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 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 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! 

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.

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!

Say Hello to the Buffaloes!

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.

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!

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.

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!

Experiments for Energy [*VIDEO!*]

Constructing new exhibits is hard, but sometimes you get to have some fun with it. Check out these tests for the Hot Air Balloon which will be part of the Energy Exhibit coming late 2015!

From Paper to Playscape

Even the greatest ideas come from small beginnings. Interactive exhibits “Water” and “Energy” are set to become reality late 2015, but did you ever wonder what they looked like as rough drafts?

Director of Exhibits Jonathan Goldstein and his team of designers have been working for over 3 years to create the wonderful expansion exhibits that are set to debut this fall. Explore the gallery below to view their preliminary sketches and catch a glimpse of how these awesome playscapes were first envisioned!

Rockets

Wind Tunnel

Bernoulli’s Equation

Painting Slate

Rain Event

Laminar Jets

Coil Screw

Prototyping for the new CLIMBER

This week we got a look at the components of our giant 3 1/2-story CLIMBER. This photo shows one piece out of 285 pieces of the grid-like structure that will serve as the exterior of the exhibit. Though it’s made up primarily of metal, it will have a much more refined look when completed, with elements of wood worked into the design.

1 out of 285 metal grid pieces used to frame the CLIMBER.

Rendering of the CLIMBER, showing the grid framing which will encompass the exhibit.

Tooth Mice Travel to the Children’s Museum

Some adorable critters recently arrived at the Museum… all the way from the UK! These one-of-a-kind mice were created by Julieann Worrall Hood (www.woho.co.uk)   and will make a public appearance in our new Village of Healthy Smiles exhibit, coming February 2015.

Aside from being fun and playful to look at, these sculptures serve another purpose — to educate children and families on tooth folklore! Originally, a mouse picked up children’s teeth instead of the Tooth Fairy. To this day, Spanish and Hispanic cultures still tell stories about a mouse (Ratoncito Pérez) that collects children’s teeth!

Colorado history found beneath the construction excavation

Our construction crew ran into some impressive remnants of Colorado history last week. As they worked on grading for our extended parking lot, they uncovered pieces of brick and the foundation of the former Zang Brewing Company stables (later turned into a dinette). Since the Zang Brewing Company was established in the late 1800s, stables were needed to keep the horses that transported the beer throughout Denver. This was a time before automobiles were widely used, after all!

Framing is underway on the new building wings

We’re entering a phase of major, visible building construction!

The construction crew has spent weeks working beneath the ground on foundation for the new wings. Our project manager says this process is one of the most important, time extensive parts of construction, and very difficult to see any discernible progress.

Here’s what goes on below ground to make sure our new building is strong and structurally sound:
• Drilling micropiles – these are rebar (think a metal pole) that goes deep into the earth – and filling them with concrete to ensure that the building foundations are solid.
• 210 micropiles were drilled for the east and south wing. It takes construction crews the entire day to complete 10.
• After micropiles are drilled and filled with concrete, small concrete foundation walls are poured. These stand a few feet above ground.

After the below ground work is complete, the construction crews start on the visible elements of the building.

And the progress is amazing. Almost overnight we’ve noticed metal frames placed two stories high to frame the new south wing. There’s a portion that reaches three stories, which will be used to shoot rockets through, as a feature of one of our new exhibits. Shortly after, we noticed part of our brightly colored corrugated metal missing from the east side of the building and framing placed two stories high.

When you visit, be sure to check it out!