Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45203
Full STEAM Ahead: Children’s Learning at Cincinnati Museum Center
CMC is the largest cultural institution in the region and, as such, is wholly committed to improving the quality of life for children in Greater Cincinnati by providing meaningful museum and educational experiences. CMC offers world-class, one-of-a-kind museum experiences that fuel curiosity and critical thinking, spark important community dialogue, and makes learning fun and impactful for guests, especially our youngest visitors. Indeed, nowhere else can a child see real dinosaurs, explore 1850s Cincinnati, and “work” in a kid-sized grocery store—all under one roof! Educational programs advance STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and STEAM (STEM + Art) learning. In addition, students benefit from Programs-on-Wheels, museum camps, digital programming, STEM Girls, Youth Programs, internships, and on-site field trips.
Program Goals:
Grant support will provide essential support for ongoing programming and operations, enabling CMC to engage children with hands-on learning inside the museum and out in the community. Such funding will allow CMC to continue popular programs, like STEM Girls, and invest in new exhibits and learning activities that target issues critical to our community, such as childhood literacy. CMC’s museum experiences will spark curiosity in STEM and STEAM education, history and critical thinking. With your support, CMC will:
1) Create and maintain exhibits and educational programs in CMC’s museums that use interactive learning to fuel a love of learning for about 1 million guests, about half of whom are children.
2) Provide at least 400 sites with in-person and/or virtual Programs-on-Wheels or field trips to supplement school curricula and make learning fun for children.
3) Provide 12 months of in-person STEM Girls programming, including on-site activities and Girls Day Out sessions.
4) Maintain, create, and open new permanent and temporary exhibitions, which engage children in interactive, hands-on learning.
Program Results:
This "Success Narrative" was submitted in early 2024 in lieu of a formal grant evaluation report.
Generous funding from the Charles H. Dater Foundation supported CMC’s ongoing educational programming and operations during FY2024, enabling us to engage children with hands-on learning inside the museum and out in the community. We certainly exceeded expectations over the past year, as evident from the following highlights:
- Museum attendance exceeded over 1.5 million visitors. In addition, our membership base is booming; we surpassed 25,000 CMC memberships, the highest since 2019.
- We commemorated Union Terminal’s 90th anniversary. The building looks better than ever before! In addition, CMC also celebrated the Children’s Museum 25th anniversary. More than 500,000 guests visited the Children’s Museum, which is in the midst of a makeover! Indeed, the kids “home” was recently renovated. Children can cook meals, wash dishes, do laundry and stop and smell the flowers (literally!) in a cozy new home made possible by Fischer Homes.
- We hosted two exciting, featured exhibitions specifically geared towards kids: Bricktionary: the Ultimate LEGO® A-Z and, most recently, Girlhood (It's complicated). Girlhood is innovative travelling exhibit explores the experience of growing up a girl in the United States over the past 100 years and commemorates the achievements and contributions of women to the fields of science and medicine.
- Two new, permanent exhibits opened: Ancient Worlds Hiding in Plain Sight (our Ordovician fossil gallery) in the Museum of Natural History & Science and the Cr(eat)e Culinary Studio, located right off our stunning Rotunda.
- Field Trips returned in full force; we welcomed 34,962 students and chaperones to Union Terminal for field trips. In addition, CMC provided a total of 123 free field trips to Union Terminal for 7,404 students.
- Programs-on-Wheels was in high-gear; CMC staff made a record-setting total of 625 trips out to present 1,433 Programs-on-Wheels sessions to more than 41,000 students!
- CMC’s STEM Girls program continues to grow back to its pre-pandemic level. CMC staff worked collaboratively with local STEM professionals to deliver a total of 16 sessions at Union Terminal, serving 644 girls in grades 3-8. In addition, we also partnered with the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio to host a special day at Union Terminal for 255 Girl Scouts and 103 adults supporting them, all in celebration of our temporary exhibition Girlhood (It's Complicated).
- Children made masterpieces in the KidSPACE maker studio! More than ten local artists shared their expertise and talents with our guests through hands-on workshops, while encouraging participants to get creative with a variety of projects and artistic mediums.
None of these achievements would have been possible without the support of the Dater Foundation. Thank you for your continued support of CMC!
Website:
http://www.cincinnatimuseum.org Amount: $50,000
Date: May 2023
