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History Museum Takes Interactive, Social Approach

by Chris Owen (RSS feed) on Apr 24th 2012 at 4:00PM

History museums offer a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural or historical importance, making them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. For some, history museums are an exciting look at the past with lessons for the future. To others, they are just boring old places full of old stuff. In Denver, the new History Colorado Center opens this weekend in an attempt to change perceptions of the state history museum experience with highly experiential exhibits that put visitors in the stories and make history fun.

Visitors can take a virtual soar off a historic ski jump, "yearbook" themselves in a 1920s hairdo for a small town high school, become a miner who must set the dynamite correctly to explode, and play a trading game swapping goods at a historic trading fort.

Live performances, hands-on projects, lectures and more will also serve to continually keep spaces alive.

"The point to all this is that we want to put you in the center of the story – with all the pathos and humor and even the ridiculousness," said chief operating officer Kathryn Hill to the Victoria Advocate.

The new History Colorado Center looks to be much more than a museum too. As a source of civic connection and a place for statewide interactive dialogue, the Center will bring educational programming to Colorado communities in new ways that promise to increase awareness, heighten interest and broaden participation with History Colorado. Once the transformation is complete, History Colorado will reach people of all ages and backgrounds, in all parts of the state.

The $110 million History Colorado Center opens to the public on Saturday, April 28, 2012.

[Flickr photo by an untrained eye]

Filed under: History, Festivals and Events, North America, United States