The Omaha Children's Museum is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

young people Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

located at 500 South 20th Street in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. The museum has received a national award from the Association of Science and Technology Museums. South Main entrance-smaller

About

Operated as a private

organization the mission of Omaha Children's Museum is to engage the imagination and create excitement about learning. The museum was founded in 1976 by Karen Levin, Jane Ford Hawthorne, Betty Hiller, and a group of local educators. It began as a traveling group of exhibits and activities, and today occupies a space in Downtown Omaha. The museum has
Board of Directors
composed of community members. In 1989 the museum moved to its current and permanent home at 20th Street and St. Mary’s Ave. In 1993 Omaha Children's Museum completed the renovation of the main floor (40,000 sq. feet) which included the Charlie Cambell Science and Technology Center. In 2004 and 2010, the museum was honored with Leading Edge Awards for Visitor Experience from the Association of Science and Technology Museums. The museum’s director, Lindy J. Hoyer served on the Board of Directors for the national

Association of Children's Museums The Association of Children's Museums (ACM) is a Washington, D.C.–based organization that represents more than 300 children's museums in 23 countries throughout the world. The association began in 1962 as the American Association of Youth Muse ...

Exhibits

The Omaha Children's Museum renovated its permanent exhibits through the $6.6 million

capital campaign Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

entitled "Building on the Best". The permanent exhibits include the Creative Arts Center, which features a theater, Artist-in-Residence Studio, community sculpture and art island; the "Charlie Campbell Science and Technology Center", which houses the "Super Gravitron", a ball machine where balls powered by air wind and water travel through tubes and on rails, and an inventors workshop,

pulley Sheave without a rope A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft enabling a taut cable or belt passing over the wheel to move and change direction, or transfer power between itself and a shaft. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between flan ...

and vacuum chairs and the "Science Showplace" where live science presentations take place. Other features include the "Imagination Playground", which is designed for young

child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

ren; "Sandy’s Splish-Splash Garden", which is an interactive fountain area outside where kids can cool off. A kinetic tower and four

whirligig A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a Pinwheel (toy), pinwheel, Top (toy), spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirl ...

s resembling giant pinwheels are located immediately outside the museum. Janie York was the first

artist in residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

at the museum's Creative Arts Center in an ongoing program. York explored a variety of

textile arts Textile arts are arts and crafts that use fiber crop, plant, Animal fiber, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative Physical object, objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of ...

, including community quilting and story quilting, as well as textile history and identification. In addition to its permanent exhibits, Omaha Children’s Museum regularly features traveling exhibitions and educational programming in art, science and humanities. The museum's Science Lab has been featured on the

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

website.FETCH! Lab - Omaha Children's Museum
PBS Kids website. Retrieved 8/22/07.

References

External links

Omaha Children's Museum
website. {{Authority control Museums in Omaha, Nebraska Children's museums in Nebraska Organizations based in Omaha, Nebraska 1976 establishments in Nebraska Museums established in 1976

About

Exhibits

See also

References

External links