Hands On!,
a nationally-acclaimed museum master planning and design firm, collaborated
in the development of the Hotplates exhibit with TechnoFrolics' director
David Durlach. The following is an excerpt from a Hands On! letter
describing the impact of the Hotplates exhibit.
"It is Hands On! Inc.'s pleasure to write a letter of support
for David Durlach, an artist-engineer with whom we have worked
in the past and hope to continue working well into the future...."
".......David developed not only a kinetic sculpture (a
series of electromagnets covered with iron filings that "dance"
to choreographed music) that has riveted every visitor to Inventure
Place, but also a new exhibit on magnetism that was created in
conjunction with Hands On!'s in-house exhibit developers. This
exhibit -- the Hotplate -- incorporates four electromagnets that
visitors can control and experiment with. We came to refer to
the Hotplate as an "inventive platform" -- an exhibit
that invited visitors to use their own creativity and learn through
experience rather than didactic instruction. Based on our evaluations,
visitors retained far more information about the science presented
and had a more fulfilling experience using David's Hotplates than
at any other, more traditional science center exhibit."
".......One of the first people to use the Hotplate exhibit
was President Bill Clinton, who visited the Inventure Place site
several months before it opened; the president liked the exhibit
so much he promised to bring his daughter to the finished museum
so that she could try it! In fact, the Hotplates proved so popular
with visitors that we had to install six stations in Inventure
Place. No other exhibit in Hands On!'s history has had this level
of success."
"David's Hotplates continue to draw tremendous response
from museum professionals around the country. We have incorporated
them into our marketing efforts at places such as the Association
of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC -- an organization with hundreds
of member-institutions around the world) and the American Association
of Museums (AAM -- the largest organization of museum professionals
in the world). To date, the Hotplates have drawn a wonderful interest
from people who want to increase the levels of visitor engagement
in their museums..."
Hands On!, St. Petersburg, Florida
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