Traveling Exhibits in Museums Are Big Business!

Where can you learn about Harleys, rockets, or Picasso? How fast can you throw a baseball? What did King Tut take with him to the grave? Our nation's museums have the answers to your questions! This summer keep your children thinking and inspired by taking them on excursions to a museum, zoo, or aquarium. This is your time to supplement what your children learned in school by showing them the richness of history, real artifacts, and innovations in science and art.

Traveling exhibits in museums are big business! Museums spend millions of dollars bringing innovative action packed exhibits and large format films to their communities. Families are attending museums in record numbers as they look for ways to educate and entertain their children over the summer. Stuffy? No way. Many museum exhibits have hands on activities that challenge the brain, test preconceived ideas, and expand horizons. Visits are energizing and help keep the creative juices flowing. Why not find out what is going on in your state this summer? If you are traveling take time to discover the featured displays in the local museums. You can count on a lot of enjoyment for your dollar and your children will have something to tell their friends about when they get home.

Here are just a few examples of the innovative and action packed exhibits some of Museum Tour's member museums are showing this summer!

Midwest: In Indiana, treasures from 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history will be on exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis when
Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs opens on June 27.
The exhibit contains objects from about 2600 B.C. to 660 B.C., many which have never been in the United States.


The Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, MN will be showing Titanic the Artifact Exhibit. Discover the science behind the sinking of the Titanic and the recovery efforts. The artifacts recovered from the ocean floor reveal the stories of the Titanic and her passengers and crew.


A T. rex Named Sue will be visiting the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis MI. Sue is a 42 feet long and 13 feet high fully-articulated cast skeleton of the famous T. rex. found by Sue Hendrickson. The exhibit also contains paleontological tools and fossils of Upper Cretaceous creatures discovered in the Midwest.


South: If you are living in or visiting Texas, the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas is hosting a traveling exhibit where you can learn to be a spy. Take on a secret identity and carry out a covert mission in The Science of Spying.


The Amon Center in Ft. Worth is displaying the Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African-American Art: Works on Paper, as well as a photography exhibit, High Modernism: Alfred Stieglitz and His Legacy.


Also in the southern part of the US, the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, FL has a photography exhibit, Everglades Imagery: Intimate Detail of a Vast Landscape, and an exhibit of paintings world renowned paleo-artist Charles R. Knight.


Mid-Atlantic: A variety of exhibits are traveling in the Mid-Atlantic states this summer on topics as varied as the science of a circus to the discoveries of Galileo.


The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA has two special exhibits that are showing through September 7th. RACE: Are We So Different? is the creation of scientists, artists, and researchers exploring the race. RACE helps us understand race and racism through a variety of interactive activities and exhibits.


The Franklin is also the world exclusive host for Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy. The collections in the exhibit include instruments belonging to Galileo and paintings, prints and manuscripts from the Medici collection.


For family fun, check out Circus! at Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC. Learn about the science involved in the circus through interactive exhibits, including high wire and juggling.


The Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia is hosting Risk! This exhibit explores our perception, or misperception, of risk.


West Coast: In California and Oregon, museums and aquariums offer great opportunities for summer fun and learning.


The California Science Center in Los Angeles has two special exhibits this summer, Identity: An Exhibition of You, and Science in Toyland. Identity looks at the science behind identity and challenges with questions like "Who shares your skin color?" and "How much DNA do you share with your siblings?" The other special exhibit, Science in Toyland, explores what toys teach about science.


In Berkeley, the Lawrence Hall of Science is hosting Animal Grossology, a hilarious and informative exhibit based on the children's book series Grossology by Sylvia Branzei.


In Newport, Oregon, the Oregon Coast Aquarium's newest changing exhibit is Oddwater, an exhibit that combines marine biology and art. It features some of the most unusual life forms in the ocean along with blown glass displays and life-size murals.


In Portland, Oregon, the Museum of Science and Industry is hosting CSI: The Experience. This exhibit was created in collaboration with the hit CBS television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Visitors can investigate crimes using real investigation techniques like toxicology and forensic anthropology.


Northeast: On the opposite side of the country, Black Holes: Space Warps & Time Twists is making its debut at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts. Explore the physics of these fascinating celestial phenomena that intrigue science fiction fans and scientists alike.


Wherever you may be this summer, visit a museum and have a great time!