SciTech museum in Aurora unveils portable planetarium
Checking out the cafeteria is usually the last thing on anyone's mind when visiting a museum.
But Arlene Hawks is always trying to find a teachable moment. So when she took a look around the cafeteria in the lower level of the SciTech Hands On Museum in downtown Aurora, she didn't just see gray walls. She saw a shade of "gunmetal gray" that absolutely had to go.
And so the museum's executive director started the process of making the cafeteria into a true extension of the rest of the museum, filled with lessons about nutrition and composting.
"It's just bright and airy and fun," she said.
The new-look cafeteria is only one example of how Hawks has left a visible - and colorful - mark on the museum since the board of directors hired her as executive director three years ago.
"When I was asked to take this job over, they said, 'SciTech is a blank slate,'" Hawks said. "'You make it. Color it to where you want to be.' And as an artist, I love to color. So that's why it excites me to know that we can make a difference, my whole team and I."
SciTech relies on donors, and thanks in part to Hawks' connections in the Aurora philanthropy scene, the museum has been able to secure grants for new exhibits and other features.
In December, the STEAM lab opened with 14 touch-screen computers, where kids can do coding or robotics projects.
"We needed to come into the 21st century," said Hawks, a retired drama director at East Aurora High School who holds a Ph.D. in theater.
Other displays have been consolidated into more cohesive exhibits.
"Space Travels" debuted in December in a former storage space that now gives students a tour through the solar system. That project and the STEAM lab was funded by donations from the Juvenile Protective Association.
Even walking up a staircase on a recent morning, Hawks takes a look at the blank walls, and her creative wheels start turning.
"I don't want them empty," she says.
The latest addition is a portable planetarium called the "Starlab" that can be rented from the museum at 18 W. Benton St.
"It's almost like an IMAX in that you're surrounded, the entire dome is surrounded, by this beautiful night sky," Hawks said.
The $54,000 dome was financed by a grant from the Kane County Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund Program and a donation from Dr. Gina Santori. The Starlab is now part of an outreach program - renamed "Science on the Go" - that brings demos and museum staff to schools, Scout troops and other venues.
The 7-meter-tall dome can fit more than 60 kids who walk through an entrance that zips shut. Inside, they watch a 45-minute presentation with images displayed across the dome from a digital projector.
"Every time we switched the screen to another mode of astronomy, they went 'ooh, ahh!' Just like Fourth of July," Hawks said of a recent show.
The museum typically draws about 75,000 visitors annually, but Hawks hopes the changes push attendance to 100,000.
"I have reached my goal in that we have created some awesome exhibits that weren't here before, and now, people are starting to realize we're here," Hawks said.