WOW! This is the NEW Duluth Children’s Museum! Building on Success
Having completed one year in a new and expanded facility, the Duluth Children’s Museum focused on deepening and enriching the visitor experience. Minnesota Arts and Cultural Legacy funding allowed the Museum to focus on intensive educational program services; the rotation of the exhibits to bring fresh and new experiences to the visitor; and investment in a new tracking and reporting system, Altru by Blackbaud, a project begun with a previous Legacy grant.
$1,100,000 the first year and $900,000 the second year are for arts and cultural heritage grants to children's museums. Of this amount, $600,000 the first year and $400,000 the second year are for the Minnesota Children's Museum, $200,000 each year is for the Duluth Children's Museum, $100,000 each year is for the Grand Rapids Children's Museum, and $200,000 each year is for the Southern Minnesota Children's Museum.
1. The Altru system will provide key data on visitors and frequency of visits to allow the Museum to more effectively determine the demand for change in the Museum.2. We will fabricate exhibit components and areas within the Museum space in our design and fabrication studio and work with our national partners in hosting exhibits on a scale larger than we can fabricate on-site with the current staffing and facility we have. This combined strategy allows us to provide changing learning experiences, all tied to both STEM learning goals and to educational standards.3. The Duluth Children’s Museum will develop three additional off-site exhibit components to add to the current offerings.
1. Museum attendance, sales and membership all increased dramatically in the 2014 fiscal year.
2. Through our data conversion project to the Altru system we are able to capture critical market data about our audience including where they come from, why they say they choose to visit the Museum, and if they are members or are interested in the benefits of a membership package.
3. As of Summer 2014, we are in the process of locating our first remote exhibit site for the Whisper Dishes which will give the casual visitor a science experience that will allow them to experience the programming of the Duluth Children’s Museum.
4. Dinosaurs Unearthed was the new exhibit we chose to offer. This exhibit has achieved attendance, admission sales and events opportunities as planned and outlined in our funding proposal.
Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation of Duluth