EXPLORATORIUM PIER 15 PRESS KIT2.docx

THE EXPLORATORIUM @ PIER 15 PRESS KIT 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Click to the links below to navigate to different parts of the kit 

Exploratorium @ Pier 15 Overview 

● Campus Map 

● Exploratorium Visitor Overview Press Release 

● Exploratorium Visitor Overview Fact Sheet 

● Facts of Note 

Exhibits and Programming 

● New Galleries and Exhibit Highlights 

● New and Upcoming Public Programs 

● Arts Program and New Center for Art & Inquiry 

● Arts Fact Sheet 

● Arts Press Kit (view online) 

Dining & Store 

● Dining at the Exploratorium 

● New Exploratorium Store 

Building 

● Architect’s Vision: Art and Landscape Converge 

● Net-Zero Energy Goals (full press kit online here) 

Background and Bios 

● Who We Are (2 minute video) 

● Key Leadership at the Exploratorium 

● Gallery Curators 

● Project Development and Construction Team 

● Exploratorium Founder Frank Oppenheimer 

● Global Studios (Released November 15, 2012) 

● Sound Uncovered: A Free iPad App (Released February 12, 2013) 

● Contact the Exploratorium Public Information Office

Exploratorium Moves to Pier 15, Page 2 

Exploratorium @Pier 15 

San Francisco, CA 94111 www.exploratorium.edu


EXPLORATORIUM OPENS APRIL 17, 2013 ON SAN FRANCISCO’S WATERFRONT AT PIER 15 

New Embarcadero Gem to Feature 150 New Exhibits, Bay Observatory, 

Outdoor Gallery and Free Civic Space 

On April 17, 2013, the Exploratorium opened at Pier 15 at the heart of the 

revitalized San Francisco waterfront radically improving access to visitors 

from all over the world and dramatically enhancing the size and scope of 

the museum. One of the most highly anticipated events of the year, the 

Exploratorium’s opening events included a dedication ceremony with 

keynotes by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Lieutenant Governor Gavin 

Newsom, and other dignitaries, as well as two evenings of spectacular 

large-scale projections on the façade of Pier 15 by internationally acclaimed 

technology innovators Obscura Digital. 

With three times more space overall than its previous home, the new 

Exploratorium will engage the curiosity and creativity of visitors of any age 

as they explore 150 brand-new exhibits amongst more than 600 that will be 

on view. For the first time, the Exploratorium expands its investigations into 

the bay, city, and outdoor landscape. 

As the global leader in informal learning—an approach that encourages learning outside the 

classroom—and the world’s most experimental museum, the Exploratorium will make use of the 

remarkable new space to push the boundaries once again. For the first time in 44 years, the signature 

ah-hah! Exploratorium exhibits will be featured outdoors, taking advantage of the city and bay to 

encourage visitors to observe and engage in their environments like never before. Visitors will 

experience their own storm by adjusting the frequency, size and velocity of raindrops (umbrella highly 

recommended), step into the mobile Camera Obscura and see an upside-down world before them, and 

interact in real-time with invisible life – teeny-tiny plankton that produce almost half the oxygen we 

breathe. The site features the Bay Observatory, an all-glass building. The Fisher Bay Observatory 

Gallery and Terrace, on the second level, is for viewing the waterfront and the city, designed to allow 

visitors to explore the science of the bay, the landscape, and the human impacts that have shaped the 

Bay Area. The new Exploratorium will also offer 1.5 acres of free public space – a part of the Outdoor 

Gallery, for visitors to enjoy the views and play with participatory exhibits tied to the surrounding 

environment. 

The 330,000 square-foot indoor/outdoor project was designed and constructed with the goal of 

becoming the largest net-zero energy museum in the United States, if not the world. True to the spirit 

of the Exploratorium and the nature of net-zero, achieving such an ambitious degree of energyefficiency 

will require monitoring and tinkering over time. The entire undertaking will be a real-time 

educational exhibit, with live energy use and photovoltaic production data on public display. 

Along with the move, the Exploratorium has expanded its programming and is open late two nights a 

week. On Wednesdays it is open to the public from 10am-10pm. And for those who want to experience 

this exuberant learning laboratory amongst other adults, the Exploratorium is exclusively to the 18 and 

older crowd on Thursday evenings for After Dark, from 6-10pm, with a cash bar. Special programs will 

be offered both evenings. 

At Pier 15 the world-renowned Exploratorium will attract even more visitors of all ages to play, observe 

and discover while soaking in the beauty of the bay and cityscape. But as always, exhibits retain the 

familiar home-made authentic quality for which the Exploratorium is famous. 




The Exploratorium’s opening partners are: PG&E, Premier Opening Partner and Lead Sustainability 

Partner; Chevron, Premier Opening Partner; Genentech, Premier Opening Partner; SunPower, 

Supporting Partner; Wells Fargo, Supporting Partner; KGO-TV, Premier Media Partner; San 

Francisco Chronicle, Premier Media Partner; San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, 

Premier Media Partner. 

CLICK TO GO BACK TO MAIN TABLE OF CONTENTS 




EXPLORATORIUM VISITOR OVERVIEW FACT SHEET 

The Exploratorium is regarded as the world’s foremost interactive science museum, designed to make 

natural phenomena and the world around us both exciting and understandable. A pioneer in exhibit 

design and global leader in informal learning, the Exploratorium has been described as a mad 

scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one. 

Hundreds of hands-on exhibits inspire the curiosity and creativity of visitors of all ages. 

At a Glance 

● Opened April 17, 2013: a 330,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor space at Pier 15 on the San 

Francisco waterfront, providing 3 times more overall space than the original Palace of Fine Arts 

location 

● More than 600 indoor and outdoor exhibits created by staff scientists and artists, 25% of which 

are brand new 

● 1.5 acres of free, outdoor space feature a public plaza, promenade, striking views, outdoor 

exhibits, a bayside restaurant, a plaza-side café, food carts and the Exploratorium Store with 

interactive exhibits 

● Pier 17, part of the Pier 15/17 campus, provides back-of-house space with room for future 

expansion 

● The new Exploratorium will be a must-see destination along San Francisco’s Embarcadero 

The Exploratorium at Pier 15 – Inside and Out 

The indoor and outdoor spaces are divided into six main galleries: 

● Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery – Human Behavior: 

○ Curated by senior artist Pamela Winfrey and social psychologist Hugh McDonald, Ph.D., 

Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Science of Sharing project, this gallery focuses 

on the art and science of human behavior 

○ This provocative space encourages people to play with perception; investigate memory, 

emotion, and judgment; and experiment with how we cooperate, compete, and share, as 

in the following exhibits: 

■ Poker Face: an exhibit that allows people to explore how we use facial 

expressions and behaviors to interpret the intentions of others 

■ Tactile Dome: Coming Summer 2013, an updated version of the classic exhibit 

where visitors spelunk through abundantly textured passages in total darkness 

using only their sense of touch 

■ Tornado: lets visitors dance and spin with a vibrant and ever-changing column of 

fog, promoting experimentation with air currents and social interaction and 

observation 

● Bechtel Central Gallery – Seeing & Listening: 

○ This familiar “core” of the Exploratorium, expanding with many new exhibits, is curated 

by Thomas Humphrey, Ph.D., and Richard Brown, Ph.D. It serves as a public laboratory 

for investigation into physics and human perception, including light and sound with 

exhibits such as: 

■ Sound Bite: Discover how you don’t need your ears to listen—use your jawbone 

instead when you listen like a snake 




■ Bright Black: Find out why we can’t always believe what we see through an 

exhibit that will convince you that an object is white before you discover that it is 

almost black 

● East Gallery – Living Systems: 

○ Led by Kristina Yu, Ph.D. and Jennifer Frazier, Ph.D., the expanded Life Sciences 

section is a rarity in the museum world. It’s a working laboratory where visitors can 

experience the beauty and complexity of life through interactive investigations of living 

organisms, from an examination of life indigenous to the bay water, to mouse stem cell 

research, to movement of the tides. In this gallery visitors: 

■ Get a close-up view of the living critters that live in the waters underneath the 

museum 

■ Control research grade scientific microscopes that have been ‘hacked’ to give 

visitors control 

■ Understand the power of microscopic plankton, which produce almost half the 

oxygen we breathe, why their numbers rise and fall with the seasons, and why 

they dance their ballet towards blue light 

● South Gallery – Maker Culture in The Tinkering Studio: 

○ South Gallery is the public workshop area where visitors can engage in learning by 

making directly adjacent to where Exploratorium exhibits are built 

○ Founded by Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich, The Tinkering Studio is where 

museum visitors can build, make, hack, create, invent and experiment 

○ Past activities have included: sewing electrical circuits, mechanical teddy bear toy 

dissection and turning 100 square feet of pegboard into the world's largest marble 

machine. See gallery overview for list of surprising exhibits found in the South Gallery. 

● Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery and Terrace – Observing the Landscape: 

○ An all-glass gallery (and terrace) that becomes a transparent lens to both the waterfront 

and the cityscape, providing visitors an opportunity to observe the science of the bay, 

the landscape and the human impact that has shaped the Bay Area 

○ Led by Senior Artist Susan Schwartzenberg with Sebastian Martin, Ph.D., exhibits, 

instruments and artworks for observing give visitors a 360-degree view of the natural 

and built worlds 

○ Multi-layered exhibits focus on what visitors can see through the windows in real time – 

the movement of the sun, tides and currents, cargo ships, people and historical 

perspectives on the landscape. Exhibits include: 

■ Oculus: a circular opening in the ceiling that turns the entire gallery into a 

timepiece. Markings show seasons and solstices, and track the sun's position 

across the sky 

■ Visualizing the Bay: a 3D topographic map of the Bay Area with a wide-range of 

data sets projected on its surface show the forces that shape our landscape— 

from earthquakes to fog banks, from income distribution to life expectancy 

○ Fisher Bay Observatory Terrace: This space offers outdoor exhibits that engage with 

the environment. 

○ Wired Pier: Led by Director of NOAA Partnership Mary Miller, the Wired Pier includes 

more than a dozen sensors on and around Pier 15 that stream real-time data about the 

surrounding environment — quality of air and bay water, weather, tides and pollution — 

into the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery, compiling it into interactive visualizations 

○ NOAA research vessels will periodically berth at the end of Pier 15 and use the working 

biological labs featured in the museum to bring current science to the public 




● Outdoor Gallery: 

○ For the first time ever the Exploratorium has outdoor learning exhibits, curated by Senior 

Artist Shawn Lani and associate curator Eric Dimond, and developed by the Outdoor 

team. 

○ The Outdoor Gallery, which includes ticketed space and 1.5 acres of free space, 

beckons visitors to investigate exhibits about water, fog, wind, rain, daily cycles of the 

sun and more 

○ The Bay View Walk invites the public to stroll around the entire site. It includes two 

connecting bridges, the Outdoor Gallery, food carts, and a civic plaza, where outdoor 

events and cultural programming are held. 

