The Discovery Reno

The Discovery was a project I was brought into at the initial stages when there was only 4 full-time staff raising $20 million to start a hands-on discovery museum in Reno, NV.  We realized there was a huge hole in the community as far as hands-on learning and family-targeted educational experiences. 

I chose to make The Discovery a community project by engaging many local people, from teachers to CEOs of local businesses, in meetings for exhibit content development.  I hired as many local fabricators, artisans, and content developers as possible as I managed the project coordination and $4,000,000 budget for the 5-year span of the project.  The exhibits focused on Northern Nevada facts, businesses, history, environment, and renewable power and building so that visitors could take lessons learned from the museum and apply them to the greater community or continue to learn with community partners.

Working with S2 Associates I kept track of and organized hundreds of volunteers, content developers, writers, artists, 16 different fabricators, and several designers.  We organized several rounds of focus groups for each gallery and then turned that research into organized workable data to direct the exhibit development.  I did first-hand research into the history, cultures, and ecology of Northern Nevada working with indigenous locals, Northern Nevada historians and archeologists, and environmental groups.  We finished on time and under budget to rave reviews. 

I worked very closely with Development to create and present marketing materials ranging from PowerPoint presentations to press releases and development pitch packages. 

Once the museum was open I developed programming for a full-time art space that used recycled materials, and created a budget and workflow projection for 3 years out for Exhibits development and a traveling exhibit program.