San Francisco’s iconic Exploratorium is a global leader in science education. For more than five decades, it has captured guests’ attention with its innovative approach to learning, blending the disciplines of science and art to encourage exploration and discovery.
At its core, the Exploratorium’s mission is focused on democratising access to learning. Through hands-on experiences, it promotes curiosity and fosters a deep understanding of the world.
Anne Richardson, Exploratorium’s chief experience officer, speaks to blooloop about the museum’s vision and its evolution. She also discusses its future plans, offering a glimpse into its ongoing efforts to expand its global reach and impact.
A unique approach
Richardson has been with the Exploratorium since 2003. In her current role, she focuses on research, development, and production strategies for content across Pier 15 and global museums.
Talking about what brought her to the Exploratorium, she says:
“I was attracted to the Exploratorium’s pedagogy and how it feels to be a learner here. It emphasises the visitor’s journey in making sense of real things based on their own observations and questions. I was also attracted to how the Exploratorium blends art and science; that felt like a unique approach.
“Initially, I was working in the school field trips programme. I also led our summer camp and educational programs for members. Then, I had the pleasure of participating in the big move from the Palace of Fine Arts to Pier 15, to imagine how to scale our work and move all of it to this new platform.
“After landing at Pier 15, we had an opportunity to open a small pop-up community science centre in Los Altos. I led the development of that project and directed that museum. It was pretty magical to do a tiny version of the Exploratorium off-site and be embedded in a community.
“It was a special experience for us. That made me turn from leading educational programmes within the Exploratorium to working in our global collaborations group, leading the programme and professional development for our teams and the community engagement process as we developed brand-new institutions. Now, I lead our global work and the content creation at the Exploratorium, merging those teams.”
About the Exploratorium
The Exploratorium was founded by physicist Frank Oppenheimer in 1969. It was established as a response to the need for a more hands-on, experiential approach to understanding the world. Oppenheimer’s vision was shaped by his work on the Manhattan Project. He believed strongly that learning was fundamental to good citizenship.
“As an organisation, we still believe that learning is a foundation for citizenship,” says Richardson. “You engage in society first as a learner, with the belief that you can understand things and make sense of the world.”
This mission remains central to the Exploratorium’s work, even as it evolves to meet the challenges of the modern world. Richardson says that the museum’s focus on hands-on exploration of real-world phenomena allows visitors to develop critical observation skills. These are increasingly important in today’s rapidly changing society.
“The world now is full of change and uncertainty,” she says, referencing issues like AI, political polarisation, and the challenges of climate change. “Exploratorium gives you access to the real world, to real phenomena, where you can begin to be grounded and trust your observations.”
Hands-on learning
Describing the Exploratorium visitor experience, Richardson says:
“There are a few things that make it unique. First, it is a wonderland of phenomena and things to explore, pay attention to, and try out yourself. The Exploratorium launched the movement of this type of science centre that gives you opportunities to interact directly with phenomena in a hands-on way.
“Second is the focus on phenomena rather than specific learning outcomes. This allows visitors to notice and explore things, make meaning out of them, and understand things for themselves. What you choose to focus on while at the Exploratorium is up to you.”
“And thirdly, I think you have a powerful sense at the Exploratorium that you are intelligent and capable of understanding the world. That’s a huge deal. We believe in our visitors’ capability to understand things. That is something you feel when you walk in the door and when you interact with anyone here.
“One thing that happens is that, regardless of how you engage with the Exploratorium, it strengthens your identity as a person who can learn about the world. I think that’s important, especially today.”
Art and science meet at the Exploratorium
One of the Exploratorium’s defining characteristics is its seamless blending of art and science. The institution views artists and scientists as inquirers—professionals seeking to understand the world by exploring and creating new knowledge. This interdisciplinary approach is at the heart of many of the museum’s exhibits and programmes.
“For us, art and science are well blended,” says Richardson. “We think of artists and scientists both as inquirers, creating new knowledge about the world and how we understand it. There’s a place for those things at the Exploratorium because our visitors are learners too.”
“Entering the world through arts and sciences gives us a more well-rounded way to access different phenomena and create meaning from them.” She notes that at the Exploratorium, it can sometimes be difficult to tell whether a piece was created by an artist or an exhibit developer. Both work to highlight natural phenomena in ways that encourage curiosity and deeper thinking.
Recent exhibits like the summer 2024 show ExtraOrdinary! are prime examples of this integration. The exhibit featured artists working with everyday materials to create extraordinary effects. In doing so, they invited visitors to look at the ordinary world through new lenses.
In addition, the museum’s Artist-in-Residence programme has brought innovative creators like choreo-roboticist Dr Catie Cuan into the fold. Cuan’s upcoming project, Breathless, features her dancing alongside a robot. It demonstrates how art can intersect with science to explore human-technology relationships.
