Prior to the departure of The Adventures with Clifford The Big Red Dog, The Children’s Museum, Seattle undertook the task of programming, designing and assembling a new exhibit that would respond to the requests of our visitors. In listening to our guests, we knew we needed to have an exhibit that allowed children to be interactive in their own unique ways, to partake in activities they would want to experience again and again, and give opportunity for our older children while still engaging our youngest visitors. In addition, it needed to include a loved item or character.
As always, and even more so in this economy, we wanted to respond to requests of our current and potential donors. It is of paramount importance to provide good stewardship of the funds they provide and that we are extremely mindful of building the Museum’s resources. These realities led us to the decision to invest in our own facilities, rather than renting temporary exhibits. This change in philosophy has lead to not only the creation of Near and Far and My Neighborhood Adventures; it has released funds to update some of our permanent exhibits. In the future, bringing back rental exhibit may fit with our donation model, but for now, we are very excited about creating our own exhibits.
As new exhibits are designed we will open smaller active play portion, providing a simple sneak peak to the new area. It is a taste of what is to come, but a very small taste. We'll continue to collect the pieces needed for the full exhibit and unveil each portion as it is completed.
The Museum prioritized the programming and educational objectives and then designs an exhibit to meet those objectives. The Museum is fortunate that our donors support our programming efforts within well-established core competencies of arts, culture and literacy, and embrace new areas such as wellness, math and science.
With each new exhibit design, I look forward to seeing the Gallery space full of excitement and seeing you and your family at the Museum.
Donna Marie Bertrand
Executive Director