● Net-Zero Energy Goal: 

○ The Exploratorium’s goal is be to the largest net-zero energy museum in the US if not 

the world. Click here to see the Net-Zero press kit. 

Also of note 

● Bowes Education Center 

○ The Bowes Education Center revolutionizes the way the Exploratorium reaches all 

teachers and learners of science, including school teachers, administrators and children, 

after-school professionals, scientists, science journalists, university professionals, and 

even parents and other adults. 

○ The new Center multiplies the Exploratorium’s impact, with new, configurable 

classrooms and seminar spaces, state-of-the-art technology and programming capability, 

and significantly greater participant capacity than ever before. 

○ The Center features more than two times the space for classrooms and four times the 

number of meeting rooms as the former site at the Palace of Fine Arts. It triples the 

capacity for teacher professional development. 

○ Learning-specific spaces in the new Exploratorium building are not confined to one floor 

or location, but are spread over both floors to foster connectivity and collaboration with 

all staff, exhibits and programming in the museum. 

● Expanded Focus on the Arts and New Center for Art & Inquiry: 

○ More than 40 new art projects are on view at opening 

○ Works include Fog Bridge, a large-scale, immersive outdoor fog installation on a 150 ft. 

long pedestrian bridge by Japanese interdisciplinary artist Fujiko Nakaya; and Aeolian 

Harp by Doug Hollis, which captures the wind dynamics of the site 

○ Other works include a fold-out guide to the atmosphere, an opening in the pier over the 

bay that visually and sonically comes alive at night, a giant Douglas Fir tree tipped on its 

side, and a library on Bay history 

○ Newly established Center for Art & Inquiry and its Director Marina McDougall, will 

expand the museum’s focus on art as a medium for exploration, inquiry and discovery 

○ New programmatic emphasis on the arts at re-opening is made possible by a generous 

grant from Sakurako and William Fisher 

○ Click here to see the complete Exploratorium Arts Press Kit 

● Coming Summer 2013: 

○ Kanbar Forum, a 200-seat cabaret-style multi-use space, with a state of the art 

Constellation acoustic system by Meyer Sound, for demonstrations, talks, films and 

performances by artists, scientists and educators, with cash bar 




○ Tactile Dome, an updated version of the classic exhibit where visitors spelunk through 

abundantly textured passages in total darkness using only their sense of touch 

● Dolby Atrium: 

○ Opposite the museum’s main entrance, this space provides a usually sunny convening 

and meeting area for families and others 

● Historic Bulkhead: 

○ This two-story structure provides a second entrance to the Exploratorium 

○ Includes the Kanbar Forum; the Exploratorium Store; the seismic joint café; and 

educational spaces 

○ The bulkhead lobby is a free public area, and features a Bay History Walk to educate 

visitors about the history of Pier 15, San Francisco’s maritime history and the building’s 

real time energy generation data 

● Dining: 

○ Curiosity Catering, comprised of award-winning food service group Bon Appétit 

Management Company and acclaimed San Francisco chef Loretta Keller of COCO500 

collaborate to create and prepare seasonable and sustainable cuisine for visitors 

○ The seismic joint café serves crowd-pleasing takeaway fare on the west end of Pier 15 

near the Embarcadero 

○ The 200-seat SEAGLASS Restaurant in the Bay Observatory building caters to a wide 

range of palates and offer stunning views of the bay and Bay Bridge 

■ The restaurant and café operate during the museum’s open hours 

■ Offers event catering with unexpected taste experiences and fun perceptual 

challenges 

■ Whimsical food “trikes” dot the outdoor plaza, offering snacks and beverages 

■ Click here to read more about the Exploratorium’s dining programs 

● Exploratorium Store 

○ Exhibits and products intermingle 

○ Products are organized by concept, phenomena or story, creating a store experience 

that is an extension of the visitors’ museum experience 

○ Purchases support the Exploratorium’s educational programming 

○ Click here to read more about the Exploratorium Store 

Hours of Operation & New Evening Hours 

Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday evenings until 10pm; After Dark, Thursday evening adults 

only (ages 18 and up) 6-10pm. 

Admission 

$25 for adults, with lower rates for SF Bay Area residents, youth, seniors, students, teachers and the 

disabled. After Dark, Thursday evening adults-only tickets from 6-10pm are $15; $10 for members. To 

purchase tickets online go to www.exploratorium.edu/visit/tickets. The Tactile Dome, newly built for our 

new home, will open Summer 2013. For more information visit www.exploratorium.edu/visit/tactiledome 

or call (415) 528-4444. 

Free Access Program 

In addition to free access for field trips from San Francisco Title I schools (courtesy of PG&E), the 

Exploratorium is free to everyone five days each year effective Fall 2013. Free Days are: Groundhog 

Day (February 2); Pi Day (March 14); Mothers’ Day (2 nd Sunday in May); Engineering Day (last Sunday 




in September); and Founder’s Day (2 nd Sunday in October). The Exploratorium works with local 

libraries and community groups to provide additional free access. 

Membership 

Memberships start at $60 and offer priority access, special events, discounts and more. See all the 

benefits by visiting http://www.exploratorium.edu/membership. 

Getting There 

Public Transportation 

● Muni’s F-line, San Francisco’s historic streetcars that travel on the Embarcadero, stops in front 

of the new Exploratorium at the Embarcadero and Green St. In summer 2013, a temporary Eline 

will also operate 

● Major bus lines 2, 6, 14, 21, 31 and metro rail lines J, K, L, M, T, N stop within walking distance. 

Bus lines 1, 10, 12, 41 and 38 also stop in the vicinity 

● Embarcadero BART and MUNI station and ferry terminals at the Ferry Building are a 10-minute 

walk away 

Parking 

● There is an hourly lot across the street and many more spaces within a 5–10 minute walk to the 

museum. Exploratorium visitors can also park at The Embarcadero Center parking lot for a 

specially discounted flat rate of $10 dollars on weekdays from 4pm – midnight and all day on 

weekends. To receive this discounted rate, visitors must have a validation sticker provided by 

the Exploratorium. 

● Visitors can bicycle and park at bike racks on site for the public 

● For further information on nearby parking visit www.exploratorium.edu/visit 

Facility Rentals: The Exploratorium is now taking reservations for private events. The Exploratorium 

at Pier 15 can accommodate seated parties of up to 280 guests with one focal point or 1,600 

throughout the building, and receptions for up to 4,000 guests. For more information please contact the 

Museum Rentals department at events@exploratorium.edu or call (415) 528-4500. 

Corporate Partnership Program 

The Exploratorium has a robust corporate partnership program that allows companies to partner with 

us in new ways. Our goal is to advance global scientific literacy. Learn how your organization can be 

an integral part of this groundbreaking movement. The Exploratorium is proud to have the following 

corporate partners at Opening: 

Sponsors 

● PG&E, Premier Opening Partner and Lead Sustainability Partner 

● Chevron, Premier Opening Partner 

● Genentech, Premier Opening Partner 

● SunPower, Supporting Partner 

● Wells Fargo, Supporting Partner 

● KGO-TV, Premier Media Partner 

● San Francisco Chronicle, Premier Media Partner 

● San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, Premier Media Partner 

Exploratorium address: Pier 15, San Francisco, CA 94111 

Public Contact: 415-528-4444, visit@exploratorium.edu 





EXPLORATORIUM FACTS OF NOTE 

Building 

● 330,000 square feet (inside and out) 

● 3x the space (inside and out) 

● Outdoor exhibits for the first time 

● Goal is to be the largest net-zero energy museum in the U.S., if not the world 

● 10 minute walk from the Ferry Building 

● Free public open space 

● Open two nights a week: 

○ Wednesdays,10am–10pm, for all ages 

○ Thursdays After Dark, 6-10pm, ages 18 and up 

○ Both nights feature a cash bar 

● Fabulous views and great food 

● Public walkways surround Pier 15 

Education 

● Triples the capacity for teacher professional development 

○ Every middle and high school in the Bay Area has been touched by the Exploratorium 

Teacher Institute 

● 90% of beginning science teachers who graduate the Exploratorium's two-year mentoring 

program are still teaching science today, compared to a 50% national attrition rate 

● 85% of Exploratorium alumni teachers rate it as their most valuable teaching resource 

● 300 high school age Explainers are employed to learn by teaching — demonstrating exhibits for 

the public 

Global Impact 

● 80% of science centers internationally use Exploratorium exhibits, programs, or ideas 

● Reaches 180 million people annually around the globe 

● Launched Global Studios to share creative capital, expertise, programs and exhibits in 

innovative ways 

● Recently inspired hands-on tinkering by women and men—sometimes together!—at a Science 

Festival in Saudi Arabia 

Online 

● www.exploratorium.edu launched in December 1993. It was the first independent science 

museum to build a site and the 600th site on the World Wide Web 

● Received 5 Webby Awards in science and education 

● Color Uncovered App reached #2 in free iPad app downloads in Apple Store, over 1 million 

downloads 

● Sound Uncovered App, launched in February 2013, is expected to exceed that benchmark 

# # # 





Table of Contents 

1. Outdoor Gallery 

2. Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery 

3. South Gallery 

4. East Gallery 

5. Bechtel Central Gallery 

6. Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 

7. Gallery Curators 

GALLERIES AND EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS 

Sample of New and Beloved Exhibits 

The Exploratorium’s new Outdoor Gallery at night, with the Bay Bridge 

in the background. 

OUTDOOR GALLERY (Includes ticketed and free areas) 

Explore natural and social phenomena where the city meets the bay. 

Exhibits in the outdoor space cover topics such as the bay, the elements, geometry, and light and 

shadows and encourages observation and interaction with natural and urban phenomena. 

Exhibits of Note 

Color of Water (new) Investigates the seemingly simple question: What color is the bay? "The Color of 

Water" consists of 32 distinct color swatches suspended above the water so that visitors can actively 

match the day's water color and investigate the causes behind these daily shifts. The exhibit 

encourages visitors to view the bay with a more discerning eye, understanding that ever-changing bay 

dynamics affect the bay’s color day-to-day, sometimes even moment-by-moment. 

Aeolian Harp by Doug Hollis (re-imagined) - Doug Hollis’ new commission re-imagines his work first 

created in collaboration with Exploratorium founder Frank Oppenheimer in 1975-76 for the roof of the 

Palace of Fine Arts. This greatly expanded Harp is a wind-activated, sound structure that responds to 

the wind dynamics between Piers 15 and 17. Click here to read the Arts press kit. 




Remote Rains (new) NOAA researchers at the Hydrometeorlogy Testbed (HMT) are increasing the 

resolution and accuracy of their storm profiles. The Remote Rains rain chamber is an evocative 

translation of HMT’s storm information into a tangible experience. Visitors select a past storm and the 

exhibit recreates the frequency, size, and velocity of raindrops, allowing people to fully explore the 

complex mechanisms that drive our weather. Umbrellas recommended. 

