Building Exhibits: Life Sciences Gallery: Our Dreams
For the concluding exhibit of the Life Sciences Gallery, the Museum wanted to give the final word to the children, our future. What do they think about the way we are treating the Earth? What are their hopes and dreams for the future? Well, the best way to answer these questions was to get them to help build the exhibit.
The planning and development for this exhibit was a two-year project that started in 1996. Using a list provided by the SEEDS Foundation (Society for Environment and Energy Development), the Museum chose five Saskatchewan schools to work with: Davin Elementary School, Marion McVeety Elementary School, and Sheldon-Williams Collegiate in Regina, Souris Elementary School in Weyburn, and Pense Elementary School in Pense. The students, many of which were members of science clubs, ranged from Grades 4 to 9. The "Friends of Youth" chapter of the Optimist Clubs of Saskatchewan sponsored the project.
The first gathering of students from Pense, Souris, Davin, and Marion-McVeety schools taken outside of the RSM.
Many steps were taken to get the colourful and interactive twenty-nine 3-D panels and 'Mother Earth' model, you see today. Students and Museum staff held brainstorming sessions to identify their dreams. The students transformed these dreams into sketches and then into sculpted tiles which they painted in bright primary colours.
May 1997 brainstorming workshop.
"My Dream" by Vanessa Krieser from Davin School, Regina.
The next step was to create students' name tiles that would identify which work was theirs and would later act as a push button to hear a recorded message that explained the importance of their tile. Ron Lawson handled all of the audio and electronic work so that when the student's name tile was pushed, their corresponding tile would light up and play their recorded message.
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Students from Pense got really creative and came up with the 'Mother Earth' idea. Originally, they wanted her to have a built-in recording system so that people touring the exhibit could share their own ideas, comments, and success stories. But it was decided that 'Mother Earth' would speak to the viewers about the concerns of youth. Jun Huang created 'Mother Earth' and Penny Pedersen gave her a voice. |
"Vision of the Future" was just one of many possible titles for the exhibit, but when gallery designer Blair Fraser came up with the title "Our Dreams", everyone knew they had a winner. This title reflects the exhibit's purpose - to communicate that the youth of today are the future, and their dreams depend on the choices we make to preserve our environment.
The "Our Dreams" exhibit first opened December 15, 1999. This was the first time in the Museum's history that Saskatchewan students played an active role in creating such a successful and worthwhile exhibit.
Grand opening of "Our Dreams", December 15, 1999.
For further information contact the Exhibits Unit