NEW Mural Takes Museum Inside OUT!

In honor of its 20th Year, Explore More Discovery Museum commissioned a playful and vibrant mural to be painted on the Newman Avenue side of its building. This creation is now complete and already delighting kids and kids at heart, and it all started with a conversation between 8-year-old Frankie Leech and her dad, Matt Leech, a graphic designer who was initially working on a small vinyl door graphic to dress up the Museum’s secondary entrance.

One day after visiting the museum, Frankie said she wished the museum was as fun on the outside as it was on the inside. Picking up on her enthusiasm, Matt asked Museum Executive Director Lisa Shull if Explore More would consider a bigger splash, beyond a simple door surround.

In keeping with Frankie’s initial “bring the fun outside” comment, Matt wanted to take a lot of inspiration from colors and shapes inside the museum, and make something that had a lot of recognizable components from the interior, but abstract them enough so that kids could use their imagination to see what they wanted to see on the wall. “We're creating an entryway that exemplifies the bustling interior, and gets people excited to come in for a visit.” 

According to Shull, “Once we saw Matt’s mural vision, we were hooked. With feedback from the Museum Board, community members, and the kids, we knew we needed to make this happen!”

Thanks to a wonderful lead gift from local community member Don Albright, an arts advocate and believer in the Museum’s hands-on learning mission, the ball was set in motion. Along with Don, other generous supporters stepped up to do their part, including Randy's Hardware, Riner Rentals, Sherwin Williams, E=MC2, Sunbelt Rentals, Sustainable Solutions, and of course, our talented artists Earth Surprise. Also, thanks to Lola’s Delicatessen for feeding our starving artists.

But, the real question remains….what did Frankie think?
See Article in The Citizen News to find out!

A mural opening and meet the artist event was held on the June 2 First Friday. At that time, the Museum was also open free of charge from 5 – 7 PM and offered a special mural-inspired art project for the kids.