Fog Bridge by artist Fujiko Nakaya (new, April 17, 2013 - September 16, 2013) Japanese 

interdisciplinary artist Fujiko Nakaya’s ephemeral and other-worldly Fog Bridge magically envelops a 

150-foot-long pedestrian bridge between Piers 15 and 17 in an ever-changing blanket of fog. One 

thousand high-pressure nozzles lining the bridge create an immersive environment that enshrouds 

participants in mist. The work will be lit at night, to stunning effect. Although Nakaya’s fog environments 

have been presented around the world, this is her first project in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region 

famous for its dramatic fog. Click here to read the Arts press kit. 

Camera Obscura Cart (aka The Rickshaw Obscura) playfully invites visitors to have a different kind 

of “site-seeing” view of the waterfront. In each location where the Camera Obscura is positioned 

outdoors at Pier 15 or 17, the vista views are projected on the cart’s interior, displaying landscapes and 

people passing by – upside down. It will move to different locations where visitors can enter and enjoy 

the view. Why upside down? Because light travels in a straight line. 

Bay Windows (new) At Bay Windows, visitors spin disks filled with samples of mud, sand, and gravel 

gathered from five distinct regions of the San Francisco Bay. The glowing color and swirling behavior of 

the materials are both beautiful and telling as visitors explore the movement and settling characteristics 

of bay sediments. 

DAYLAY by Lucky Dragons, Artists-in-Residence (new, April 17, 2013 – April 17, 2014) 

DAYLAY is a dynamic light and sound installation inside a 14-foot circular opening in the pier above the 

water. On-site microphones record ambient sound during daylight hours and then play them back 

during dark hours, delayed by 12 hours. LED lights reflecting off the water gradually grow brighter and 

brighter over the course of the night. Click here to read the Arts press kit. 

TideGate, Plankton Wall and Electric Sun Wall 

These exterior design elements are beautiful architectural visualizations of tidal data, living organisms 

found in bay water, and the energy collected by the museum’s photovoltaic system. Read more here. 

BERNARD AND BARBRO OSHER WEST GALLERY 

Learn about human phenomena through first person experiences. 

The Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery is a stage on which to explore human psychology, and 

socio-cultural phenomena. Topics range from internal cognitive experiences such as attention and 

emotion to more external social behaviors such as communication, negotiation and people-reading. 


Special exhibition: The Changing Face of What is Normal: Mental Health 

(new, April 17, 2013 - April 13, 2014) 

This exhibit explores how have we have defined, categorized, and treated people who fall outside of a 

professional or societal conception of what constitutes normal mental health and activity. The exhibition 

includes personal effects of patients from Willard Psychiatric Center, a decommissioned mental 

institution and coincides with the release of the latest edition of the controversial Diagnostic and 

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5th edition. It features poignant videotaped interviews 




with both clinicians and clients speaking about their experiences and commenting on the difficulty of 

categorizing human behavior. It also includes Restraint, an interactive installation that displays—and 

lets visitors interact with—a late 19th century Utica Crib, a restraining device used to confine and calm 

patients in American mental health institutions. Click here to read the full press release. 

Team Pac-Man (new) Here visitors are required to cooperate to play a classic video game – each 

player can only move the Pac-Man in one direction. Here you’re the exhibit! 

Text Fishing (new) This experimental exhibit immerses visitors in the Tragedy of the Commons by 

letting them investigate strategies for sharing a common limited resource. 

Trust Fountain (new) An experimental exhibit from the NSF funded Exploratorium Science of Sharing 

project, this two-person drinking fountain is based on the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a classic scenario 

centering on negotiation and trust. 

Invisible by Night by Lynette Wallworth, Artist-in-Residence 

(new, April 17–September 29, 2013) 

In the Black Box 

This quietly interactive multimedia installation responds to the visitor’s touch and projects an image of a 

life-sized woman whose eternal pacing can be interrupted by the viewer. Building gestural mirroring into 

its interactive structure, Invisible by Night creates powerful emotional connections with the viewer and 

explores the process of grief and loss, and the transient nature of compassion. Read the Arts press kit. 

Question Bridge: Black Males by Chris Johnson 

(new, April 17, 2013 - April 2014) 

A project that critically explores challenging issues within the Black male community by instigating a 

trans-media conversation among black men across the geographic, economic, generational, 

educational and social strata of American society. Mediated through the lens of a video camera, 

members of the black community openly express their deeply felt beliefs and values through candid 

question and answer exchanges. By focusing on exchanges within this extended community, surprising 

insights and new possibilities for witnessing our common humanity emerge. Read the Arts press kit. 

Words We have Learned Since 9-11 by Clayton Campbell 

(new, April 17, 2013 – TBD) 

This participatory photo installation opened for the first time in the southern United States at the 

Museum of Mobile on September 11 in conjunction with their exhibition of artifacts from Ground Zero, 

World Trade Center. Campbell’s project invites visitors to be photographed with “words” they have 

learned since 9-11, and those photos become part of the ongoing Words project. Since it’s beginning 

Words We Have Learned Since 9-11 has been exhibited across the globe. Read the Arts press kit. 

SOUTH GALLERY 

Make, build, or tinker to investigate the world and your own creativity. 

The South Gallery is a public workshop area where visitors can engage in "learning by making" 

adjacent to where Exploratorium exhibits are built. The core of this space is the Tinkering Studio, a 

focused area where visitors can engage in more in-depth projects and meet makers from around the 

world. 


Tinkering Studio is a place to hack, build, and invent using real tools and materials in a gently 

guided, but open-ended way. 




Your Turn Counts by Norman Tuck (new) 

This exhibit counts each person’s’ place in the history of itself. It is a storage and display device that 

keeps a numerical record of each time a person turns a mechanical crank. Each digit in the display 

draws upon an earlier stage in the history of technology in order to advance the count. 

Rolling Through the Bay by Scott Weaver This kinetic sculptural homage to San Francisco has a 

new home in the Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio. Composed of roughly 100,000 toothpicks and 

held together with Elmer’s Glue, artist Scott Weaver began Rolling Through the Bay in 1974. It allows 

you to "tour" the sights of the city with its kinetic feature – several paths in which four Ping-Pong balls at 

a time can be seen rolling, looping and bouncing through the city’s famous landmarks. 

Animation Station (new) Create a stop-motion animation sequence using everyday objects, and then 

upload it to YouTube to share with others. 

Wind Table and Wind Tubes (new) Construct flying objects and test them in columns of moving air. 

Marble Machines Build marble runs using common objects and parts found at local hardware stores. 

Visible Pinball by Michael Schiess (new) Play a free game on a transparent pinball machine with 

visible mechanical and electromagnetic parts. Visible Pinball serves as a striking introduction to the 

Exploratorium’s classic electricity and magnetism exhibit collection. 

EAST GALLERY 

Observe and investigate living systems at multiple scales. 

The East Gallery is a window into life at different scales, from stem cells to familiar insects and plants to 

the entire San Francisco Bay ecosystem. 


Algae Chandelier (new) Pump air to nourish several overhead tanks with beautiful algae of different 

colors, also known as phytoplankton. While a single phytoplankton is too small to see, they grow by the 

millions in the bay and ocean, forming greenish clouds up to a few hundred miles wide. 

The Tree Experience (new) Developed by artist Michael Brown in collaboration with reclaimed wood 

specialist Evan Shively, The Tree Experience has been created from a fallen 330-year-old Douglas Fir 

tree that is split down the center to reveal its rings immersing visitors in a fascinating study of 

dendrochronology. The wood of the tree creates the walls of an intimate, contemplative space with a 

center bench. The enormous, lacy root structure compels visitors to appreciate the complexity and 

sheer enormity of this grand, once-living organism. Read the Arts press kit. 

Glass Settling Plate (new) Get a close-up look at organisms that grow on the sides of hard surfaces in 

the bay, such as pier pilings. A microscope offers spectacular views of the lives of barnacles, worms, 

mussels, and colonial organisms called tunicates. 

Plankton Populations (new) A table-sized interactive display created in collaboration with MIT and the 

UC Davis Center for Visualization. This exhibit shows a simulation of the world’s phytoplankton 

populations changing over time in response to changing ocean conditions. Visitors use a special 

encoded glass lens to magnify the four major types of plankton living throughout the oceans. The data 

visitors explore is virtually the same as scientists at MIT use to study global plankton populations and 

how they may change in the future. 



Exploratorium Moves to Pier 15, Page 15 

Tidal Memory (new) Twenty-four tall columns of water show the tidal water heights throughout the day 

at one-hour intervals. The most recent column changes in response to a live data feed. 

Stem Cells at Microscope Imaging Station Observe mouse stem cells under the microscope and 

learn about their unique properties – and see them in their pluripotent and beating mouse heart stem 

cell states. Stem cells (found in embryos less than five days old and a few adult organs) have two 

unique properties: They can develop into any other type of cell, such as heart, brain, or blood cells; and 

theoretically, they can divide without limit. 

Seasons of Plankton (new) Explore how the microscopic life in San Francisco Bay is constantly 

changing. This exhibit shows the types of phytoplankton living in the bay each month through stunning 

close-up images taken by the Living Systems Lab and using data from the U.S. Geologic Survey 

(USGS). The Living Systems Lab collected and imaged plankton each week, and used the USGS’s 40year 

study of Bay Area plankton to show visitors that, like plants on land, our bay has seasons of 

plankton. 

BECHTEL CENTRAL GALLERY 

Experiment with seeing and listening, the familiar core of the Exploratorium 

The Bechtel Central Gallery is a laboratory for investigating light and sound and how we perceive them. 

This combination of physics (out there) with perception (in our heads) is a signature of the 

Exploratorium's approach to learning. 


Monochromatic Room A room is lit by monochromatic light from sodium vapor lamps. With only a 

single color of light to absorb or reflect, objects in this room look to be more or less the same yellowish 

color. Flashlights allow visitors to explore the hidden colors around them. 

3D Live (new) Learn how stereo vision works and one method for making 3D movies. Two video 

cameras atop a screen are separated by a short distance capturing slightly different views of a scene. 

Both views are projected simultaneously onto the screen and filtered glasses allow each of your eyes to 

see light from only one of the projectors. Together, these two different views—one for each eye—allow 

you to perceive a three-dimensional image. 

Giant Mirror (new) Interact with a giant upside-down image of yourself and your friends, and explore 

an image of the museum where even the smallest faraway object appears in perfect focus and detail. 

Out-Quiet Yourself Imagine being an animal tracker. See how quietly you can creep through this 

exhibit. Visitors carefully walk over gravel while trying to make as little noise as possible. Microphones 

pick up any noises and a score is given when you reach the end. Try to out quiet yourself and your 

friends. 

The Shaping Grows by Semiconductor 

(new, April 2013 - September 30, 2013) 

In the Phyllis C. Wattis Webcast Studio adjacent to the Bechtel Central Gallery 

The museum’s Cinema Arts and Moving Images departments collaborated to present this newly 

commissioned work by British-based media artists and Exploratorium Artists-in-Residence 

Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt). Through moving image works Semiconductor 

explores the material nature of our world and how we experience it, questioning our place in the 

physical universe. Read the Arts press kit. 




