June and July 2003 issue
Contents:
Letter From Lindy
Board Not Bored Last Year
Prof. Pockets Profile
Omaha's Favorite Pizza Returns
Omaha's Own Commercial Federal
Bank Helps Bring Summer Fun to Museum
See the Artist in Her Natural
Habitat - the Studio
Unpaid But Greatly Appreciated
Letter From Lindy
Get Ready for a Summer of Thrills
“Thrilling”—that’s
the word you will hear over and over again at the Omaha
Children’s Museum this summer. Remember what it was
like to experience a thrill when you were a child? Well,
get ready to experience it again when you visit Theme Park:
The Art and Science of Universal Studio’s Islands
of Adventure.
I remember a particular thrill of my childhood was riding
in the family station wagon on the way to visit grandparents.
We lived in the small town of Eagle, NE, just outside of
Lincoln, and both sets of grandparents lived in the Omaha
area. To get from our small town to the interstate, we took
this rough and tumble gravel road. There was a particular
point of the ride, just after we’d passed through
another small town, where we hit a bit of a hill. At the
crest of the hill, my sisters, brother and I would sit up
straight in our seats, because on the other side, at just
the right speed, which my father always hit, we’d
get this tickle in our tummies that made us all laugh out
loud. It was always more thrilling going to Omaha than coming
home because of the anticipation of all the exciting things
ahead.
The museum hopes to recreate the thrills of childhood and
add to the ones of the children visiting this summer with
our newest exhibit. I hope the anticipation and excitement
of the thrills ahead make your trip to the Omaha Children’s
Museum something to look forward to always, and that your
return trip home is a little bit of a let down until you
load the station wagon again to head our way.
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Board Not Bored Last
Year
As Board Changes Over, Presidents Reflect on Past Accomplishments
and Future Challenges
The expansion into the second floor. Two
blockbuster traveling exhibits. A toddler center. An overhauled
science center. A portable planetarium. A construction site
exhibit. A new executive director and four new members of
senior staff. A new floor staff and two new educators. A
community survey and strategic planning task forces. A record-setting
benefit.
Is there an overachiever in the room?
The last twelve months have brought much change to the Omaha
Children’s Museum, of which the museum board of directors
is extremely proud. Now, the board itself is changing, as
happens each year in June, the end of the museum’s
fiscal year.
At its May 19 meeting, the board approved new officers and
members. Among the new officers, Kristine Gerber, Eventive
Marketing, was elected president, and Joe Seda, Cox Communications,
was elected president-elect.
Mike Mullin, McGrath North Mullin & Kratz, served as
board president through the museum’s 2002 –
2003 year.
Mullin said that he was proud of the support the board has
given to the museum this year.
“The board was very unified and dedicated in its support
to a greater degree than I have witnessed in the prior seven
years,” said Mullin.
“I’ve always felt that Omaha, with its strong
family-based community, the strong values of community members,
its local arts and community entertainment facilities, should
have one of the best children’s museums in the country,”
said Mullin. “For the first time, the museum is on
track to accomplish that.”
The local and national economy, said Mullin, is now the
museum’s chief challenge.
“We’re coming off three years of very difficult
economic times. To have the Omaha Children’s Museum
improve and become one of the best children’s museums,
it will take continued dollars from contributors.”
“With the accomplishments of past year, I’m
confident that donors will continue to support us, and Kristine
and Joe will continue an ongoing process to reach a level
that seemed unacheiveable only a few years ago.”
Kristine Gerber, who will serve as board president for the
2003 – 2004 year, said, “I personally think
that if people have a passion for something, they’ll
support it. Our biggest challenge is getting people in the
door who haven’t seen the museum for years. That process
has already begun. It started with the benefit.”
“As president, I want to continue to sing the praises
and get people to see what we’ve done. By doing that,
the money will come.”
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Prof. Pockets Profile
By Lisa Berube
Recently, I found Professor Pockets in his hidden underground
laboratory, trying to perfect his newest find . . . the
bottomless pocket. I managed to convince him to answer questions
that all of you have been dying to know. Here is what he
said:
Lisa: How did you get the name “Professor Pockets?”
PP: You know, I never did ask my parents why they named
me that. What’s funny is that I used to forget my
name, so they made me this lab coat full of pockets so that
I could remember it.
Lisa: What sort of things do you find in your pockets?
PP: Super cool science experiments and fun things for creative
play.
Lisa: What do you do at the children’s
museum?
PP: Entertain children with fun games, educate with science
experiments, encourage children to use their imagination
when playing in museum.
Lisa: What do you do when you are not at the museum?
PP: I blow things up in my laboratory, watch cartoons, read
lots of fun books and I play with all of my animals.
Lisa: What is your favorite part of the
museum?
PP: The Science Center, of course.
Lisa: What does someone have to do to become a professor
of pocketology?
PP: Be crazy and zany, love to learn, and wear a really
cool lab coat with lots of pockets.
Send any questions you have for Professor Pockets to education@ocm.org.
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Omaha's Favorite Pizza
Returns
We baked it, we served it, we delivered it
around the country and now it’s back! Pizza: Any Way
You Slice It is now home at the Omaha Children’s Museum.
