the Grand Staircase was more than breathtaking, and the boiler room experience was so amazing that it made you feel a slight sense of urgency to try to avoid the inevitable. The interpretation staff playing roles of First Class passengers, and THE Captain Edward John Smith just added more value to the experience.

My Professional Opinion –

The exhibit is the perfect, model exhibit of how special, traveling exhibits should be. It was educational, immersive, engaging, fun, and personally moving; all the points an exhibit should have. It is easily in the top three exhibits that I have ever seen.

I guess I should use some sort of rating system, huh? Well let’s go with tickets since stars and buckets of popcorn are already taken. If 1 ticket is a dud exhibit, and 5 tickets is the best of the best, then this exhibit easily earns 5 Tickets! Go see this exhibit! I would recommend pre-purchasing tickets. For more information on COSi or this exhibit please visit http://www.cosi.org and don’t forget to follow COSi on twitter at twitter.com/COSiCols

Oh and by the way, the second class passenger boarding pass that I received? I didn’t make it…again…

 

Introduction

This is cool.

Remember Julie and Julia, when Julie decided to cook through Julia’s book and blog about her experiences? Ever read great blogs like the Indiana State Museum blog, or the Center of Science and Industry (COSi) President and CEO’s blog Chez Sez and think to yourself: “Self, I can write a blog.”

Well I did that, and here is the product.

Special ExhiBITs is a blog dedicated to my travels, and experiences in exhibits  in museums around the country. As the Manager of Special Exhibits at Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal I have a special affinity for…uh…Special and Traveling exhibits, but from time to time I will highlight a permanent or core exhibit such as Science Storms at the Museum of Science and Industry – Chicago.

Well, I hope to have a post about an exhibit soon. Thanks for checking out the introduction. This should be fun.