FISHER BAY OBSERVATORY GALLERY 

Learn to read the many dimensions of the built and natural environment. 

The Fisher Bay Observatory gallery is where visitors explore the geographic and social dimensions of 

the immediate and regional landscape. Expansive views of the bay and the city serve as a point of 

departure for investigations of the complex systems that define our region. 


The Oculus (new) An aperture built into the ceiling of the Fisher Bay Observatory turns the entire 

gallery into an optical device. A circular sun projection sweeps across the floor and walls, marking the 

time of day and changing with the seasons. 

Visualizing the Bay (new) A topographic relief map of the San Francisco Bay Area is a projection 

surface for the display of visual data, offering different perspectives on the region. Presentations 

include: a 40-year history of earthquakes; an animation of the fluctuating salinity of bay water in 

response to tides and rainfall; 24-hour fog patterns for winter and summer; and population distribution 

according to age and ethnicity. These data sets emerged from collaborations with scientists at USGS, 

UC Berkeley, the National Weather Service, and with data artist Eric Fischer. 

The Wired Pier (new) Wired Pier is a project to investigate the local environment by installing state-ofthe-art 

sensors and scientific instruments all around Piers 15 and 17 to gather data about the local 

weather, water, atmosphere, and marine biological communities. Data from these sensors are 

presented in the gallery at an environmental station and on a high-definition video wall. Visitors are able 

to track live and archived data streams over time, and uncover relationships and patterns among 

various systems in the bay, the Pacific Ocean, and the atmosphere. Wired Pier will also be a node in a 

broader observing network of science institutions and government agencies interpreting both local and 

global systems. 

Bay Lexicon by artist Jane Wolff (new) Bay Lexicon is a series of flashcards and published writings 

to be used on a walk from Fort Point to Hunter’s Point along the San Francisco waterfront. This series 

of images, words and ideas provokes travelers to observe and question the layered dynamics of the 

ecological and cultural aspects of place. Read the arts press kit. 

Ship Tracker (new) Real-time positions and past journeys of nearly every large vessel on the bay are 

displayed, including cargo ships, tankers, tugs, pilot boats, commuter ferries, and many large pleasure 

craft. The data—which comes from the computerized AIS ship-reporting systems—reveals the patterns 

of work and recreation on the bay waters. 

The Atmosphere: A Guide by artist Amy Balkin (new) The Atmosphere: A Guide is a poster-essay 

depicting various human influences on the sky and their accumulated traces, whether chemical, 

narrative, spatial, or political. Visually referencing the Cloud Code Chart, another interpretive aid for 

looking up, the Guide's visualizes some ways that humans literally and figuratively occupy the present, 

past, and future atmosphere, organized from sea level to the exosphere. Read the Arts press kit. 





NEW & ONGOING PUBLIC PROGRAMS AT THE EXPLORATORIUM 

EVENING PROGRAMS 

The Exploratorium is open every Wednesday night and on every Thursday for After Dark night. On 

Wednesdays, the museum is open from 10:00am–10:00pm. Wednesday evening hours are accessible 

for all ages. For Thursday After Dark nights, the museum closes at 5:00pm and reopens for an adultsonly 

audience (18 and up) from 6:00–10:00pm. Cash bars will operate both Wednesday and Thursday 

nights. 

Beginning in the summer of 2013 Wednesday evenings will feature Cinema Arts screenings for local, 

adult audiences that incorporate live performances, demonstrations, and engaging discussions on the 

moving image. Thursday After Dark evenings feature a rotating schedule of programs ranging from 

intimate interviews to exuberant first Thursday explorations of science and culture. A sample of 

programs are as follows: 

After Dark - Thursday Nights 

6-10pm Thursdays, beginning May 2, 2013 

After Dark is a Thursday evening series exclusively for adults that mixes cocktails, conversation, and 

playful, innovative science and art events that range from intimate to spectacular. On the first Thursday 

of each month After Dark has a special theme, upcoming themes include Boom, Freestyle, Decay, 

and Glow. Every Thursday After Dark includes a cash bar and an opportunity to play with our hundreds 

of hands-on exhibits, while on the first Thursday of the month After Dark may also include live 

performances, provocative films, interesting music, cutting-edge technology or unexpected 

extravaganzas. 

Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman 

7pm on 3 rd Thursday of each month, beginning May 16, 2013 

In this dynamic series, Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman covers different aspects of physics, 

including sound, color, heat and temperature, and electrostatics. Each hour-long presentation includes 

hands-on activities and demonstrations. On May 16, attend Making Color to learn the many ways to 

make color—from neon signs, to oil slicks, to rainbows, and more. Take away materials to build your 

own spectroscope. You'll see color in a whole new light! On June 20 attend Sound. What is sound? 

How high a pitch can you hear? Can you measure the speed of sound with a yardstick? Can two 

sounds add up to no sound? Explore these questions and more in this resonant presentation. 

Ways of Knowing 

7pm, 2 nd Thursday of every other month, beginning September 2013 in the Kanbar Forum 

How do daydreams influence discovery? What role does collaboration play in creative research? This 

new conversation series pairs senior Exploratorium staff with leading scientists, artists, and other 

innovators to discuss the intellectual and emotional underpinnings of the creative process. Responding 

to both interviewer and audience questions, guests relate personal strategies, insights, motivations, and 

experiences informing their work. The series begins on Thursday, September 19, with a conversation 

between Marina McDougall, Director of the Exploratorium’s new Center for Art & Inquiry, and Japanese 

artist Fujiko Nakaya, creator of the Fog Bridge. Subsequent events in the series follow the planned 

schedule on the second Thursday of every other month. 

Conversations about Landscape 

6-9pm, September 18, October 23, November 13 and December 11, 2013 in the Fisher Bay 

Observatory Gallery 

Conversations between such professionals as ecologists, geographers, biologists, and landscape 




architects concerning issues of the contemporary landscape. Funded by Coastal Conservancy and The 

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. 

Off the Screen: A Salon for Cinephiles 

7pm, Wednesdays beginning October 2, 2013 in the Kanbar Forum 

Films will range from feature-length documentaries to animated shorts and are accompanied by live 

performances, demonstrations, and engaging discussions in this weekly Cinema Arts series. Evocative 

and experimental works are the focus, as well as collaborations with local filmmakers. 

Note: From June–September Cinema Arts will present a variety of screenings in advance of the official 

October premiere of its weekly series. Please check the online calendar for the latest film schedule. 

Resonance, hosted by Sarah Cahill 

7pm on 2 nd Thursday of every other month, beginning October 10, 2013 in the Kanbar Forum 

Hosted by pianist and music critic Sarah Cahill, this acoustically rich program mixes guest artists’ music 

and interviews before a live audience. The show is accompanied by online episodes and site-specific 

sound installations that showcase work by local and visiting artists and composers. Resonance is 

inspired in part by the acclaimed Exploratorium series Speaking of Music (1983-1992) curated by 

Charles Amirkhanian. 

Landscape as Memory 

Occasional Wednesday evenings, beginning Fall 2013 in the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 

Talks in the Fisher Bay Observatory with special guests. 

Science Currents 

7pm on 4 th Thursday of each month, beginning in December 2013 in the Kanbar Forum 

In this current science series, explore the latest research and its implications with staff scientists and 

local experts. Through interviews and moderated discussions, guest scientists introduce cutting-edge 

work being conducted in the Bay Area and beyond, sharing findings on stem cells, aging, climate 

science, cognition, and more. Each program concludes with a Q&A, welcoming audience curiosity and 

concerns about the impacts of scientific discoveries on everyday life. 

DAYTIME PROGRAMS 

Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman 

2pm on 3 rd Sunday of each month beginning May 19, 2013 

In this dynamic series, Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman covers different aspects of physics, 

including sound, color, heat and temperature, and electrostatics. Each hour-long presentation includes 

hands-on activities and demonstrations. On May 19, attend Making Color to learn the many ways to 

make color—from neon signs, to oil slicks, to rainbows, and more. Take away materials to build your 

own spectroscope. You'll see color in a whole new light! On June 16 attend Sound. What is sound? 

How high a pitch can you hear? Can you measure the speed of sound with a yardstick? Can two 

sounds add up to no sound? Explore these questions and more in this resonant presentation. 

Cinema Arts: Saturday Cinema 

Noon, 2:00 and 4:00pm, every Saturday beginning in Summer 2013 in the Kanbar Forum 

This family-friendly program presents short films, animations, and abstract works to engage all curious 

movie lovers. Films vary from week to week, and encompass museum gallery themes and 

investigations of natural phenomena. 

Explorables: Science You Can Play With 

11am-2pm on 3 rd Saturday of every other month, beginning June 15, 2013 




Mess around with everyday materials to create toys and other tools for exploring the world around us. 

Run by a dedicated team of volunteers, these drop-in workshops mix classic activities with open-ended 

investigations, encouraging participants to follow their hunches to aha moments of scientific insight. All 

materials provided; take what you make. For ages 3 and up. In July, August, September, and October, 

Explorables will take place in conjunction with Market Days. These free, outdoor editions will occur 

alongside other Market Days programming. (See Market Days below.) 

Market Days 

11am-3pm on 3 rd Saturdays from July-October, beginning July 20 on The Plaza 

Start the growing season with Exploratorium Market Days, a series of free, open-air mini-festivals that 

bring together museum and community scientists, artists, and educators to present an abundance of 

encounters with local phenomena such as bicycles, salt, heirlooms, and trash. Market Days cultivates a 

casual environment where you can engage in conversations while browsing art and science demos, 

hands-on activities, museum exhibits, and craft displays. Located in the free spaces outside our main 

entrance. 

Guided Walks with San Francisco historian Chris Carlsson 

Saturday afternoons, beginning September 2013 

These Saturday afternoon walks may include paths up and across Telegraph Hill; the historical 

warehouse and produce areas; and history of the waterfront, along the Embarcadero Stroll. 

Halloween 

Thursday, October 31, 2013 

To celebrate this favorite San Francisco holiday, the Exploratorium invites local organizations to display, 

demonstrate, and/or demystify Halloween-related creatures and cultural traditions such as spiders, 

snakes, and sugar skulls. In addition, staff treat visitors to dissections, animations, and a host of eerie 

activities—including a funereal procession and wake inspired by the museum’s ever-growing cemetery 

of dead science ideas. 

Surgical Tools and Techniques: With the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses 

11am-4pm in November 2013 (Date TBD) 

Members of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) give demonstrations 

illustrating life saving surgical tools and techniques in this annual program. AORN staff now offer 

facilitation in multiple languages. 

Lab and Lunch 

Begins January 2014 in the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 

Visiting scientists perform live demonstrations. Join us for lunch and informal talks. 