“It turns out that Pizza really surprised the other
museums which hosted the exhibit,” said Tom Simons,
director of education for the Omaha Children’s Museum.
“In speaking with other museums, they were unanimously
impressed with the exhibit. Needless to say, we’re
really excited to have it back.”
The exhibit focuses on three main areas: making pizza, delivering
pizza and eating pizza. With pizza’s international
status as a fun, affordable food what better tool to serve
as a foundation for education. Along the way visitors will
learn about fractions, making change, handling money and
geography. The exhibit also covers the science behind rising
dough, melting cheese, digestion and the nutritional value
of pizza, leaving Pizza visitors with hungry stomachs and
satisfied minds.
Pizza was specially created by the Omaha Children’s
Museum and has been traveling across the country for the
last year and a half as part of a children’s museum
collaborative, a partnership of nine youth museums to create
and share exhibits. The exhibit will be refurbished by the
museum while it is here this summer. After the summer, it
travels once more.
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Omaha's Own Commerical
Federal Bank Helps Bring Summer Fun to Museum
Sponsoring Theme Park, one of the largest
exhibits to come to the Omaha Children’s Museum, is
Commercial Federal Bank.
Theme Park takes you on a wild journey through the inner
workings of Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure.
With hands-on learning and fun, the traveling exhibit shows
just how a theme park grows from an idea into a reality.
“Like the Omaha community, the Omaha Children’s
Museum is growing and getting better. Commercial Federal
is proud to help it expand by being a sponsor for this tremendous
traveling exhibit,” said Roger Lewis, senior vice
president and director of marketing, Commercial Federal
Bank.
Commercial Federal Bank became a reality in 1887. Founded
by a group of South Omaha business leaders, Commercial Federal
has grown into a $13.5 billion federal savings bank with
189 branch offices in the states of Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado,
Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arizona. Headquartered in
Omaha, Commercial Federal offers consumer and commercial
banking, mortgage banking, commercial lending, insurance
and investment services and Internet banking.
Committed to customer service and future growth, Commercial
Federal Bank continues to build on its 116-year tradition
of providing innovative and diversified financial products
and services to individuals and businesses.
The bank employs more than 2,800 individuals who take pride
in offering knowledgeable, personalized service backed by
the financial strength and comprehensive services of a regional
bank. Employees committed to their communities, cutting-edge
products and services, and a consistent focus on exceeding
the expectations of each customer, have been among the bank’s
hallmarks since its founding.
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See the Artist in Her
Natural Habitat - the Studio
The Artist in the Studio, opening on June
7 at the Omaha Children’s Museum, is a unique museum-going
experience designed to provide an opportunity for children
and their families to be artists and meet artists. Unlike
most art exhibitions, in which (for obvious reasons) touching
the objects is strictly forbidden, this exhibition invites
the visitor to be a participant in the art-making process—to
see, touch, and experience art in its various stages of
creation.
The Artist in the Studio consists of three hands-on studios—painting
and drawing, printmaking and sculpture—where visitors
create their own works of art; plus a Renaissance Studio,
a Modern Studio, and a Studio of the Future. A reproduction
of a Renaissance artist’s studio introduces visitors
to techniques and people of that time. An authentic contemporary
working artist’s studio is central to the exhibition
experience. The Studio of the Future, equipped with computers,
gives children access to programs that create art on a computer
screen.
Hands-on activities include painting on an easel with “magic”
canvases, using brushes and water. In the Printmaking Studio
there is a display of original prints made using a variety
of printmaking methods—lithography, serigraphy, intaglio,
and relief—with a guessing game about how the processes
work. There is also a table where children can make their
own four-color prints. At the Sculpture Studio, children
can build “additive” sculptures from bins of
colorful foam blocks of varying sizes.
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Unpaid but Greatly Appreciated
Joining the museum’s outstanding staff
this year were four interns, all from Creighton University.
The interns donated countless hours supporting the museum
while gaining experience and skills related to their education.
The museum is grateful for their dedication and exceptional
work, even for writing this article.
LISA BERUBE
All the way from Laguna Niguel, California, Lisa Berube
assisted in membership communications, wrote articles for
the museum’s newsletter and updated the website. Lisa
graduated from Creighton in May with a BA in Journalism
with an emphasis in public relations and class work in marketing.
After graduation, Lisa moved back to California to get a
job in marketing.
DEBBIE BLACK
As a graphic design/layout intern at the museum, Debbie
Black was busy creating flyers and logos for special events,
redesigning the museum map as well as working on redesigning
the museum’s website. Debbie graduated this May with
a BA in Graphic Design. After graduation, she plans on doing
volunteer service internationally and within the U.S. until
she attends graduate school.
PAULA FABER
Paula Faber gained experience in the non-profit field by
working on membership recruitment, writing and editing press
releases and maintaining relationships with other organizations
in the tourist industry for the museum. She graduated from
Creighton with a BA in Journalism. Her focus is on public
relations with a support in marketing. After graduation
she was hired by Marian High School as public relations
manager.
BRANDI LESCH
Brandi Lesch wrote and edited press releases, updated the
museum website, wrote articles and collected information
for the museum’s newsletter. Brandi will graduate
from Creighton with a BA in Applied Communications and plans
on moving to Florida to be closer to her parents.
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