Science Museum Oklahoma is a

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, Oklahoma. The museum is home to the Kirkpatrick Planetarium, the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IGHO ...

and a number of specialized galleries. The facility covers over 390,000 square feet, which makes it one of the largest science museums in the nation. It began as the Kirkpatrick Planetarium in 1958 with major additions in 1980, 1985, 2000, and 2007.

History

The Science Museum Oklahoma started as the Kirkpatrick Planetarium in 1958, which moved to a permanent home at the

Oklahoma State Fair The Oklahoma State Fair is a fair and exposition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It takes place in mid-September each year, and along with the Tulsa State Fair The Tulsa State Fair is an annual event held at Expo Square in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The mode ...

grounds in 1962. Later that year, the Oklahoma Science and Arts Foundation was completed on the fairgrounds. In 1978 the foundation changed its name to Omniplex Science Museum, then moved with the Kirkpatrick Planetarium to the newly built Kirkpatrick Center museum campus. Later additions include the Oklahoma Air and Space Museum in 1980, the Kirkpatrick Gardens and Greenhouse in 1985, and the OmniDome Theater, Oklahoma's first large-format, dome-screen

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, which opened in 2000. In 2007 Omniplex changed its name to Science Museum Oklahoma. Since the rebranding the museum has undergone extensive remodeling, adding numerous new exhibits and galleries, including a kid-friendly space exhibit, and art galleries.

Notable Exhibits

* Kirkpatrick Planetarium - Planetarium shows * CurioCity - This is a Children's Museum inside the museum - a playful area which includes options like playing instruments or balancing on a tightrope * Light Minded - A section of the museum dedicated to light and electricity * smART Space - An exhibit which explores the interactions between science and art * Elemental Worlds - A digital 220-degree simulated forest * Science Floor - Main section of the museum with multiple hands-on science exhibits * Tinkering Garage - Focuses on how engineering, art, and technology interact * Destination Space - An exhibit which explores NASA's space program and it's connections to Oklahoma * KidSpace - An exhibit specifically targeted to a younger audience * Gardens - A garden made up of plants native to Oklahoma * Aviation - An exhibit which focuses on the history of aviation * Gadget Trees - Learning experience which focuses on simple machines

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame

The

is located inside Science Museum Oklahoma, and features collections of medals, apparatus, awards, various pieces of sculptures, and a library. The organization is dedicated to honoring those who have furthered the sport of gymnastics. Inductees include

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 ...

Olga Korbut Olga Valentinovna Korbut, ; russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут, group=nb (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver ...

Bart Conner Bart Wayne Conner (born March 28, 1958) is a retired American Olympic gymnast. As a member of the US men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Conner won two gold medals. He owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in No ...

Valeri Liukin Valeri Viktorovich Liukin (russian: Валерий Викторович Люкин; born 17 December 1966 in Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet-born Russian-American retired artistic gymnast turned gymnastics coach. As a competitor ...

Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performanc ...

Larisa Latynina Larisa Semyonovna Latynina (russian: link=yes, Лариса Семёновна Латынина, née Diriy, Дирий; born 27 December 1934) is a former Soviet artistic gymnast. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 individual Olympic medals and ...

Nikolai Andrianov Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov (russian: Никола́й Ефи́мович Андриа́нов; 14 October 1952 – 21 March 2011) was a Soviet and Russian gymnast. He held the record for men for the most Olympic medals at 15 (7 gold medals, ...

, and

Věra Čáslavská en, the love of Tokyo ja, 「オリンピックの名花」 en, darling of the Olympic Games , country = Czechoslovakia , formercountry = , birth_date = , birth_place = Prague, Czechoslovakia ( occupied by Germany 1939– ...

References

External links

Science Museum Oklahoma
official website
Science Museum Oklahoma info, photos and videos on TravelOK.com
Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma {{authority control Science museums in Oklahoma Aerospace museums in Oklahoma Native American museums in Oklahoma Native Americans in Oklahoma City Planetaria in the United States Museums in Oklahoma City Photography museums and galleries in the United States Art museums and galleries in Oklahoma Children's museums in Oklahoma

History

Notable Exhibits

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame

See also

References

External links