# # # 





EXPLORATORIUM OPENS WITH VIBRANT ARTS PROGRAM AND 

NEW CENTER FOR ART & INQUIRY 

Builds on Interdisciplinary Arts Legacy with its Move to a New Home 

When physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer founded the Exploratorium in 1969, he envisioned a 

hybrid between a laboratory and a public museum. The Exploratorium’s roots lie in an interdisciplinary 

approach to understanding the world, and from the very beginning artists have played a vital role in 

shaping the museum’s public offerings and learning methodologies. 

When the Exploratorium re-opened its doors at Pier 15 on San Francisco’s waterfront a new era of 

expanded work in the arts began. The new Center for Art & Inquiry directed by curator Marina 

McDougall, will allow the museum to continue its pioneering work at the intersection of art, science and 

technology, and expand museum’s collaborations with artists around the world. This new programmatic 

focus on the arts was made possible through a generous grant from Sakurako and William Fisher. 

“I seized the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the arts, the Exploratorium, and the Bay Area 

arts community,” says Bill Fisher. “It is a privilege to take the lead in inspiring the community to see 

interdisciplinary artwork—not to mention the Exploratorium itself and how it reveals how the world 

works—in new ways.” 

The Center for Art & Inquiry will lead the Exploratorium’s arts strategy and direction. Working with 

program directors from across the museum as well as a council of national advisors, the Center 

oversees the museum’s long running Artist-in-Residence Program, hosts research fellows, and initiates 

special projects to advance work at the intersection of art and interdisciplinary learning. 

“Art is a way of investigating the world,” explains McDougall, “and we believe in the importance of art in 

learning.” 

At Pier 15, the Exploratorium is debuting new programs, projects and exhibition spaces. With expansive 

outdoor space, state-of-the-art facilities, and wide-ranging themes of investigation, the Exploratorium’s 

new home allows for great possibilities for artistic exploration. The Center for Art & Inquiry, will 

oversee a communications program to capture the innovations, approaches, and results of the 

Exploratorium’s work in the arts: 

● Over the Water, an annual program of rotating, large-scale temporary works for the 

public realm at the Piers 

● Artist-in-Residence Program, the Exploratorium’s hallmark, groundbreaking, processoriented, 

cross-pollinating program for both emerging and mid-career artists to develop 

new projects 

● Cinema Arts Program, soon celebrating its 30th anniversary this adventurous program 

presents an incredible mixed genre program in the Exploratorium’s new Kanbar Forum 

equipped with a state of the art Constellation acoustic system by Meyer Sound 

● Black Box, an 800 square foot gallery space with controlled light and sound for media 

installations and special exhibitions 

● Ways of Knowing conversation series, a dialogue on the creative process featuring 

leading thinkers and doers from across many disciplines including the arts 




● Artist Collaborators, artists contribute to our ongoing research and development in key 

initiatives. Current themes include: human social behavior, physics and perception, 

ecologies of place, living systems, making as thinking 

● Commissioned Works, as well as loaned artworks, from a vast array of artists animate 

the public offerings of the Exploratorium 

NEW ARTS PROJECTS 

More than 40 new art projects are on view at opening, including works by Fujiko Nakaya, Lucky 

Dragons, Doug Hollis, Amy Balkin, Semiconductor, Lynette Wallworth, Meara O’Reilly and 

Clayton Campbell. These projects take many forms from large-scale immersive installations to sitespecific 

interventions to soon-to-be classic exhibits. Works include a large-scale fog environment, a 

fold-out guide to the atmosphere, a sidewalk grate that sonically comes alive at night, a giant Douglas 

Fir tree tipped on its side, and a library on Bay history. These projects have largely been developed by 

artists working closely with Exploratorium staff as collaborators and Artists-in-Residence. Read the 

complete Arts press kit here. For a list of temporary special exhibitions during the Exploratorium’s 

inaugural year, click here. 

ARTS PHILOSOPHY 

The Exploratorium views art as integral to learning. Inquiry, the learning approach espoused by 

philosopher and educator John Dewey, animated Oppenheimer’s educational vision for the 

Exploratorium. 

In 2011 the Exploratorium convened an international conference entitled Art as a Way of Knowing, 

made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation, to better understand the role of 

aesthetic inquiry in public interdisciplinary learning environments. As an outcome of the project, the 

Exploratorium has renewed its conviction to advocate for the importance of art as an essential aspect of 

learning. 

BRIEF HISTORY 

The Exploratorium first opened in 1969 with Cybernetic Serendipity, the seminal exhibition of art, 

science, and technology curated by Jasia Reichardt for the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. 

Soon after, in 1974, the creation of an artist-in-residence program made possible dialogue and 

collaboration between artists and other interdisciplinary thinkers such as scientists, engineers, 

educators and inventors. By the late 1970’s the Exploratorium had established itself as the home for a 

burgeoning counter-cultural art scene. 

Over the last 44 years the Exploratorium has presented the work of hundreds of artists and cultivated a 

unique working environment for artists interested in cross-disciplinary investigations and hybrid 

approaches. 

# # # 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE EXPLORATORIUM ARTS PROGRAM PRESS KIT 





EXPLORATORIUM ARTS FACT SHEET 

● More than 250 works created by Artists-in-Residence in first 44 years 

● Exploratorium reopened at Pier 15 with more than 40 new artworks to be experienced across 

the entire museum. See the list of works here. 

● Beginning in 2013, Exploratorium to engage 2 new Artists-in-Residence each year (1 emerging; 

1 mid career) 

● Exploratorium collaborates with dozens of artists as collaborators in our ongoing exhibit 

development process 

● 600 16mm films by artists reside in Cinema Arts Collection 

● Black Box gallery features 3 media artworks per year 

● Over the Water, a new art installation initiative, presents 1 major new outdoor public artwork 

each year 

● The new Center for Art & Inquiry to present 1 symposium relevant to the history of art, science, 

and education annually 

● Debuting Summer 2013, the Kanbar Forum for screenings, talks, and performances equipped 

with a Constellation acoustic system by Meyer Sound of Berkeley, CA 

● The restored Wave Organ, the iconic wave-activated sound sculpture, remains at the end of the 

breakwater forming the Marina Yacht Harbor as a permanent public art installation and gift to 

the community 

# # # 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE EXPLORATORIUM ARTS PROGRAM PRESS KIT 





EXPLORATORIUM’S NEW DINING EXPERIENCE 

The Exploratorium’s SEAGLASS Restaurant, seismic joint takeout café, and event catering menus are 

inspired by the museum’s iconic exhibits and spirit of experimentation, and feature locally, sustainably 

sourced products. Led by the vision of Chef Loretta Keller of San Francisco’s COCO500, the seismic 

joint and mobile “food trikes” offer healthy, kid-friendly, multicultural food to a wide demographic, while 

the restaurant and catering offerings translate the Exploratorium’s themes of playfulness, perception, 

and curiosity into a museum dining experience unlike any other. Bon Appétit Management Company, a 

recognized leader in sustainable sourcing and foodservice, supports the Exploratorium’s dining 

programs. 

Venues 

● SEAGLASS Restaurant: This 200-seat waterfront restaurant is located within the Bay 

Observatory building, at the end of Pier 15, and offers stunning views of the bay and the Bay 

Bridge. The menu caters to a wide range of palates, pairing local seafood with innovative 

cuisine in dishes such as marinated sardines with avocado, red onion pickle, lime, and sea salt, 

and a Sonoma Coast kelp salad with quinoa, while also offering a localized take on classic, 

cheesy Welsh rarebit. Diners can experience unique exhibits within the restaurant, including the 

innovative Icy Bodies, an artwork by Exploratorium artist Shawn Lani in which fragments of dry 

ice spin like comets across a sheet of water below the glass-topped bar. Thermal Mixing, 

created by the Exploratorium Outdoor Studio Team and Dr. Mark Stacy of U.C. Berkeley, is a 

colorful triptych of panels swirl like giant mood rings on the back wall, showing a compelling 

visualization of what happens when water of two different temperatures mixes - just as it does 

right outside in the Bay. While it caters primarily to museum guests, the public can access the 

restaurant from an exterior entrance. 

● seismic joint: Located at the Embarcadero end of Pier 15, where the historic bulkhead meets 

the recently retrofitted pier, the 700-square-foot seismic joint provides crowd-pleasing, informal 

dining options to hundreds of Exploratorium guests and public visitors daily. Oriented toward 

families, the to-go menu includes items such as crispy fried haddock in a lemony yogurt as well 

as clam chowder — made in New England, Manhattan, Mexican or Vietnamese styles. 

● Trikes on the go. A twist on to-go food, the Exploratorium’s custom three-wheeled carts offer 

snacks and hot and cold beverages, including coffee drinks. The ‘food trikes’ move freely 

around the outside of the Exploratorium. 

● Event catering: To educate, challenge, and delight adult guests at the Exploratorium’s special 

events, including the popular After Dark series, Curiosity Catering offers unique and 

perceptually challenging food and drink options such as a kombu-yuzu martini or, in the 

“perception bar,” a choice between a devil’s food cake with vanilla icing and its lookalike black 

bean cupcake with sour cream ‘frosting.’ 

Presenting Curiosity Catering Co. 

Executive Chef Loretta Keller and Operations Manager Clay Reynolds have partnered with sustainable 

food service pioneer Bon Appétit Management Co. to form Curiosity Catering. 

Loretta Keller, Executive Chef, is known for her use of high-quality, small production ingredients in 

menus heavily influenced by the flavors of southern Europe and the Mediterranean. She worked with 

Jeremiah Tower — who with Alice Waters is credited for the birth of California cuisine — for several 




years at Stars and Stars Café. Her restaurant COCO5OO in the dynamic South of Market district has 

become a regular fixture in the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Top 100” restaurants. Ms. Keller established 

a new standard for museum dining in San Francisco with the launch of the Academy Café and the 

Moss Room Restaurant in 2008 at the California Academy of Sciences. She is a 2009 James Beard 

Foundation Award Finalist for Best Chef in the California/Pacific region. 

Clay Reynolds, Operations Manager, began his career in Louisville, Kentucky, learning from some of 

the region's most talented restaurateurs and developing a passion for wine and spirits. He relocated to 

San Francisco in 2001 and worked at some of the city's iconic dining destinations, including The 

Cypress Club and Fleur de Lys. Noticing that the city's chefs focused on small-batch, local ingredients 

that offered better flavors and more vibrant textures than their mass-produced counterparts, he 

wondered why this same approach was not being applied to the world of wine and spirits. Clay brought 

this vision to life at COCO5OO in 2005, and again at the Academy Café and The Moss Room in 2009, 

and he has been a pioneering champion of artisanal producers of wine and spirits ever since. 

Bon Appetit Management Company is an on-site restaurant company offering full food-service 

management to corporations, universities, and specialty venues. Based in Palo Alto, CA, Bon Appétit 

has more than 500 cafés in 32 states, including eBay, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Getty 

Center. All Bon Appétit food is cooked from scratch, including sauces, stocks, and soups. A pioneer in 

environmentally sound sourcing policies, Bon Appétit has developed programs addressing local 

purchasing, the overuse of antibiotics, sustainable seafood, the food and climate change connection, 

humanely raised meat and eggs, and farm worker welfare. It has received numerous awards for its 

work, from organizations including the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the James 

Beard Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Seafood Choices Alliance, and The Humane 

Society of the United States. 

