5-31, 2016
After nearly 1,000 people in less than 2 hours crammed into the Depot for the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop on December 31, 2015, Children’s Museum of Cheyenne (CMC) realized quickly they needed to offer something long before the opening of the children’s museum and performance arts space set to be built in the “hole” on Lincolnway.
“We recognized we didn’t have anything tangible that families could hold on to,” said Amy Surdam, CMC Board President. “We wanted something that could make an impact long before the museum would be built, but also something that could travel around the state and inspire as many kids as possible. We have been planning, writing grants for, and now fabricating our Mobile Museum.”
The “STEAMing across Wyoming” concept was developed by a Mobile Museum committee led by Amy Gorbey. The experience is for age 2-7. After securing enough grants and support from partners who wanted to support programming rather than the capital campaign, CMC began working with WH21 on design and then fabrication. The committee is now being led by Monica Jennings.
Per Monica Jennings, “The Mobile Museum is an interactive family friendly experience that children and families around the state will not want to miss. Learning through play is a research validated approach to education. The Mobile Museum captures this as children experience Wyoming landscapes and culture through play.”
The Mobile Museum will be ready in July. A soft opening is scheduled for a Neighborhood Night Out in July, followed by a two week event just before and over Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) in the Atlas Theater.
The week prior to CFD will be scheduled for preschools and daycares. The week of CFD will be open to the public.
Depending on location, the museum is either free of charge or cost of admission is $3, but thanks to the Kiwanis Club, there are scholarships available. Revenue will go towards future travel expenses.
Other stops for 2016 include: Pine Bluffs Trail Days, the Laramie County Fair, the Wyoming State Museum, Campbell County Library, Wright, and Sheridan.
Amy Surdam notes, “Our goal is to take the museum around the county and around the state to four different locations each for the next two years while we wait to open our new facility. When deciding where to visit first, It was extremely important to us to go to Gillette and Wright and let the families and kids up there know that we are here for them and that they are not alone in this time of economic challenge.”
Lead sponsors are Children’s Hospital Colorado partnered with Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
Other sponsors include:
Train Car sponsors:
BNSF
Cloud Peak Energy
Pinnacle Bank
Union Pacific
Other sponsors:
Cheyenne Orthodontics
Cloud Peak Energy
Design the World
Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
First Interstate Bank
Homer and Mildred Scott Foundation
Kiwanis
Sam’s Club Store
Stitches Acute Care Center
Walmart Distribution Center
Walmart Store
WH21
Wright Ranch & Resources LLC
Past Committee Members (for concept and education standards) include:
Amy Surdam
Amy Gorbey
Ashley Rooney
Todd Thibodeau
Nathan Doerr
Carrie Lucas
Jerry Conjer
Laurie Heath
Current Committee Members (for logistics and final planning) include:
Amy Surdam
Monica Jennings
Gayle Wagner
Brittany Johnson
Child Engagement Subcommittee members include:
Anna Chiu
Kelley Norman
Karla Roadifer
Monica Jennings
Kathryn Bigelow
Radha Snyder
Melissa Donmez
Deb Hart
Barb Marquer
Children’s Hospital of Colorado
Further Mobile Museum details will be announced in the near future. If you are interested in volunteering for an event, please email volunteer@childrensmuseumofcheyenne.org. For more information, please contact Monica Jennings, Mobile Museum Chair, at mobile@childrensmuseumofcheyenne.org or go to our website at http://www.childrensmuseumofcheyenne.org/mobile-museum.html
Children’s Museum of Cheyenne (CMC) is a 501c3 non-profit organization. CMC is led by a group of community leaders, guided by a collective agenda to improve student achievement while bettering the landscape of downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming.
CMC is building a facility, from the ground up, that will offer educational opportunities for every stage of a young person’s life, from “cradle to career.” Programs will be innovative, hands-on, and inclusive for children ages 0-14 with opportunities for older adolescents to volunteer. CMC’s mission is Inspired Learning for Children. All children. According to the 2013 US Census Bureau more than 22,000 (23.6%) of Laramie County residents are children. CMC believes that an investment in this future generation is essential and will encourage lifelong learning, spur downtown revitalization, promote economic development, and recruit and provide new opportunities for the local work force in the community.
CMC’s goal is to open in 2018.
For more information about Children’s Museum of Cheyenne visit childrensmuseumofcheyenne.org.