Global partnerships
While the Exploratorium is firmly rooted in San Francisco, its reach extends beyond the city’s waterfront. The museum’s work with international partners to build science centres worldwide is a testament to its global influence.
Richardson shares her experience leading global collaborations, from developing new institutions like the Kiewit Luminarium in Omaha, Nebraska, to the SESI Lab in Brasília, Brazil. She also revealed that the Exploratorium is working with partners in East Asia to build a large-scale science centre.
“Our goal is to create new institutions inspired by the Exploratorium but locally rooted in their communities,” she says. Rather than replicating the San Francisco model, these collaborations allow the museum to help shape institutions that reflect local needs and cultures while maintaining the Exploratorium’s ethos of hands-on, inquiry-based learning.
This approach has been in place since the 1970s when the Exploratorium first began consulting for other institutions. Today, the museum provides advice, exhibit design, and fabrication services to science centres worldwide.
Talking about how these partnerships have been enriching, Richardson says:
“We love to start at the beginning with partners when it’s just the idea of creating something for their community. It’s exciting to shape that vision and help bring it to life.”
Reaching a broad audience at the Exploratorium
Like many museums today, the Exploratorium faces the challenge of ensuring its content is accessible and engaging to all audiences. The museum strives to serve a diverse range of visitors, from school groups and families to adults visiting without children. Additionally, it caters to professional communities of artists, scientists, and educators, both in person and online.
“The Exploratorium is for everyone,” says Richardson. “Around 20% of our visitors are school groups. Then, about half of the remaining audience is families. The other half is adults coming in without children, which is unusual for science centres.”
Engaging historically excluded audiences has been a critical priority for the Exploratorium:
“We’re always thinking about inclusivity and representation. We want to show visitors of all ages and backgrounds the contributions and impact of diverse engineers and scientists, as well as the many pathways into STEM careers. Last year, we launched a professional development project designed to engage with museums across the country to shift their organisation’s practices to better create STEM experiences that are culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining.
“Beyond that, we think deeply about our programme offerings to ensure they’re inclusive and representative. We translated the marketing for our most recent show into eleven different languages.
“There’s been a fundamental change in the breakdown of the audiences we serve and how welcomed they feel since we’ve started these initiatives.”
Another example is the museum’s ongoing efforts to create exhibits that resonate with different genders. One recent research project focused on designing engaging exhibits for girls. The museum is now incorporating these findings into its practices.
Creating a diverse and inclusive staff has also been essential to the Exploratorium’s success, she adds:
“The more diverse your team is, the more diverse the experiences they create will be. This ultimately results in better outcomes for the audiences you serve.”
Exhibits for all
Given the Exploratorium’s legacy of creating engaging exhibits, Richardson gives her insights into what makes a successful exhibition or installation:
“There isn’t one type of experience that works for everybody. So, you need to have various experiences across an entire exhibition. Within that, it’s good to have things that are great for one person to focus on and some things that are great for a group to do together.
“You also need to include things that are engaging for people of multiple ages. You need different layers of opportunities to understand the content, some things that may have a pretty focused opportunity for learning, and some that are more open-ended because people need to engage in many different ways.
“Focusing on phenomena rather than concepts has been successful for us. Rather than starting with the idea that you must understand a particular concept, we’re giving you access to the phenomenon to explore it. And I think that’s usually really engaging for most people.”
In a rapidly changing world, the Exploratorium is also grappling with how best to integrate new technologies. The museum is particularly interested in exploring how tools like artificial intelligence and augmented reality can be used for learning. This is part of a broader trend in the museum sector, as institutions worldwide seek to adopt these technologies in ways that enhance visitor engagement.
The Exploratorium also focuses on global challenges such as climate change. Being located on San Francisco’s waterfront makes sea-level rise a particularly relevant issue for the museum.
Richardson explains the museum is developing a new research and development agenda to better understand how to engage visitors with complex societal problems. One upcoming project in the summer of 2025 will examine machine learning and AI. It will use the topic as a case study to explore how people interact with complex, systems-based issues.
Looking ahead
As the Exploratorium approaches the next decade, it continues to innovate and expand its offerings in San Francisco and worldwide. The museum is reimagining its galleries at Pier 15, where it has been for the past ten years:
“We’re thinking about the future of those galleries and what we would like to do next.” This includes developing new content and advancing the museum’s research into how people engage with complex phenomena.
The museum also plans to strengthen its role as a place of connection between the public and professionals in science and art. Richardson envisions the Exploratorium as a place where external organisations can convene and have a presence, providing a platform for meaningful dialogue between the public and experts.
Ultimately, the Exploratorium remains a dynamic and evolving institution committed to fostering curiosity, creativity, and a deep understanding of the world.
“Our mission has been very enduring, and I don’t expect it to change,” says Richardson. “The Exploratorium will continue to be a place where people can explore, learn, and make sense of the world around them.”
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