Amobile museum is a museumeducational outreach program that bring themuseum to the people rather than vice versa.[1] Typically they can be inRecreational Vehicles (RVs) ortrucks/trailers that drive toschools,libraries and rural events. Their business model is to use grant or donor support, as they goal is to make the museum exhibit accessible to underserved populations.[2] Below are some examples of mobile museums.
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The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME)[3] is a nonprofit founded in 1976 that maintains two traveling STEM-museums-on-wheels that visit thousands of students a year across Texas. Established in 1980 as the Expo-Tex traveling engineering exhibit,[4] the Trailblazer program expanded in 2013 to a fleet of two upgraded 40-ft trailers. Both Trailblazer I and Trailblazer II contain five interactive STEM exhibit areas: Aerodynamics, Biotechnology, Energy, Space, and Weather. Exhibits includeRobotic Surgery,Van de Graaff Generators,Virtual RealitySpacewalk,Green Screen Technology,Thermal Imaging,Wind Tunnels, and more.[5]
"The Trailblazers invite everyone to get excited about the world around us, from outer space to inside the human body. Based out of Austin, Texas, the Trailblazer program reaches potential where it lives, bringing interactive exhibits to communities all across the state of Texas. Students visiting the Trailblazer are stepping into a network[6] that is designed to support them as they advance—from after-school TAME Clubs to STEM Competitions, and on to college scholarships and mentoring."[7]
The "VanGo" was founded in 1992 by theSusquehanna Art Museum inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania. The program gives visitors an authentic art museum experience on board a vehicle retrofitted with a gallery space. Since its inception, the VanGo program has occupied three vehicles: a city transportation bus, a school bus, and presently a 31-foot-long Winnebago Sightseer. Annually rotating exhibitions feature original artworks in a variety of media. In addition, visitors learn about careers, museum etiquette, and art history through a variety of interactive stations.[citation needed]
The Moveable Museum was produced and managed by theAmerican Museum of Natural History inNew York City (NYC) under the auspices of theGottesman Center for Science Teaching and Learning. The program was available free of charge to allschools in thefive boroughs of New York City. The Moveable Museum formerly included vehicles aboutpaleontology,anthropology, andastronomy. The Moveable Museum program was in operation from 1993 through 2012, in which time it visited over 700 schools in NYC and manylibraries.[8][9][10][11] ThePaleontology of Dinosaurs (Grades K-2) was active from 1998 through 2012, and focused on teaching children howpaleontologists usefossils to studydinosaurs and other ancient life.[12] TheStructures & Culture (Grades 3–8) exhibit let students study actual pieces of material culture, and become anthropologists while investigating howculture allows people to use various environmental resources to meet basic human needs.[13]
TheDinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries mobile museum was donated to the Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs in 2013 and remains in operation as of 2024.[14][15] ThePaleontology of Dinosaurs is the oldest vehicle in operation. TheStructures & Culture allows students to enter the homes of three modernnomadic cultures, theGabra ofKenya, theMongols ofMongolia and theBlackfeet ofMontana.Discovering the Universe (Grades 6–12) resides at theSuffolk County Vanderbilt Planetarium.[16][17]
Created to travel into communities in Ghana byNana Oforiatta Ayim and the ANO Institute of Arts and Knowledge.[18][19][20][21] InThe Guardian,[22] Charlotte Jansen writes: "Ayim said she started to reflect on the museum model in Africa while working at the British Museum. Struck by how differently African objects were encountered in display cabinets in the UK with how they were actively used in festivals back home, she began to think about how material culture could be preserved and presented in a way that was more in keeping with local traditions."
A purpose-built enclosed trailer featuring artefacts and photographs from the areas in theShire of Mundaring. The Mundaring Travelling Museum was official opened at the 2019 Blue Sky Festival, by Cr John Saw (Shire President), Owen Briffa (Curator) and Matthew Hughes (MLA - Kalamunda). Located in the Perth Hills, the Travelling Museum visits schools, special celebrations and local community events.[23]
An exMTT Perth 1957 vintageLeyland Worldmaster Bus featuring a 5 m longgreat white shark (White Pointer) and hundreds of marine objects collected aroundAustralia primarily in the 1960s and '70s. This private collection tours Australia and contains the shark purported to have inspired the artistDamien Hirst. Shark in a Bus is completely self funded.[24]
A pair of RV museum vans with themes related tocultural history that operates inNew Mexico and is run by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, with primary funding from the Department of Transportation. The grant-supported program focuses on children in elementary schools, especially those in remote and rural communities.[25][26]
Based inSurrey,UK, it aims to tell the story of world conflict through interaction with items from various periods. It specialises in bringing the history of conflict to people who may, for whatever reason, find it difficult to access a traditional museum experience. Currently funded by donation, it focusses on donations of objects from the public to keep the collection eclectic.
School outreach program targeting children in school grades 1–6, operating inNorth Texas, USA.[27]
Mobile Museum of Tolerance
Owned and operated by theSimon Wiesenthal Center, a Los-Angeles based Jewish human rights organization, the Mobile Museum of Tolerance (MMOT) provides free educational programs on theHolocaust,civil rights, anddigital media literacy for schools and communities. The first MMOT began traveling inIllinois in 2021, with additional exhibits launching inCalifornia,New York,Florida, andHawaii.[28] The organization'sCanadian affiliate, the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, has operated the Tour for Humanity since 2013.[29]
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)We travel Australia in our 1957 Leyland Royal Tiger bus, demystifying sharks and sharing our world class private museum. See our calendar for tour dates.
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Media related toMobile museums at Wikimedia Commons