Science Museum Oklahoma
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The Science Museum Oklahoma is a science museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The museum is home to the Kirkpatrick Planetarium and a dome theater, as well as a number of specialized galleries. It also hosts children's activities such as week long summer activity labs, school break activities, and live science shows.
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[edit] History
The museum began as the Kirkpatrick Planetarium in 1958, which moved to a permanent dome at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in 1962.[1] Later that year, the Oklahoma Science and Arts Foundation was founded on the fairgrounds.[1] In 1978 the foundation changed its name to Omniplex Science Museum, then moved with the Kirkpatrick Planetarium to the newly built Kirkpatrick Center museum campus.[1] Later additions include the Oklahoma Air and Space Museum in 1980, the Kirkpatrick Gardens and Greenhouse in 1985, and the OmniDome Theater in 1998, Oklahoma's first large-format, dome-screen theater.[1] In 2007 Omniplex changed its name to Science Museum Oklahoma.
[edit] Kirkpatrick Air and Space Museum
This section of the museum preserves and honors the contributions of Oklahomans to aerospace. Notable artifacts include the Apollo Command Module simulator, an Apollo Lunar Module replica built by Canadian inventor William Lishman, and artifacts related to Oklahoman aviator Wiley Post. Some of the artifacts are currently on loan to the Oklahoma History Center, which opened in November of 2005.
The museum houses the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame, with historical exhibits including full-scale models of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules as well as the actual Apollo Command Module Simulator used to train Apollo astronauts.
[edit] International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum
This gallery is a tribute to the art and technology of photography. It is home to the world's largest "photo-mural", a laserscape of the Grand Canyon. The gallery also holds a large collection of prints and camera equipment. Currently, an exhibit highlighting the Pulitizer Prize winners is on display.
International Photography Hall of Fame official site
[edit] Red Earth Museum
Recently renovated, this museum examines Native American cultures and lifestyles. Various artifacts and pieces of artwork are on display, including an extensive collection of cradleboards from multiple tribes across the country.
[edit] International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame is located inside Science Museum Oklahoma, and features collections of medals, apparatus, and awards, various pieces of sculptures, and a library. The organization dedicated to honoring those who have furthered the sport of gymnastics. Inductees include Nadia Comaneci, Olga Korbut, Bart Conner, Valery Liukin, Mary Lou Retton, Larisa Latynina, Nikolai Andrianov, and Vera Caslavska.
[edit] The Omnidome Theater (SMO Dome)
The Omnidome Theater is currenty the only theater of its kind in Oklahoma City. It is a large format theater running 15-70MM film. The bulb inside the projector is 14,000 Watts. Although it has gone through many changes in the past, the two awesome cool guys who used to work there, no longer do. They moved on to greater places but they still think about their old work place... sometimes...
[edit] Employee Job Security Loss
In late 2007 to mid 2008, many employees have been laid off without warning as the museum says it is taking strides in a 'new direction'. A volunteer/events coordinator took maternity leave and, by the law of the state, her job must be available for her upon her return. This, however, was stretched to the limit as the employee returned from her maternity leave she found that her job had been, for lack of better words, discontinued. She was given a job working at the admissions booth and she later quit because of her resulting opinion of museum. This behavior by the museum's administration has been once again exemplified by the firing of the only two weekend educators on staff. This leaves the weekends, which are the busiest of the all of the museums open hours, without any type of educational demonstrations or 'Science Spectacular (the museum's educational entertainment classes)' shows. The two employees were given similar reasons for the termination of employment. This was again repeated by the firing of two department heads. The heads of the museum's gift shop/concessions stand and the head of admissions/visitor services have both been fired with the reason that the museum needed a new approach towards their marketing strategy. The recent termination of employees has many others concerned about their own job security. By survey, no one foresaw the sacking of any of the employees who had lost their jobs due to 'the need for change'.[citation needed]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Omniplex History at a Glance. About Omniplex. Science Museum Oklahoma. Retrieved on 2008.01.10.
