Before stepping into the theater, you receive a card. It details a passenger from a cruise ship. You have a new birthday, occupation and a picture. For the night, you are on the Titanic.
By the time the night is over, you’ve learned about your person and their fate. You walk out of the theater and your life is once again your own. This is a museum experience that can help immerse participants in a moment in time.
“People want to be involved,” Cassandra “Sandy” Henry, president of the Science Spectrum, said.
She said museums compete with various other outlets of entertainment, especially family entertainment centers filled with games and prizes to win. This means the institutions of learning must put effort and thought into rotating exhibits.
Henry said her job as president has a lot of details, most of which are behind the scenes. One of her main duties is to choose which exhibits are displayed to the public, as well as which films are shown in the OMNI Theater.
She said the most emotional film she chose is one detailing the Titanic. Henry was surprised to see people leave with tears in their eyes, clearly impacted by the experience.
The biggest hits at the Science Spectrum theater take people to places they’ve never been or will never get the chance to go to. The screen displays deep sea fish, Australian crocodiles, the African Savannah and pandas at home in China.
The experience is designed to touch people with far off places or experiences and give families an activity they can do together.
“How many things do families get to do together?" Henry said.
She said it's important to pick films that will appeal to a wide range of audiences. Subjects like small, fluffy animals are thrown in to grab the attention of children while still providing educational content.
Currently, the Science Spectrum is showing a film that goes further in depth with information about cats and dogs.
“We’ve had a little bit of pushback from families who go and look and think that it’s too old for their kids because it’s got words,” Henry said.
She said it has a lot more than words but is an interactive experience. Personally, she knows kids as young as 4-years-old who enjoy the exhibit.
“They look at it and that's all they see, so they make an immediate judgment about something rather than trying it out,” Henry said.
Henry said she aims to choose exhibits that are hands on, encouraging children and their families to learn through touch and action. The more senses used, the more interactive and attractive the experience is.
Jill Hoffman is the curator of education for the Museum of Texas Tech University. She said one of the main components of choosing exhibits is funding.
According to the American Alliance of Museums, 96% of people want to either maintain or expand federal funding for museums. Still, larger museums may have traveling exhibits, choosing from catalogs offered by exhibit companies.
According to the Museum of Texas Tech University website, they have various collections for anthropology, natural history, art and textiles.
Recently, the museum looked at an exhibit offered by the Smithsonian. With costs of shipping, the rental came out to be $400,000.
She said condition reports are required for every object that comes into the museum, cataloging damage that may have been inflicted during shipping.
The Science Spectrum differs from art and history museums that are far more strict with their works. Expensive art and artifacts are placed behind glass, free from the touch of museum goers.
“I think if all of our exhibits had an interactive component, then they would all be more popular,” Hoffman said.
She said the challenge with hands-on displays is damage to the piece. Planning has to be done in advance to ensure there are staff, materials and money to make repairs.
Henry said the Science Spectrum incorporates more interaction by holding workshops. Cow eye dissections and forensic workshops are completed as a class giving children an opportunity to learn through experiencing for themselves.
The museum and workshops are a big hit for families who homeschool their children in the area, giving them a chance to step out of the home classroom and into larger-than-life encounters.
“To me, it's just another language to interpret to people,” Henry said.