Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester. Site Visit Findings

Transcription

1 Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visit Findings December 2016

2 2016 MCM-R Site Visits Approach A group of fourteen community and industry leaders toured six children s, health and innovation themed museums over four days. The group was brought together by the Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Director and Community Board to help inform the Discovery Phase as the Museum embarks on its Strategic Impact Planning Process (SIPP). The current Rochester Museum is 5,000 square feet, welcomes approximately 40,000 visitors each year and is looking for a permanent home for the next generation of the museum. A writer/researcher was embedded in the site visit tour group to document, collect and synthesize the diverse insights gained from the group s irst-hand experiences and discussions with site museum staff and leadership. Each evening, the group participated in brainstorming sessions to address how their insights could propose solutions to needs speciic to Rochester, Minnesota. This report is a preliminary synthesis to identify insights that emerged. A full report will follow and include a more exhaustive account, representation of the participants consensus and key learnings from each museum site. The insights, examples and questions in this document are meant to serve as scaffolding and to instigate conversation for the Minnesota Children s Museum s Community Board and future museum planning taskforce. The site visit participants will reconvene December 21st to expand upon this document and ideate potential future museum concepts.

3 Sites Visited: The Thinkery (Austin, TX) Children s Museum of Houston (Houston, TX) TMCx & TMC (Houston, TX) The Health Museum (Houston, TX) The Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose, CA) Exploratorium (San Francisco, CA) Children s Creativity Museum (San Francisco, CA) Objectives Gain multi-industry perspectives to provide input for the evolution of the next museum. Broaden knowledge of various types of museums and their role in the communities. Identify best practices to shape the future museum s purpose and partnerships that will deine the right place and prosperity (business model).this is the Four P s process that frames the SIPP. Guiding Insights: Flexible and Generative Space Ensure Relevance to Our Community Immersive and Interactive Welcoming and Accessible Intergenerational Experiences Sustainable Business Model Forward Thinking Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visits Findings Report December 2016 p. 3

4 Flexible and Generative Space While reassessing their mission, The Tech Museum of Innovation removed the walls of their lower level, allowing future exhibit content to deine the space, not vice versa. Flexible loor plans furnish short term partnerships, experimental programming and exhibit lexibility. It also lends well to event rentals like the Exploratorium s model which employs a team dedicated to collapsing and reassembling exhibit content to facilitate after hours event rental. On the shifting landscape of exhibit design: There is a shift away from content toward responsive experiences. We want to design for change. Barbara Hahn, Vice President of Learning Innovation, MCM

5 Most of the museums visited house maker or tinkering spaces. Because of the safety measures needed for these spaces, most are fairly isolated from other activities and were not in use during our visits. This also led to the observation that facilitated programming activates the spaces, both with partnering organizations or clubs and through museum educational programming. The Thinkery s Space 8 stood out because some of its elements were designed to collapse and be locked away, allowing for the possibility of alternative programming. The Exploratorium was built for flexibility and scalability. And it didn t just happen; it was built in increments. Really, they started with a big empty shell of a building. Their success is a clear example that process is more important than place. Paul Sims, Architect, Mayo Clinic Planning Services This place runs on Gaffer Tape. Ron Hipschman, Staff Scientist, Exploratorium Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visits Findings Report December 2016 p. 5

6 Ensure Relevance to Our Community You need these educational components. That is how we make opportunities for our kids, for K all the way through 12th... In twenty years I want someone to stand in front of the museum and say, That is what got me where I am today. That is where I went as a kid and figured out who I wanted to be, and I want that for my kids now. Michael Muñoz, Superintendent, Rochester Public Schools

7 All but one of the museums visited had spaces dedicated solely to educational programming. By facilitating a broad range of educational opportunities outside of the traditional classroom setting, Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester (MCM-R) can foster new regional partnerships and programming opportunities. Providing a space that facilitates the exchange of knowledge immersed with playful experiential learning combats the traditional view that museums perpetuate didactic, one-way conversations. In Rochester you re in a very favorable position where you aren t competing with absolutely everyone. Local institutions want to work with you and they understand the beneits of collective impact... That s a healthy ecosystem you re building. Tammie Kahn, Executive Director, Children s Museum of Houston Aging up To be an asset to an inter-generational audience, informal learning environments within the museum should complement and supplement traditional education. Children accustomed to being grouped by age and academic level can intermix, learn from one another and experience the power of play alongside their parents and grandparents. This also brings connectedness and cohesion to families with children that represent a broad age range. Creating environments where children and young adults can challenge themselves outside of the necessary constraints of their schools allows room for further self-discovery at the individual level and increased empathy across social and cultural divides. Forward Thinking experiences: To remain relevant the museum should continue to benchmark other innovative institutions and seek out new technologies, talent and best practices so it can offer visitors cutting-edge experiential programming. Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visits Findings Report December 2016 p. 7

