The three-story tower at the entrance of Santa Barbara’s Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation is easy to spot from State Street, and a reminder that work has been progressing since the museum’s groundbreaking last fall.
The 25,000-square-foot museum, located between the train station and Hotel Indigo, is to open late next year.
The museum, also known as MOXI, will focus on learning opportunities and exhibits featuring science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, or STEAM.
Plans include 17,000 square feet of exhibits, a smart classroom, a new media theater, a museum store and a rooftop sky garden. An event rental space is also planned, and is part of the strategy to help supplement costs to keep ticket prices low.
Noozhawk got a tour of the construction site Friday from Steve Hinkley, MOXI’s newly hired president and CEO.
Hinkley recently arrived in Santa Barbara from Dallas, where he was vice president of programs at the Perot Museum of Nature & Science.
He also has a background in science education, and worked for more than a decade as a physics, biology and physiology teacher.
Hinckley’s excitement for the museum’s potential was palpable as he walked through what will be the courtyard.
The museum’s plans feature an impressive attention to detail, like the the courtyard’s flooring, which will have glow-in-the-dark concrete to light up evening events. Oakland-based Gyroscope is behind the plans and has been working with a local exhibit committee.
One museum entrance will be home to a “hyper loop” exhibit, based on a concept from high-tech billionaire Elon Musk, that will teach museum goers about air pressure and problem solving.
The exhibits are meant to introduce people to concepts being employed by local tech companies as well as global ideas, Hinkley said.
“It’s about how can we connect what’s happening here to a much larger world,” he explained.
Collaboration with South Coast companies and nonprofit organizations will also be key. Hinkley said he could envision a scenario in which a local symphony would be invited in to play an event in the sound portion of the museum while children are encouraged nearby to make their own instruments.
“There’s a huge potential to collaborate,” he said.
By the time the museum opens, much about the Lower State Street area will have been transformed. MOXI’s organizers are keeping tabs on the myriad of construction projects that are under way in the nearby Funk Zone neighborhood.
The Cabrillo Boulevard bridge replacement project is on their radar, as is the progress of the La Entrada project.
The museum’s property has been leased from the City of Santa Barbara under a 50-year ground deal for a dollar a year. Part of the agreement states that entrance fees must be kept as low as possible to provide a museum experience for as many people as possible.
To achieve its goals, Hinckley said the museum is planning an intensive outreach to local schools, free days, discounted tickets and other strategies to engage the community.
He envisions the museum drawing families from as far as 100 miles away, because there isn’t a similar institution between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Part of the appeal of the space is that it’s not just for young children. Parents and caregivers bringing their kids to the museum and then disengaging, perusing mobile phones while the children have fun is not the goal, Hinkley said.
“We want to pull in the adults as well,” he said.
Hinckley said adult-only museum nights, when adults can grab a drink and walk through the exhibits themselves, was a hit at his former museum, and the events sold out months in advance.
That idea could be replicated at MOXI, he said.
A tinkering workshop also is in the plans, and Hinkley envisions adults and children working on projects like 3-D design.
“We’ve tried to make every nook and cranny interactive,” he said.
An inspiration wall will feature 15 to 20 exhibits, including local innovations.
“If Sonos comes up with a cool piece of audio equipment, we could feature it there,” Hinckley said.
The museum’s backers have raised $18 million so far, but have a $25 million goal, and naming opportunities and corporate sponsorships are still being sought.
Click here for more information about the Wolf Museum of Exploration & Innovation, or call 805.708.2282. Click here to make an online donation.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