Curiosity Catering operates in partnership with the Exploratorium, working with Silva Raker, Director of 

Business Development. 

# # # 





NEW EXPLORATORIUM STORE: EXHIBITS INSIDE AND OUT 

Exhibit Design Aesthetic and Exploratorium Philosophy Informs Innovative Store Design 

Every museum has a store, that’s a given. But not every museum devotes its retail space to exhibits. 

The Exploratorium's Store on the Embarcadero is conceptually, architecturally, and in its product 

offerings, just like the museum. 

Working with Napa Valley based Shopworks Design, the Exploratorium Retail Development team 

opened two integrated Store spaces evocative of the authentic laboratory feel that has always 

characterized the Exploratorium. The main store, at 2,800 square feet, faces on the Embarcadero and 

is open to pedestrian traffic from the street or from inside the historic Pier 15 bulkhead. Another smaller 

store, at 1,000 square feet, is located inside, deeper in the heart of the Exploratorium. 

The Exploratorium’s exhibit workshop, where all of the exhibits are developed, built, and tested, 

inspired the new store design. In fact, the exhibits have been built into the Store – a place for visitors to 

continue to play, observe and discover while they shop. Look for a large interactive triple vortex exhibit 

right in the middle of the main store, or the classic illusions Vases Or Faces, Mirror Maze, and Color 

Words (where the dissonance between saying a color word like blue and the competing actual color of 

the word in red can cause cognitive problems in six languages). 

One engineering and design marvel is a store fixture that actually converts from a wooden product 

market cart into an interactive sound piece. Scrapple, by artist Golan Levin, converts back and forth 

depending on need. The main Store will also feature an Art-O-Mat – a vending machine that disgorges 

original art works for $5 a pop. 

Merchandise fixtures are made of wood and metal. They were conceived to be flexible both in terms of 

the types of products they house and and their ability to move around the museum to support special 

programs such as book signings and outdoor science festivals. That rough-and-ready functional feel 

carries through in the standard book carts, nail bins, architectural hanging files and vise tables that are 

all used to display merchandise. Concrete floors, simple lighting and natural materials also extend the 

workshop experience into the Store. 

The Exploratorium’s stores at Pier 15 have double the overall retail space, and continues to carry items 

for adults and children that reflect the exhibits of the museum, from unusual objects to games, kits, and 

books of scientific, artistic and technological interest. 

Among the New Products 

The Store has expanded its line of proprietary items, which have been developed in keeping with the 

museum’s fun, educational and curiosity-inspiring themes. A series of books titled SUSTAIN, BUILD 

and UNDER ($12.95 highlight aspects of the transformation of Pier 15 from a sustainability, 

architectural and restoration perspective. The classic hands on activity book titled SEEING ($14.95) 

features world famous Exploratorium perception and illusion exhibits, so visitors can take the museum 

home. The Art of Tinkering ($29.95), a new Exploratorium title, hits the store shelves in early fall of 

2013 and is based on the world-renowned Exploratorium Tinkering Studio. Exploralab, an activitypacked, 

interactive book for kid scientists ages 8-12, will be released in September 2013. Proprietary 

Exploratorium apparel, gift items and kits were developed in-house and with local artisans, and 

became available in the store during the opening launch. Staff are lead by Silva Raker, Director of 

Business Development, and Julie Nunn, Store Manager. 





ARCHITECT’S VISION: SCIENCE, ART AND LANDSCAPE CONVERGE AT 

EXPLORATORIUM’S NEW LOCATION 

Statement from EHDD’s Marc L’Italien, Design Principal 

The new home of the Exploratorium is where architecture, art, 

science and site converge. It elevates the Exploratorium's 

mission as both a destination for experiential exhibits and an 

R&D facility that creates innovative ways to teach and learn. 

Visibility, public access, and flexibility drove the planning and 

design. Situated midway between Ferry Plaza and Pier 39, the 

new Exploratorium brings to life a previously dormant stretch of 

the San Francisco's historic Embarcadero waterfront. 

The complexity of the program – to design an ultra-flexible building to support an ever-changing array 

of exhibits in keeping with the Exploratorium's culture of inquiry – was matched by the challenge of 

rehabilitating an existing historic structure in the most energy efficient manner possible. To that end, the 

building takes advantage of the original pier building's natural lighting and the water of the bay for 

cooling, and uses materials that are both sustainable and durable enough to withstand a harsh 

maritime climate. The goal is for the Exploratorium to be the country's largest net zero energy museum. 

This, combined with the Exploratorium's reputation as a hub of innovation, will make the building an 

industry model for what's possible in energy efficiency. 

The Fisher Bay Observatory building is an elegant two-story steel pavilion at the east end of Pier 15 

that contains an open plaza and pays homage to the clean lines of Pier 15, yet stands out with its taut 

façade. Using fritted glass to mitigate heat gain and reduce bird strikes, the building will house the 

SEAGLASS Restaurant and the ticketed Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery. The Fisher Bay Observatory 

will undoubtedly become a destination, from which visitors can see open water, maritime traffic, 

Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge, wildlife, hills, and other elements, both natural and human-made. 

A promenade encircling Pier 15 enables free interactive outdoor exhibits, captivating the general public 

and passers-by with the direct experience of the surrounding bay and the city. Almost three times 

larger than its previous location at the Palace of Fine Arts, the new site enables the Exploratorium to 

dream big and to keep reinventing itself in unimaginable ways as it expands its programming. – Marc 

L’Italien, 2013 

# # # 





KEY LEADERSHIP 

George Cogan, Partner / Vice President of Bain & Company 

and Exploratorium Board Member 

George W. Cogan is partner and vice president in the Palo Alto 

office of Bain & Company, a global business consulting firm. He 

joined the firm in 1989. Trained as a physicist, he is head of Bain’s 

North American Technology Practice. He brings to his 

Exploratorium role a broad range of experience in technologydriven 

businesses and expertise in corporate and divisional 

strategy, marketing strategy, new product and new business 

development, and organizational design. In 2006, he led the 

successful search for the Exploratorium’s new Executive Director 

and has served as Chairman of the Development Committee for 

several years. Prior to joining Bain, Mr. Cogan worked for SERA Solar Corporation, a photovoltaic 

research and development firm. He earned an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and 

is an Arjay Miller Scholar. He is a graduate of Harvard University where he received a Bachelor of Arts 

in physics with honors. Along with Exploratorium Executive Director Dennis Bartels, Cogan has led a 

historic capital project and a $300 million capital campaign to relocate the Exploratorium to Piers 15/17 

on San Francisco’s famed waterfront. 

Dennis Bartels, Executive Director 

Dennis Bartels is the Executive Director of the Exploratorium. As 

a science education and policy expert, he was appointed to the 

Education Working Group for the President’s Council of Advisors 

on Science and Technology in 2009, and in 2010 he was one of 

two educators named to the Oceans Research and Resources 

Advisory Panel (ORRAP), which provides independent advice 

and guidance to the more than 20 federal agencies of the 

National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Dr. Bartels has 

testified before United States congressional committees, 

including the House Science Committee. He was elected an AAAS Fellow (on Education), and he is 

also a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) and a 

Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In addition, he speaks 

internationally on science and mathematics education. Dennis holds a Ph.D. in education 

administration and policy analysis from Stanford University. Along with Exploratorium Board Member 

George Cogan, Bartels has led a historic capital project and a $300 million capital campaign to relocate 

the Exploratorium to Piers 15/17 on San Francisco’s famed waterfront. 




Rob Semper, Executive Associate Director and Director of Programs 

Rob Semper is Executive Associate Director of the Exploratorium in San 

Francisco. He oversees the direction and content of the Exploratorium at Pier 

15. Since joining the Exploratorium in 1977, he has lead numerous exhibit 

development, teacher enhancement and media development projects 

focused on science education for the public, teachers and students. He is 

also the principal investigator on numerous science education, media and 

research projects including the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

sponsored Center for Informal Learning and Schools, a research 

collaboration between the Exploratorium, U.C. Santa Cruz and King’s 

College in London which studied the relationship between museums and 

formal education, and the NSF funded Nanoscale Informal Science 

Education Network, a national network of science centers designed to foster 

engagement of the public with the nanotechnology field. 

Over the past eighteen years Dr. Semper has guided the development of the award winning 

Exploratorium Website, which has explored the role of museums in the online world, including the 

development of online field trips to locations of scientific research. He has been a Schumann fellow at 

the Harvard Graduate School of Education and director of the creative collaboration between Apple 

Computer and Lucasfilm Ltd. formed to develop interactive multimedia education projects. Dr. Semper 

received his Ph.D in solid state physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1973. 

Thomas Rockwell, Director of Exhibits and Associate Director for 

Program 

Tom Rockwell leads the group that is responsible for the exhibit experience 

at the museum. He oversees a staff of approximately 65 people, including 

exhibit developers, science and art content experts, and a visitor research 

and evaluation team. Tom has been principal investigator for the Geometry 

Playground exhibition, and co-principal investigator for the Science in the 

Stacks project for the Queens Borough Public Library. With Rob Semper, he 

has also been deeply involved in the design and planning for the 

Exploratorium’s move to San Francisco’s Embarcadero. 

Training in the visual arts at Brown University and a lifelong interest in 

combining art and science led Tom to work first as an educator in science museums, and then as a 

designer and construction coordinator of community-built science parks and playgrounds. These 

projects, in which thousands of volunteers collaborated to build a public structure, have had a strong 

influence on how he thinks about design, the creative process, and the public’s desire to engage in 

science. In 1995, Tom founded Painted Universe, Inc. Projects have included traveling exhibitions such 

as It’s a Nano World (with the Ithaca Science Center and Cornell University), The Enchanted Museum: 

Exploring the Science of Art (with the Berkshire Museum), and illustrations for The Elegant Universe by 

Brian Green. (NOTE: Tom is Norman Rockwell’s grandson.) 




Silva Raker is founding Director of Exploratorium Global Studios and 

joined the museum as Director of Business Development in 2010. 

Global Studios works with governments, universities, partner museums, 

libraries, hospitals and other public/private entities around the world to create 

learning environments and build human capacity – Exploratorium exhibits are 

one part of that effort. Raker’s work leverages the Exploratorium’s educational 

research and development to extend its mission. She extends the impact of the 

Exploratorium through museum consultancy, exhibit services, licensing, retail 

stores, restaurant concession, event rentals, sponsorships, and more. 

Raker is an accomplished business development executive and has 

successfully grown vibrant, mission-based companies in the specialty retail and 

travel industries. Additionally, Silva is a trained scientist with a Bachelor’s degree in zoology from the 

University of California, Berkeley. 

