Menu VISIT EDUCATION SCIENCE EQUITY JOIN & GIVE Main menu Search Secondary menu Tickets Store LEGACY PROJECTS Legacy Projects The Legacy Amendment is a constitutional amendment adopted by Minnesota voters in November 2008. It raised the state sales tax by 3/8 of 1% for a period of 25 years and dedicated the earned revenue to clean water, parks, outdoor habitat, and arts and cultural heritage. A website was created by the Minnesota Legislature to help citizens monitor how funds from the Legacy Amendment are being used. On the Minnesota’s Legacy: watch the progress website you can see how funds are being invested across the state. As a Legacy fund beneficiary from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, the Science Museum of Minnesota has been able to improve our collection of artifacts representing Minnesota’s cultural heritage; create deeper and broader connections about our work with residents throughout the state; and inspire more enthusiasm in Minnesota for science and its impact in the past, present and future. An overview of our Legacy-funded projects is below. We Move and We Stay Exhibition Henry Whipple was Minnesota’s first Episcopalian minister, appointed in 1859. He was an avid collector of American Indian objects and an advocate for the Ojibwe and Dakota people living in Minnesota. Legacy Amendment support provided acquisition funds to preserve American Indian objects in the Bishop Whipple collection. The Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund have been instrumental in helping the Science Museum of Minnesota to establish and complete our American Indian exhibit and programming, We Move and We Stay, beginning with the purchase of the Whipple collection in fiscal years 2010-2012. We Move and We Stay was created in the fiscal year 2013 and features artifacts from both the Whipple collection and the museum’s other American Indian collections. The exhibition tells the story of generations of Dakota and Ojibwe people who have made their home in Minnesota. We relied on our American Indian advisory council in shaping this exhibit and they have lent their voices, as this is their story to tell. The exhibition opened in February 2013 and we continued to expand and improve the exhibit. In the 2016-17 biennium, our focus included adding final objects and interactivity; finishing the development of exhibition curriculum materials; staffing the Visible Lab; and continuing object digitization efforts. Legacy Amendment funds for this project concluded at the end of the 2017 fiscal year. Statewide School Initiative The Science Museum of Minnesota continues to make it a top priority to enhance our programs and offerings to schools and teachers throughout the state. Support from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the Minnesota Legacy Amendment has generously enabled the Science Museum to reach students and teachers in all 87 Minnesota counties with valuable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programming. With support from previous Legacy funds, the Science Museum implemented initiatives to ensure that a field trip to our museum is a valuable use of instructional time and meets the needs of the schools we serve. We send science instructors statewide to Greater Minnesota schools to provide excellent residency classes and assemblies featuring engaging STEM learning experiences. Over 158,000 participants were served last school year by Science Museum programs for school audiences. With current Legacy funding in the 2018-19 biennium, the Science Museum will serve growing audiences; foster new relationships; develop innovative programs; optimize the RACE: Are We So Different? exhibition; and provide ongoing communications to schools in all 87 Minnesota counties. Continued Legacy funding provides access to high impact STEM learning experiences for schools statewide. RACE: Are We So Different? Small Community-Based Exhibits In 2004, the American Anthropological Association selected the Science Museum of Minnesota to help them create a 5,000 square foot museum exhibition exploring race and human variation. The central themes include examining race from three interwoven perspectives: the most current science regarding human variation; the history of the idea of race and the role of science in shaping the concept of race; and the contemporary experience of race and racism in the United States. The RACE: Are We So Different? exhibition first opened at the Science Museum in January 2007. The exhibition resonated widely and then traveled throughout the United States. In October 2015, it returned to its home in Saint Paul. The Science Museum is currently utilizing Legacy Amendment funds in the 2018-19 biennium to bring RACE exhibition experiences out to communities across the state of Minnesota. The Science Museum will create three small community-based exhibits as an extension of the exhibition in Saint Paul, and develop partnerships with arts, cultural or educational organizations across Minnesota to host our 450 square foot RACE exhibits. STEM Lending Library The STEM Lending Library project team developed space use, budget, and program plans for a relocated and revitalized STEM Lending Library. The new library space is adjacent to the school entrance for field trip programs. This will provide greater visibility for the program throughout the year compared to the current location in Science House, which is a separate structure on the museum grounds. The plans developed informed the Science Museum's commitment to create a renovated space and to expand resources in support of high quality STEM education. The renovated Lending Library will increase the ease of use, promote visibility, and expand access to high quality STEM materials, resources, and curriculum support for educators. This past year the Lending Library loaned over 3,500 objects to over 900 teachers across 231 schools and universities. The classroom sets of materials range from one-of-a-kind, custom made river models to over 200 species of animal skulls for a comparative anatomy class. The Science Museum is grateful for support from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the Minnesota Legacy Amendment. For more information, contact Jon Severson at jseverson@smm.org. Our thanks to Minnesotans across the state who make these projects possible. For more information on Legacy projects, please visit www.lcc.leg.mn. ABOUT THE MUSEUM About Us Contact Us Donations to Non-Profits IDEAL Center Professional Development Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center Media Room Mississippi River Visitor Center Plugged In Blog Our Collections Our Scientists St. Croix Watershed Research Station Careers FOR MUSEUM PROFESSIONALS Exhibit Services Exhibit Rental Evaluation & Learning Research iPAGE Community CONNECT WITH US Facebook Twitter Instagram Newsletter PREMIER PARTNERS © 2021 Science Museum of Minnesota • 120 W. 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