We Did It!

When a community, hard work and a purpose come together, magic can happen.

That’s exactly what happened on November 20, 2015, when we opened the bigger and better, brand-spanking new, expanded Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus. We started this journey several years ago, with a dream to bring kid-powered learning and an exceptional museum experience to the Denver community in a whole new way. With our new exhibits Altitude, The Art Studio, Energy, Joy Park, The Teaching Kitchen and Water, we can carry out our mission to create extraordinary experiences that champion the wonder and joy of childhood. As momentous as this occasion was, we had to celebrate! All week long, we held exclusive VIP events for our members and donors, giving them the first taste of what bigger and better really is. Check out some of the photos from our  wonderful evening events.

A campsite just ready for little explorers.
There’s tons to do in the Art Studio, like build and fire your own clay piece to take home!
A wall filled with names of those this couldn’t have happened without.
Splashing fun in the Water exhibit.
Talented chefs will teach you how to make your own yumminess in the brand new Teaching Kitchen!
We couldn’t host our guests without some awesome catered food.
Our centerpieces were take home gifts!
Even our littlest of guests can find things to explore in to the Energy exhibit.
Clay technicians demonstrate their skills in the Art Studio to inspire young artists!
Tiny clay creations await to be fired or glazed, and go home with their creators!
Paint to your heart’s content on canvas, or on a giant glass wall in the Art Studio!

But the party didn’t stop there.  On November 20 we held our Grand Reopening ceremony, complete with honorary attendees, food and one BIG ribbon cutting. After some reflection of our own with a speech from CEO Mike Yankovich, we moved outside to hear from Mayor John Hickenlooper and cut the ribbon!

When we say big, we mean big! Our grand reopening ribbon awaits little hands to cut it.
Even adults can experience curiosity in our expansion exhibits.
Mike Yankovich addresses his honored guests at our morning ceremony!
Jonathan Goldstein, Director of Exhibits, shares his experiences in making this expansion come to life.
Balloon towers, confetti canons, and a whole lot of celebrating was perfect for such a momentous opening!

We have so many countless people to be grateful for. From our largest donors to our regular visitors, families, individuals, companies and more, the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus thanks you for the overwhelming support. This could not have happened without you. THANK YOU!

 

 

The Final Stretch

If “crunch time” were a place…it would be the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus! Exhibit features big and small are being pulled together for ourGrand Reopening on November 20, and it’s gearing up to be one exciting event!

The screens for the Community Tree were installed, where guests can smile and snap photos of themselves and watch as their faces display on the “leaves” of the grand digital tree in the lobby. Construction and exhibit team members — and even Children’s Museum CEO, Mike Yankovich– tested out the photo features with some goofy expressions.

That’s not the only fun thing happening around here. Check out the photos below to see more expansion elements coming to life!

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30 days until Grand Re-opening!

We are in the home stretch—and things are really heating up here at the Museum! Left and right, our new exhibits are being installed into their spaces. There’s exactly 30 days until our Grand Re-opening and the more these exhibits are brought to life, the more we see how close this expansion is to completion. But it’s not over yet! See some of these cool in progress pictures as we reach the final stages of construction.

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The Climber Keeps Climbing!

After 3 years of design, and brand new technology developed just for its creation, the 45 foot tall climber, Altitude is being installed! This unique interactive exhibit was inspired by the mountain features and endless adventure found in Colorado and was built right here in Denver! Local fabricators Juno Works partnered with the Children Museum’s Director of Exhibits, Jonathan Goldstein, for this one-of-a-kind piece.

The Peak

The climber’s shape is both functional and fun, devised around the network of the existing building structure paired with the simulated experience of a winding mountain trail. Guests ascend 29” per platform level, reaching the climber’s peak at 3 ½ stories! 

climber_edits2

The steel frame, wood panels and stainless steel netting aren’t just an industrial endeavor, but an artistic one. “Every piece of the climber is similar but slightly different. Like leaves on a tree,” Jonathan Goldstein said. These pieces were carefully fabricated using a custom computer program that cut each one with plasma, both ensuring their mutual fit and greatly reducing labor costs.

climber_edits3

Through creative insight and computer led production, the climber will make its colossal debut November 20. Join us for an adventure 3 years in the making!

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Say Hello to the Buffaloes!

Bison overlooking lobby

Some four-legged fiberglass friends have just been moved to their permanent home in The Art Studio.  Meet the big bison and baby bison, who now stand triumphantly overlooking the new lobby.

But these beautiful bovines aren’t just for looking pretty — come November, guests young and old can work together to collaboratively decorate and paint these two for a hands-on, creative learning experience with the arts.

Artist's Rendering of The Art Studio

As you can tell from the above artist rendering, the bison aren’t the only cool parts to this exhibit. Come explore all art opportunities at the Children Museum’s grand opening, November 20!

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How MUCH Bigger?

This expansion is big—but how big? It’s the culmination of hundreds of people’s ideas and hard work, and years of planning; all rolled into one fabulously large-scale project. We’re going to more than double our size, and now you can see just how much more we’re growing in our exhibit focus areas with the below infographic “How MUCH Bigger?”

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Going UP: The Gondola Has Arrived!

A one-of-a-kind piece just made it’s construction debut in our new space – a full-sized, mountain gondola for the Altitude exhibit!

This item used to be a gondola from Keystone that was painted specifically for our “climbing through Colorado” theme. Check out the before and after to see what it used to look like.

Paint BeforePaint After

But the hard work didn’t end with it’s paint job! Through many workers, steel cables and a LOT of elbow grease, this gondola was raised over 3 stories to dangle from it’s permanent position in the in-progress Altitude exhibit. Video of the installation can be seen below.

This gondola is just one of the many amazing and well thought out elements going into our expansion exhibits. Come to the new Children’s Museum of Denver, arriving later this year, to experience them all!

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Sparkle, Shine and Design

Construction is an art form—it’s all about the details.

Our designers have spared no inch of space from displaying beautiful and functional design to create the best museum experience possible. 

Much like the delicious recipes you’ll get to make with your family in this interactive exhibit, each of these design “ingredients” will help create the perfect blend of exploration, learning and food oriented fun for this culinary masterpiece debuting late 2015. Check out some of the awesome details currently being mixed together for The Teaching Kitchen in the gallery below!