Exploratorium Executive Director Dr. Dennis Bartels set forth plans for expanded community engagement and continued financial vitality last night, October 14, 2014, at his annual State of the Exploratorium address.
“At this moment of global transformation, the ability to ask questions and think critically and creatively has never been more important,” he said.
The world-renowned museum of science, art and human perception, with 45-year history in San Francisco, made a historic move to a new location at Pier 15, opening in April 2013. In its first year at Pier 15 the Exploratorium saw 1.1 million visitors, more than twice the number of visitors at its previous location at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, and finished its first fiscal year at its new home with a $0.5M operating surplus on $46M in total revenue
“The Exploratorium’s most significant impact is that our approaches to learning have been adopted by organizations around the world,” said Bartels. “The Exploratorium helped to ferment a movement of interactive science centers; about 1,000 institutions worldwide claim part of their lineage back to the Exploratorium.”
In his address, Bartels highlighted key partnerships, including a science and sustainability partnership with the University of California, Davis, and areas of growth in the past fiscal year, including an increase in contracts for the museum’s Exploratorium Global Studios work.
“The real essence of the place is that we’re full of all these incredible learning designers, people who are creating different experiences, through exhibits, programs, activities and online experiences that create these “a-ha” moments,” said Bartels. “What we do as well as anybody else in the education field is take our inventions, our new ideas, our experiments and see them adopted or emulated by organizations in the rest of the world faster than most.”
Bartels also outlined a vision for expanding the museum’s impact on a local, regional and global scale, including further dissemination of the Exploratorium’s acclaimed teacher professional development programs, cultivation of strategic global partnerships centered on education, and a goal to become the pre-eminent digital presence for interactive inquiry-based science education.
About the Exploratorium
The Exploratorium is the global leader in informal learning, igniting curiosity and inspiring creativity in people of all ages. The world-renowned science museum creates original, interactive exhibits, on display at more than 1,000 science centers, museums and public spaces around the world. Dedicated to education reform in and out of the classroom, the Exploratorium is a premier professional development center for educators and a creator of award-winning educational resources. For more information, visit www.exploratorium.edu.
