Minnesota Children’s Museum Arts and Access Programs II
Arts and Cultural Heritage funding will allow us to pursue three major initiatives between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017: (1) Offer special exhibits and programs promoting creative & critical thinking in our main museum in St. Paul. (2) A Pop-up satellite Museum at the Mall of America featuring four changing exhibits to attract thousands of new visitors. (3) Changing exhibits and access at Minnesota Children’s Museum-Rochester to ensure inclusive family experiences for the Rochester community.
$950,000 each year is for arts and cultural heritage grants to children's museums.Of this amount, $500,000 each year is for the Minnesota Children's Museum, including the Minnesota Children's Museum in Rochester; $150,000 each year is for the Duluth Children's Museum; $150,000 each year is for the Grand Rapids Children's Museum; and $150,000 each year is for the Southern Minnesota Children's Museum.Note: Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) informed all granting agencies that the February 2016 Legacy budget forecast identified deficits in the current biennium in the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. 3% of all grantees' allocations are being held back until additional forecasting has been completed. This includes a reduction in the administrative fees taken by the Minnesota Humanities Center.
Exhibits at Minnesota Children’s Museum — St PaulChildren and families will engage in exhibits and programs that build critical and creative thinking skills. These experiences will reach more than 140,000 people. More than 30,000 will be served through the Museum’s ongoing free or reduced-price admission programs, which are funded by additional community partners.Pop-Up Museum at Mall of AmericaBring playful learning experiences to a new audience, reaching an estimated 80,000 people.Minnesota Children's Museum will continue to test the viability of a second Metro area site as a way to increase reach and build audiences.Minnesota Children’s Museum-RochesterMCM-R will engage adults and children in Southern Minnesota in exhibits and programs that build creative and critical thinking skills.These experiences will reach 30,000 people, 4,000 through the Play for All access program.
Exhibits at Minnesota Children’s Museum — St PaulWith funding from the State of Minnesota, the Museum was able to present the visiting exhibit, tiff presents digiPlaySpace™.Pop-Up Museum at Mall of AmericaIn the interest of providing ongoing play experiences during construction, the Museum chose to open a satellite location at the Mall of America due to its central location within the metro area and the potential to reach new audiences that visit the mall and may not venture to the Saint Paul location. With an official launch date of September 26, 2015, the Museum successfully opened this new satellite location and welcomed 70,809 visitors. In the first year of operating the MOA location, audiences enjoyed four family-favorite exhibits including Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice™, Adventures with Clifford the Big Red Dog ™ and Ball-orama™.Minnesota Children’s Museum-RochesterIn addition to hosting 10 visiting exhibits and welcoming over 31,000 visitors under the new leadership of Heidi Mestad, our Rochester satellite activated strategies to successfully gain new funding partners to support ongoing programs, including the Bremer Bank Free First Sunday program