Gallery renovation project integral to a strategic initiative on the role of toys and play in learning and human development

FAIN: CH-51221-15

Strong Museum (Rochester, NY 14607-3998)
Christopher Bensch (Project Director: May 2014 to June 2018)

Renovation of a large central gallery for new exhibitions that explore humanities themes in the museum’s collection of toys, dolls, and games.

The Strong will renovate a 5,000-sf central gallery (including buying and installing equipment and lighting) and prepare it for a subsequently mounted interactive exhibit on how play represented in the toys, dolls, and games of The Strong's National Toy Hall of Fame facilitates learning, creativity,and discovery and how those artifacts and the human stories represented in the Toy Industry Association's Toy Industry Hall of Fame reflect and illuminate American cultural history. This will enable the Strong to: bring together the nation’s two most prestigious programs for recognizing the impact of toys on learning and human development; make interpretive information about the history of toys and play increasingly visible to a wide audience; broaden the museum’s base of financial support among individuals and organizations in the toy industry; and make additional contacts through which to continue growing efforts to collect and preserve the artifactual and documentary history of toys and play.