Staff from the Madison Children’s Museum will be zipping around in a new electric vehicle to bring exhibits to kids in the community, thanks to new funding from the Lilly Endowment.
The five-year, $2.5 million grant will also pay for a major new third-floor exhibit centered on youth character development and traits like bravery, humor, empathy, and curiosity.
MCM is one of 15 museums nationwide selected to receive the funding, set to transform its interior facilities and broaden its reach throughout Greater Madison.
The first thing the public will see this year, according to Brenda Baker, MCM’s vice president of exhibits, facilities, and strategic initiatives, is a new outreach exhibit traveling with the MCM Roadshow, which brings mobile exhibits to Madison-area communities. The Roadshow will visit more places with its new EV.
“Right now, [it] goes to about 80 locations, serves about 10,000 people … and takes the creative play, and the whimsy, and the curiosity out into the public,” said Tom Linfield, MCM’s president and CEO. “So this is a big step forward.”
The third-floor exhibit is in the nascent stages. In the next year and a half, Baker said the museum will hold community listening sessions and launch a campaign for additional funding.
“We’ll also be expanding our partnerships … with the Center for Healthy Minds, another with the [University of Wisconsin–Madison] Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and then the Social Kids Lab at the university,” Baker said.
Research-based work with these partners will play a critical role in developing prototypes for the new exhibit.
Baker and Linfield agree that character development has long been an area of focus at MCM.
“There’s a big need in our society to help young people learn character skills,” Baker said.
MCM’s new exploration of character development, set to open in five years, will link thematically with its recently opened Nice Age Trail exhibit and others. Another common thread: Everything for the new third-floor exhibit will be built locally.
“We have our own workshops, we build everything here, and we work with local artists,” said Linfield, adding that for the Nice Age Trail, MCM worked with 30 local artists. “It’s build local, brainstorm local, get local buy-in.”
While five years may seem like a long time, Linfield said the wait will be worth it.
“It’s a slow growth that … takes what’s best in Madison, with our university, with our creative community, and our young people, and really this is going to bubble and grow.”