After conducting field studies in zoology in California and Cameroon, Silva joined The Nature Company 

where she spent ten years developing proprietary products, innovative programs and fruitful 

partnerships. More recently, as the COO and leading strategist for Backroads, Silva managed a 

complex global operation while developing both new and existing business segments—including the 

Family Travel Program with natural history and cultural exploration for kids on five continents. 





Outdoor Gallery 

CURATORS OF THE EXPLORATORIUM’S SIX MAIN GALLERIES 

Shawn Lani, Senior Artist and Curator 

Shawn Lani is a senior artist at the Exploratorium, directing the Outdoor 

exhibition development. As the curator for Outdoor Works at the new 

Exploratorium, Shawn’s task is to transform the outdoor spaces into an 

evolutionary gesture of civic and environmental engagement. His work can 

be summarized as a collection of exhibits created as accessible objects of 

wonder; mysterious yet navigable. Ideally, interacting with them leads to the 

type of investigations common to both scientists and artists: noticing details, 

asking questions, and exploring phenomena. 

Shawn is also an accomplished regional artist with large-scale water sculptures in downtown San 

Francisco and pieces on permanent display in over forty national and international venues. He received 

a design award from the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects for his work with 

fellow Exploratorium artists on a monumental kinetic building facade. 

Eric Dimond, Associate Curator 

Eric Dimond has spent the last 14 years creating original exhibits at the 

Exploratorium while collaborating with multiple design partners and clients. 

His iterative design process draws upon a rich mixture of educators, 

scientists and artists that make up the Exploratorium’s extended makers 

community. He recently completed his work as the Lead Exhibit 

Developer for the National Science Foundation funded Geometry 

Playground Exhibition, a 5,000 square foot exhibition featuring large scale 

climbing structures. He is currently the Associate Curator/Project Director 

for the Outdoor Exploratorium gallery. This new gallery includes over 

60,000 square feet of both paid and unpaid public space at the Exploratorium’s new home along the 

San Francisco waterfront’s Pier 15. 

Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery 

Pamela Winfrey, Senior Artist 

Pamela Winfrey joined the Exploratorium in 1979 and began 

working in arts programming in 1986. She is the curator for the 

Exploratorium’s new Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery, one 

that explores humans as phenomena. Recent exhibitions curated by 

Winfrey include Liminality (2007), Reconsidered Materials (2006); 

Art Life (2004), an exploration of artworks with human and living 

attributes; and The Prepared Exploratorium (2001), in which 

musicians and sound artists turned the Exploratorium into a giant 

instrument. To help the Bealle Center in Irvine, California celebrate 




their fifth anniversary, she curated Five, which featured five interactive media artists from five different 

countries. In 2005, she served as a panelist at Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) for the interactive arts 

category. In 2009 she was the lead curatorial consultant for Creative Capital’s emerging art forms. 

Pamela has organized several performance series including Situation Abnormal (2004-2005), featuring 

artists who are re-imagining the content, form, and raw material of performance; and Listen: A Sonic 

Series (2004-2005), with composers, musicians, artists, and scientists exploring the art of sound. She 

was also a founding member of Mobius Operandi, an electro-acoustic sound sculpture ensemble. 

During her tenure, they produced two CD’s and five large-scale performances that included a cornfield, 

large swinging speakers, and clocks with human clockworks. 

Pamela is a playwright. Her play, The Sounding, a drama based on the laying of the Atlantic cable, was 

read in Science on Stage 2004 at the Magic Theater. In 2011, she was in residence at Climate Theater 

where Train Wreck at the Table was seen. Her plays and performance works have been presented at 

numerous venues around the country. She has received a Marin Arts Council Independent Artist award 

and a Sloan grant for Celestial Bodies, a play about the first female radio astronomer. In the summer of 

2012, her play It All Leads to the Lemon Scene won the “Audience Favorite” award at the Avant Garde 

Festival in Manhattan. 

Hugh McDonald, Project Director, Senior Science Writer and 

Associate Curator 

Hugh McDonald is a Project Director, Senior Science Writer, and 

Associate Curator for the Exploratorium’s Bernard and Barbro 

Osher West Gallery, which focuses on the interplay between 

science, society, and culture. He is the Principal Investigator of 

Science of Sharing, an NSF-funded initiative to develop exhibits 

that let visitors experiment with resource-sharing and collaborative 

problem-solving, link their experiences to larger societal issues like 

climate change and environmental destruction, and learn about the 

scientific study of human behavior. Hugh was the lead writer/editor for the museum's Mind and Seeing 

exhibit collections and the Pirelli Award-winning Global Climate Change: Research Explorer website, 

and contributing writer/editor for numerous other exhibitions, sites, and publications. He received his 

Ph.D. in social psychology from Indiana University in 1997 and served on the faculty at Bates College 

and San Diego State University before joining the Exploratorium in 2001. 

Bechtel Central Gallery 

Thomas Humphrey, Ph.D., Senior Scientist 

Dr. Humphrey is curator of the Bechtel Central Gallery. He 

received his doctorate in physics from the California Institute of 

Technology in 1975 based on his research at Fermilab. Dr. 

Humphrey was essential in the creation and funding of the 

Exploratorium Teacher Institute training program and maintains an 

active role as guest lecturer in the program. He has taught physics 

and perception at many art institutes and universities. He invented 

the course "Perception in Art and Science,” which he has taught at 

the San Francisco Art Institute, John Carroll University, and the Academy of Art College. During the 

period 1980-84, Dr. Humphrey worked as a sculptor in Cleveland, Ohio, exhibiting four one-man shows 




and appearing in several juried shows including the May Show at the Cleveland Museum of Art. He has 

been the principal investigator on over 30 Exploratorium grants. He has constructed many exhibits for 

the Exploratorium and contributed to the development of many others. Dr. Humphrey wrote the first 

Exploratorium catalog and has contributed articles to Exploring, the Exploratorium magazine. He has 

consulted in the United States, Asia, and Europe. He also plays Bluegrass guitar. 

Richard O'Reilly Brown, Ph.D., Senior Neurobiologist 

Richard O'Reilly Brown, Ph.D., is the Exploratorium’s staff 

neurobiologist and curator of perception. He has degrees in 

neurobiology from Caltech and the UCSF School of Medicine, and 

was on the research faculty of UCSD's Center for Brain and Cognition 

before joining the Exploratorium in 1998. Richard is an expert on 

perceptual demonstrations and illusions, with a particular focus on the 

art and science of color perception, and has taught visual perception 

at UCSD and the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2012 he was honored to win the first annual Richard 

Gregory Prize for his color studies at an international visual perception conference. At the 

Exploratorium, he has helped develop over 100 new interactive exhibits on diverse topics including 

optics, vision, hearing, attention, emotions, cognition, magic, biology, immunology and AIDS, the 

human body, and food. 

Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 

Susan Schwartzenberg, Senior Artist 

Susan Schwartzenberg is a senior artist at the Exploratorium, where she led 

the development of the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery, a new space 

devoted to observing and noticing the bay and the city, both of which can be 

seen from the new Observatory’s panoramic views. She has been a curator, 

photographer, designer, and artist, and served as director of media. At the 

museum she has participated in many exhibit development and web-based 

projects. Susan was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of 

Design, and has taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, the California 

College of Art, and Stanford University. As a photographer and visual artist, 

she has received numerous awards, and has taken part in residencies and 

exhibitions worldwide. She is known for her public artworks including her 

recently opened public artworks at Stanford University and San Francisco’s 

McLaren Park. 

Sebastian Martin, Ph.D., Co-curator of Bay Observatory Gallery 

Sebastian Martin grew up in a small town in Germany with a rich 

tradition in toy making, and he attributes his interest in learning 

through experimentation and play to this early experience. Before 

coming to the United States, he studied earthquakes in the Chilean 

Andes, satellite imaging in the boreal forests of Ontario, and physics 

and math in Erlangen, Germany. He earned a Ph.D. in geophysics 

from the University of Potsdam. Throughout his studies, he retained 

a playful approach to science and research, and he developed interactive exhibits at Phenomenta, a 

science center dedicated to inquiry and direct contact with phenomena. In 2005 he joined the 




Exploratorium, where he found a happy symbiosis among science teaching, playing, and making things. 

A scientific content developer at the museum, Sebastian also enjoys teaching physics and interactive 

design at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University. 

Mary Miller, Director of the Wired Pier project 

Mary Miller is the lead on the Wired Pier project, which outfits Pier 15 with 

atmospheric and oceanic sensors to gather data on San Francisco bay and 

display the results in the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery. She is a project 

director in the science learning networks group and is responsible for leading 

multidisciplinary teams in creating innovative and engaging content about 

current scientific research for the Exploratorium’s award-winning website and 

museum exhibits and programs. In her roles as a science writer and producer, 

Mary has dodged icebergs in Greenland, flown in a hurricane hunter through 

a Pacific Storm, and been diving under the ice in Antarctica. She is also a 

liaison to the scientific community on numerous education and outreach 

partnerships. As the director for a 5-year partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, Mary facilitates collaborations between the two organizations to develop visualizations, 

media narratives, and interpretations of ongoing environmental research, including climate change and 

ocean and atmospheric research. Mary has a B.A. in biology and marine studies and a master’s 

certificate in science communication from U.C. Santa Cruz. She developed the media production track 

and teaches multimedia science journalism in the UCSC science communication program. 

South Gallery/Tinkering Studio 

Mike Petrich, Science Educator and Co-Founder of Tinkering Studio 

Mike Petrich is Director of the Making Collaborative at the Exploratorium, Mike 

is curious about how people develop personal and unique understandings of 

the world for themselves. More specifically, his interest in how environments 

can be designed to foster learning and encourage deep thinking led to a 

graduate degree in education design and technology, and ultimately to a 

leadership role within the Learning Studio, which develops the museum’s public 

tinkering activities. With a background in fine arts, filmmaking, and photography, 

he applies the act of careful observation to much of his work as a facilitator. 

Mike has been working at this for 20 years, with audiences as diverse as 

museum visitors, primary school students, Tibetan monks, prison inmates, and 

graduate school researchers. 

Karen Wilkinson, Science Educator and Co-Founder of Tinkering 

Studio 

Karen Wilkinson is Director of the Learning Studio, which develops all the 

public tinkering activities. Karen sees her role at the Exploratorium as an 

advocate for making as a way of knowing. She believes deeply in studio 

pedagogy, and the ability we all have to think with our hands. As an undergrad 

working in environmental design, she came to see museums as places that 

recognize this approach. Karen started her museum career as a volunteer at 

the Science Museum of Minnesota, soon met people from the Exploratorium 

and other institutions, and quickly realized how deeply a museum philosophy 

resonated with her own. Now, years later, after pursuing graduate studies in 




education and technology, she is even more committed to the idea that constructionism is an incredibly 

powerful way of learning, and that aesthetics matter a great deal. These two ideas are often 

overlooked in more formal education settings, outside of kindergarten or graduate school. Informal 

learning spaces for making and tinkering offer people a chance to connect to their own learning in a 

deeply personal way, which is why she is thrilled to be able to work with such a delightfully quirky group 

of people in the Tinkering Studio. Together, they are working to develop experiences with art, science, 

and technology that are playful and inquisitive, and draw on the collaborative and participatory aspects 

that a museum environment can offer. Karen looks forward to seeing what develops in the coming 

years. 

