Foundation awards MASM $300K grant for exhibit hall

Mid-America Science Museum recently received a $300,000 grant from the Oaklawn Foundation for the construction of its new traveling exhibit hall.

The new exhibit hall is expected to be completed sometime in early 2020.

Hot Springs voters approved a $2 million bond issue to fund construction of the free-standing exhibition hall that can house national traveling exhibits at a special election in September.

The addition of the new exhibit hall will allow the museum to host larger touring exhibits, including artifacts and relevant science-related items from affiliate institutions like the Smithsonian and the NASA Museum Alliance, a news release said.

“A building project of this scope takes a great deal of planning and research and our board of trustees has been working to make sure that the new exhibit hall will serve the community precisely as it was intended. Thanks to this generous additional support from the Oaklawn Foundation it will soon become a reality,” Diane LaFollette, executive director of the museum, said in the release.

The museum, in celebration of its 40th anniversary, has been promoting learning through science, technology, engineering and mathematics since opening its doors in 1979. The museum continues to promote science education through hosting traveling exhibits, educational programs, and school outreach in Garland County and surrounding communities throughout the state, the release said.

An award-winning science museum, Mid-America’s 2015 renovation, thanks to the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, has helped to restore the museum’s mission and has established it as one of the leading science museums in the country, the release said.

“The Oaklawn Foundation is pleased to support the Mid America Science Museum and the construction of this exhibit hall. This exhibit hall will improve the experience for students in Garland County who visit the museum, and it will be a significant asset to our community for many years to come,” Ira Kleinman, Chairman of the Oaklawn Foundation Board, said in the release.

The Sentinel-Record/Grace Brown YOUNG LEARNER: Grace Bahan, 11, of Las Vegas, experiments with an exhibit at Mid-America Science Museum on Monday. The museum recently received a grant for $300,000 from the Oaklawn Foundation to go toward building a new free-standing exhibit hall.