By Cheril Lee
Omaha, NE – The Omaha Children's Museum recently received a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Executive Director Lindy Hoyer says though the Museum has applied for the Museums for America grant in the past, this is the first year the Children's Museum has been honored.
She says the grant recognizes the efforts the Museum has made in engaging the community with their exhibitions. Hoyer says the first exhibit the Children's Museum created with partners from the community was Construction Zone in 2010.
"We knew from hosting a traveling exhibit around Bob the Builder that our audience really resonated with a construction theme. We sat down and we brainstormed about what other kinds of activities that we think kids would like and what did they like in Bob the Builder? And Kiewit began to leverage trade unions to come in and actually help us build pieces of it."
The Omaha Children's Museum is the only museum in the state to secure an IMLS grant this year. The Museum will receive $150,000 over the next three years.