Refreshing a Gallery with New Components

An Otter Cove Case Study, pt. 1 of 2

Keeping up your children’s museum’s visitor experience means keeping up your exhibits. Otter Cove Children’s Museum’s “Organizational Goals” include a Commitment to New Offerings with changing programming and periodically adding new and interesting exhibit components to their existing exhibits. 

It’s been about a year since Otter Cove began operating, with some fits and starts because of COVID-19 safety mandates, but now it’s open and running at full capacity. Like most start-ups, not everything in the vision was realized by the opening date, thanks to the reality of timing and budget. The silver lining is the opportunity to add more components in the coming months and years, helping to keep Otter Cove’s visitor experience fresh and expanding. 

A new major grant from a regional energy company has given Otter Cove the opportunity to make good on its commitment to new offerings by adding four new exhibit components focused on renewable energy, with an accompanying monthly program, collectively titled Discover Energy! 

The monthly program is being developed in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota, which has deep experience in renewable energy programming and already has a relationship with the sponsoring energy company. To help build intentionality into the visitor experience, the program development is following the exhibit development and is meant to add a depth, enjoyment, and learning for families that experience both the exhibits and the program. 

When adding onto existing exhibits, it’s important that any new components fit the vision, look and feel of the gallery and the museum. Otter Cove was developed with a Strategic Master Plan that includes a Learning Framework and comprehensive Interpretive Plan, creating a road map for the visitor experience, learning outcomes, and look and feel of all public spaces. An addendum interpretive plan for Discover Energy! was drafted over many months and many conversations to build off of the original interpretive plan, ensuring that the new exhibit components and programming stay true to the “Otter Cove,” a special place for children and the critters they love. 

The long-term vision statement of Otter Cove includes a region where children grow up prepared to meet the world head-on. To help achieve that vision, Otter Cove’s mission states: 

We support the optimal development of our region’s children by intentionally creating the environment for abundant play opportunities that launch children’s imaginations, stimulate skill development, and instill a sense of place and purpose that lasts a lifetime.  

Otter Cove’s stated values revolve around working together to instill and nourish a sense of place and purpose for all children growing-up in Otter Tail County. The values include ideas of shared responsibility and the joy of working together.

In addition, the goal for the new exhibit components and programming is: To create irresistible interactive exhibits throughout Otter Cove that inspire hands-on explorations with the power of wind, solar, and hydro energy resulting in a greater understanding that energy is not infinite, and everyone has a role in conserving energy.

As we developed the interpretive plan, the values, goals, mission, and vision served as filters and guideposts to make sure that whatever gets added, supports and strengthens the visitor experience Otter Cove has been so intentional to achieve. 

So how are we making sure that the new exhibit supports the values of joy in working together and shared responsibility? How are we reinforcing the notion that energy is not infinite? How are we instilling a sense of place and purpose?

Installation of the new exhibit is currently in progress, so you’ll have to wait just a bit for the big reveal! We’ll answer those questions and share “finished product” photos very soon… In the meantime, enjoy these teasers about what’s to come!

Something’s aglow! Electronics programmer Daniel makes adjustments to some new interactive elements that are being installed.

Members of the fabrication team position a solar panel that will play a key role in the new installation!