Asian Cultural Exhibition Series
Association of Children’s Museums (ACM)
Blue Rhino Design was hired in December 2019 by the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) in Washington, DC, to coordinate and lead a large multi-functional international team through the complex design-build process for five modular exhibits. The ACM represents more than 460 children’s museums in 19 countries and the US.
The five hands-on exhibitions depict five East Asian themes for children—food, home life, celebration, music, and games. Specifically designed for small children’s museums, the exhibits are modular and configurable; utilize little or no technology and power; have few moving parts; are easily assembled and disassembled; are durable and low maintenance; have easily replaceable parts and consumables; and are accessible.
Prototypes of all five exhibits were presented at the ACM's InterActivity conference in May of 2022. Thereafter, the prototypes were tested for six months in five host museums. After the six months of testing, improvements were made to the exhibits and in mid-2023 copies were gifted to 20 small museums across the US.
The photos below are courtesy of Adventure! Children’s Museum (Eugene, OR), Children's Museum of Richmond (Richmond, VA), Spark (Rochester, MN), KidsPlay Children’s Museum (Torrington, CT), Mississippi Children's Museum (Jackson, MS) and Wonder Universe (Christiansburg, VA).