8 Immersive and Interactive Maker Spaces, Tinkering Labs, The Health Museum s Cell Lab and Children s Museum of Houston s Kidtropolis offer immersive experiences that expose participants to skills, career paths and technologies not regularly available in the classroom setting. For example, our manufacturing, hospitality and medical industries are facing a shortage of talented and interested workers. Maker space(s) within each economic driver could potentially address that need while positioning MCM-R to leverage local assets. The affordability and widespread use of connected devices creates opportunities for immersive experiences extending beyond the museum s walls. Children s Museum of Houston recently launched S.E.C.R.E.T., a gaming experience rooted in critical thinking, problem solving, observation, orienteering, and creativity. Missions, typically minutes, are routed throughout the entire loor plan of the museum. Thematically, a health layer could be added if the game s narrative focused on medical mysteries, similar to popular T.V. programs like House. Mayo Clinic takes great inancial and clinical outcomes risks as a leader specializing in complex clinical cases. The clinic takes pride in being positioned to take on such perceived unachievable opportunities, head on. This illustrates Rochester s pride in being innovative and persistent pioneers across all industries and local businesses. By celebrating these endeavors in a game-based exhibit, MCM-R may ind mutually beneicial partnership opportunities. Connecting the game to the community could foster collective partnerships around workforce, social determinants of health and overall individual wellness.

9 Immersive experiences can also be created outside of a themed curriculum. The Thinkery s Our Backyard consisted of a massive outdoor play structure surrounded by small, offshoot spaces designed to allow children the freedom to explore how their presence and engagement effected their environment. Exploratorium s abundance of tabletop exhibits offered self-guided explorations, taken in and relected upon at the visitor s own pace. These self-guided, selfrelective experiences are cornerstones of experiential learning. We need to be sure we aren t doing things to people, but are helping people do the things they want to do. Robert Semper, Executive Associate Director, Exploratorium Planned programming and self-guided exploration can be combined to create multi-layered exhibits. The Thinkery s Kitchen Lab, designed to combine a familiar kitchen setting with a science lab, was connected to Let s Grow, an easily navigable space simulating elements from local farms, a fabricated food market, garden and story nook. This multi-layered approach offers value across different age ranges, as well as to visitors with differing levels of attention or interest (i.e. streakers, strollers and studiers.) This example also highlights an important factor in measurable experiential learning: to ensure that critical and creative skills are retained, an experience must be immersive, not simply a passive engagement. Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visits Findings Report December 2016 p. 9

10 Welcoming and Accessible For visitors to fall in love with the museum, the museum s staff should actively express their love for it. This was readily apparent at The Health Museum and Exploratorium. Both museums staff their loor with current or retired professionals from ields relected in exhibit content. The staff and volunteers emotional investment in their ields added experiential beneits to exhibits: similar to the handling of traditions featured in MCM-R s current exhibit, Children of Hangzhou, content became important in developing the context of learning through experience. On museum staff s passion at the Exploratorium: That s marketing you can t buy. Rob Miller, President, Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce

11 Special needs Additional programming can be introduced to welcome children who would normally ind the museum experience challenging or overbearing. Children s Museum of Houston, for example, created monthly Sensory Friendly days. Once a month the museum staff disconnect or mute all auditory devices and exhibit elements, make noise cancelling headphones available and volunteers consciously lower the voices for the entire day. These models are showing us how important it is to think about how a museum works outside of its walls, how we can engage the community, aside from exhibits. Susan Walton, Division Chair, Community Public Affairs at Mayo Clinic Ultimately, for MCM-R to be welcoming, visitors need to be able to access the museum. The Tech Museum of Innovation provides transportation to schools that provide at least 40% of meals free or at reduced cost. Children s Museum of Houston sends educators into public schools and community centers. In addition to community outreach efforts, MCM-R can invite the entire community to its doors if it remains accessible by public transportation. Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visits Findings Report December 2016 p. 11

12 Additional Insights Intergenerational Experiences Interactive for all ages Same space at the same time Generational traditions / knowledge exchange Sustainable Business Model Models that build business partner have win-win Net zero modeling Informed risk for sustainability Leverage earned income (70/30) Build reserves (Endowment) into capital campaign Forward Thinking Research and education supported infrastructure Favoring innovation process and development Consistent evaluation of programming and exhibits Minnesota Children s Museum Rochester Site Visits Findings Report December 2016 p. 12