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.

Planning of a permanent gallery exploring the history and impact of video games on popular culture, learning, and American leisure.

Through the planning and script development for a permanent, long-term gallery, The Strong National Museum of Play endeavors to explore and share the history, influence, and experience of video games as they relate to culture, human development, and the evolution of play. The planned gallery, the centerpiece of an overall museum expansion, will include complementary and cohesive interactive exhibit spaces that showcase the history of video games through: (1) display of rare and unique artifacts; (2) use of multiple media formats that allow guests to discover the history of video games and their impact on society and culture; and (3) inclusion of one-of-a-kind interactive experiences that bring the history, art, and narrative structures of video games to life. When planning is complete, The Strong will be positioned to create a first-of-its-kind installation that engages audiences with humanities-rich content illustrating the enduring impact of video games.

To support implementation of a major permanent exhibition, catalogue, and public symposium, which will examine childhood and child rearing in America between 1825 and 1915.

To support implementation of a traveling exhibition examining the ways Americans thought about their health and how they behaved to preserve, alter, or regain it between 1830 and 1940.

To support planning for an exhibition, educational programs, a publication, anda symposium linking the appearance, production, and consumption of household textile furnishings to cultural issues in Victorian America.

To support an exhibition, publication, and educational programs linking the appearance, production, and consumption of household textile furnishings to cultural issues in Victorian America.

To support planning for an exhibition and catalogue examining the economics of American family life from 1860 to 1940.

To support planning for an exhibition and accompanying catalog on the environmental history of the United States and American ideas about nature.

To support computerized documentation of the museum's collection of 30,000 miniature objects.

The reinstatement of two positions eliminated during the pandemic and the creation of two new positions: an artifact photographer and a Research Specialist in Black Play and Culture. 

The Strong seeks NEH support to fill four key positions essential to the museum’s ability to execute humanities-focused objectives, fulfill its mission, and serve a growing and diverse audience of children, adults, scholars, and researchers who depend on The Strong as the world’s leading resource on play. This project will also enable the museum to further its strategic focus on social equity and access.