For the last 80 years, the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock (MOD) has served central Arkansas as a combination natural history, cultural history and science museum. Recently, the staff and Board of Trustees decided to re-invent the Museum of Discovery as an interactive museum focusing on science, technology and math. MOD came to the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) to develop an exhibit master plan that could both serve as a guide to the future and help MOD prepare capital funding plans. Over the course of four short months, SMM worked closely with MOD staff and Board members to fashion a thoughtful and practical plan that builds on MOD's strengths, while also drawing on the treasure trove of great interactive experiences that already exist in the science museum field to seed the renovated museum.

SMM is now working with MOD to implement this exhibit plan to design, develop, produce, acquire and integrate 13,900 square feet of hands-on interactive exhibits. SMM worked with other science centers and exhibit fabricators around the country to replicate proven, successful interactives and to integrate them with newly developed components. In three expanded gallery spaces, visitors will be able to explore the physical sciences; discover how the human body works and how choices we make every day affect our health; and see how global forces make Arkansas unique. Scheduled for completion in December 2011, this renovation will establish MOD as the premier center for informal science education in Arkansas.

BACK TO PROJECT HISTORY