East Gallery 

California, Davis. 

Kristina Yu, Ph.D., Director of the Living Systems Department 

Dr. Kristina Yu is the Director of the Living Systems Department at the 

Exploratorium and curator of the East Gallery. She oversees the laboratory 

facility and staff that support the Exploratorium's unique collection of life 

sciences exhibits, and has curatorial oversight over the exhibit collection. In 

addition to making biology accessible to the museum-going public, and web 

audiences, Kristina also collaborates with researchers in the San Francisco 

Bay Area and is acquiring an archive of microscopic movies and images that 

are available on the Web. She attended UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz 

as an undergraduate, and earned a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and 

Developmental Biology from UC Santa Cruz. 

Jennifer Frazier, Co-curator, East Gallery 

Jennifer Frazier is a cell biologist whose current obsessions include plankton 

and data visualization. Jennifer has been at the Exploratorium since 2004, 

focusing on finding new ways to help visitors explore worlds they normally 

can’t see. Her projects include the Microscope Imaging Station and the 

Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network’s Visualization Laboratory. 

Before joining the Exploratorium, she created exhibits, multimedia, and 

documentary films at NOVA, the National Academy of Sciences, and several 

multimedia companies. Jennifer received her Ph.D. in cell biology from the 

University of California, San Francisco, where as an NSF and AAAS Fellow 

she used advanced imaging techniques to study polymer assembly during 

cell division. She has a B.S. in bioethics and genetics from the University of 





ADDITIONAL STAFF BIOS 

Marina McDougall, Director, Center for Art & Inquiry 

Marina McDougall, Director, Exploratorium Center for Art & Inquiry is a 

curator working at the intersection of art, science, nature and culture. 

Marina co-founded the Studio for Urban Projects and was the first Curator 

of Art and Design at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art. She 

has been visiting curator at the MIT Media Lab, the Museum of Jurassic 

Technology, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Oakland 

Museum of California. Marina has 20 years of experience organizing 

exhibitions and public programs, and started her career as a curator in the 

Exploratorium Cinema Arts Program. She teaches in the curatorial practice 

program at CCA. 

Julie Nunn, Director of Product Development and Stores 

Nunn joined the Exploratorium in January 2010, after 23 years in the toy 

industry. She is currently responsible for overseeing the design and 

implementation of the two Exploratorium Stores at the museum’s Pier 15 

location, as well as overseeing product development for the museum’s 

proprietary products program, including the Exploratorium’s publishing 

branch. Nunn is also responsible for creating and driving business 

initiatives with the Exploratorium’s Global Studios program. She has been 

Director of Marketing for Hasbro Toys Cap Candy Division, developing 

the Harry Potter Candy line, as well as various other product licenses with 

Disney/Pixar, Warner Bros, Dreamworks and Lucas Films; Director of Product Development for DaMert 

Company; and Toy Buyer and Director of Product Merchandising for The Nature Company. Julie Nunn 

holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Sarah Lawrence College, and Masters in Business 

Administration in Sustainable Enterprise from Dominican University. 

Meet more Staff Scientists and Staff Artists. 

# # # 





Wilson Meany 

EHDD 

KPM Consulting 

Nibbi 

PIER 15 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION TEAM 

CAMMISA and WIPF 

Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass 

RUTHERFORD + CHEKENE 

INTEGRAL Group 

Teknion 

Vangard Concept Offices 

PAGE & TURNBULL 

HMS Associates 

Bain & Company 

ACCO 

Adavant Consulting 

Advanced Energy Strategies 

Auerbach Glasow French 

Bank of America 

BBI 

Bill Hill Design 

Boudreau Associates LLC 

Broadway Mechanical Contracting 

CB2 

Charles Salter Associates 

Chicago Title Insurance Company 

CohnReznick 

Consolidated Engineering Laboratories 

Creative Strategies 

Cupertino Electric Inc 

David Nelson & Associates 

DeFauw Design & Fabrication 

Dutra Dredging 

EIP Associates 

Eaton & Associates 

Farella Braun + Martel LLP 

Farmers Insurance Exchange 

First Republic 

GLS Landscape|Architecture 

HKA Elevator Consulting 

Holmes Culley 




Holmes Fire 

Hubbard Godfrey Architects 

InNovTec 

Irma Zigas & Associates 

jhdrum & associates 

Jones Day 

Kennedy/Jenks Consultants 

Klor Machinery Inc. 

Manask & Associates 

Martin M. Ron Associates 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company 

Meyer Sound Laboratories 

Moffatt & Nichol 

Nationwide Life Insurance Company 

Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company 

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company 

NOR-CAL Moving Services 

Oppenheim Lewis 

ORCA Consulting 

Packlick/Lagueux 

Place Partners 

Port of San Francisco 

Power Engineering Contractors 

Project Assistance Corporation 

Rudolph Commercial Interiors 

Rolf Jensen & Associates 

Security by Design 

Solem & Associates 

Spec West 

SunPower 

The Fire Consultants 

The Shalleck Collaborative 

Teladata 

Tetra Tech 

Thomas Swan Sign Company 

T. Marshall Associates 

Treadwell & Rollo/Rollo & Ridley 

Tyco 

USBank 

Wells Fargo 

WRA Environmental Consultants 

# # # 





EXPLORATORIUM FOUNDER FRANK OPPENHEIMER 

“No one ever flunked a museum,” said Frank Oppenheimer, the founder of 

the Exploratorium. Arguably his most famous quote, it embodies the vision 

and transformative ideas that revolutionized the museum field and spawned 

nearly 1,000 science museums around the world. 

The Exploratorium remains at the vanguard, these days placing the tools of 

inquiry directly into the hands of visitors, from soldering irons to screwdrivers 

to sewing machines. The science-rich investigations happen right opposite 

the museum’s own machine shop. It exports that ability to tinker inside a 

museum around the world, from places as diverse as Arkansas to Saudi 

Arabia. 

It is now over 100 years since Oppenheimer’s birth in New York City. He was 

the younger brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atom bomb,” 

and himself a gifted experimental physicist and Renaissance man, who also worked on the Manhattan 

project. 

August 14, 2012, was the 100 th anniversary of Oppenheimer’s birth in New York City. As 

Oppenheimer’s lasting monument, the Exploratorium has long been a leader in informal education and 

in museums. 

● Until the relocation, the Exploratorium had to turn away two out of three teachers requesting 

professional development in its Teacher Institute due to high demand. The Exploratorium’s new 

location at Pier 15 triples the capacity for teacher professional development. Teachers who 

attend have a retention rate of more than 90%, compared to the national average of 50%. 

Educators from 48 states and 11 countries have benefitted from Exploratorium workshops since 

1995 alone. 

● 80% of the world’s science centers use Exploratorium-developed exhibits. Since 1982, more 

than 2,500 exhibits have been installed in museums, universities, and organizations worldwide. 

● The museum received the National Science Foundation’s Public Service to Science Award in 

2011, the first time a science museum has been honored. It was the first independent museum 

on the Internet, with more than 40,000 pages of original content and 12 million web visits to 

www.exploratorium.edu. 

Oppenheimer’s ideas continue to resonate in the museum and science education fields even 28 years 

after his death. In its new location, the Exploratorium, the legacy Oppenheimer left behind, extends the 

reach of its original mission, a fitting gift to mark the 100 th anniversary of Frank Oppenheimer’s. 

About Frank Oppenheimer 

Frank’s three overlapping careers reflected his commitment to science education: 

● He was a brilliant researcher in nuclear and cosmic ray physics 

● He was a distinguished teacher and innovator in laboratory instruction 

● He was the creator and guiding genius of the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s 

unconventional museum. 

His life had a dramatic arc. After a distinguished career in cosmic ray research and participation in the 

Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Oppenheimer was forced to resign from his university position in 

1949 as a result of being harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. 




For the next ten years, Oppenheimer was a cattle rancher in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Banishment 

from academic physics didn’t end his science career, however; rather, it sparked new ones. became 

the only science teacher in the local small-town high school of 300 students. He produced stellar 

students, many of whom came from minority and “ordinary origins.” His reach eventually extended to 

the entirety of Jefferson County and produced students like James Heckman, now an economist at the 

University of Chicago and a Nobel laureate. 

When Oppenheimer finally returned to university physics in 1959, he focused on both research and 

teaching. He became a central force in improving laboratory teaching for students and developed a 

"Library of Experiments” where they could explore physical phenomena at their own pace, playing with 

freestanding experiments whenever they wished. It was quickly copied by other universities. This was a 

method vastly different from the book-centric way science was previously taught. 

In 1965, Oppenheimer began the melding of his interests in peace and humanity, scientific research, 

teaching, art and history, philosophy, museums and the methods of science education that would 

blossom four years later into the Exploratorium. While on a Guggenheim fellowship in Europe, he 

became convinced that museums of science and technology were vitally needed both for the general 

public and as a supplement for science teaching curricula at all levels. 

Oppenheimer was invited to do the initial planning for a new branch of the Smithsonian, but turned it 

down to work on what he called his "San Francisco project." In 1969, with no publicity or fanfare, the 

Exploratorium opened its doors. It spawned 1000 museums like it around the world and stands at the 

forefront of the idea of museums as educational centers. From teacher professional development to 

exhibit development to the notion of informal science learning as it takes place outside of schools, the 

Exploratorium disseminated its ideas through open source sharing before the term was ever coined. 

Oppenheimer’s ideas continue to resonate in the museum and science education fields even all these 

years after his death. The Exploratorium is a remarkable and tangible culmination of one man’s life, 

experience and ideas. 

# # # 





For all additional media requests, please contact: 

Linda Dackman (415) 528-4363 

Leslie Patterson (415) 528-4377 

Quynh Tran (415) 528-4357 

Jenny Slafkosky (415) 528-4367 

pubinfo@exploratorium.edu 

For more information about the Exploratorium visit our online press office at 

http://www.exploratorium.edu/press-office 

About the Exploratorium 

The Exploratorium is the global leader in informal learning, igniting curiosity and inspiring creativity in 

people of all ages. The world-renowned science museum creates original, interactive exhibits, on 

display at more than 1,000 science centers, museums and public spaces around the world. Dedicated 

to education reform in and out of the classroom, the Exploratorium is a premier professional 

development center for educators and a creator of award-winning educational resources. Since 1969, 

the Exploratorium has influenced generations of entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, teachers, students, 

children, museum professionals and everyday doers, reaching nearly 180 million people annually from 

around the globe. On April 17, 2013, the Exploratorium opened at Pier 15 in the heart of San 

Francisco's waterfront district, where it will celebrate a new era of experiences that encourage critical 

thinking and awaken wonder for generations to come. For more information, visit 

www.exploratorium.edu.

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