Guests of Creative Discovery Museum will don party hats, shake noisemakers, decorate cookies and celebrate a 15th birthday party like no other on Saturday, May 29. A day of special activities and fun is planned to celebrate the Chattanooga icon’s 15th birthday.
“We are delighted to be celebrating our 15th birthday,” said Henry Schulson, the museum’s executive director. “During the last 15 years, close to three million children and their families have discovered the joy of learning through hands on exploration of the arts and sciences. We look forward to continue to serve as a wonderful educational resource for the community as Chattanooga grows and prospers.”
Dr. Jayne Griffin, director of Education also said, “On our 15th birthday, the museum has all of the wonderful qualities of a teenager – energetic in the programming we offer the community, passionate about bringing the best educational experiences to our guests, and fun-loving in the approach we take to serving our guests.”
As the museum celebrates its accomplishments of the last 15 years, it also celebrates the people, including its teen volunteers who have grown up with the museum.
Jessica Clark, a member of the Museum Apprentice Program and recently honored with the Volunteer Hero Youth Award, has volunteered over 800 hours of service to the museum. Her first memory of the museum is a field trip with her kindergarten class.
“I’ll always love Excavation Station,” said Ms. Clark. “Going back to that first visit in Kindergarten, digging for dinosaur bones was so much fun, and now I want to help guests enhance their experience, so they’ll have great memories, too.”
Raewyn Duvall also shared her thoughts on being a teen volunteer and growing up in the Museum. “Being a part of the MAP program has allowed me to become more comfortable with interacting with people in general. I used to be the really shy girl in the corner. Now people describe me as very outgoing. It has always been, and shall always remain, one of my favorite places to be.”
And what does she think is most fun about being age 15? Her definitive answer was, “Learning to drive to CDM!”
On May 29, all visitors to the Museum will be invited to celebrate a festive birthday with cake, ice cream and lively music. Guests are encouraged to come early to design party hats and noisemakers in preparation for the cake cutting at 1 p.m. on the Museum Plaza. Free cake and ice cream will be available while quantities last.
Guests may also visit the Culinary Corner to see Sibyl Carmichael of Chattanooga’s The Sugar Shoppe demonstrate decorating a birthday cake and learn about the art of decorating with icing. All children participating in the class will receive three, home-made sugar cookies and specialized instruction on how to use decorating tips to create delicious and enticing icing designs.
Creative Discovery Museum opened in 1995 as part of Chattanooga's redeveloped riverfront district. The concept for the Museum evolved as an idea for a children's wing of the Hunter Museum of American Art. The idea quickly outgrew its origins.
Since its open, the Museum has undergone core exhibit renovation, installation of additional permanent exhibits, and expanded programming with outreach lessons to local school classrooms. Already in 2010, the Museum installed a new Green Roof and has plans to renovate its existing Auditorium into a new Science Theatre.