![]() | |
![]() | |
Established | 2006 |
---|---|
Location | Dallas, Texas, United States |
Coordinates | 32°47′13″N96°48′24″W / 32.78689°N 96.80665°W |
Type | Science museum, natural history museum |
Visitors | 1,000,000+ [1] |
CEO | Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver [2] |
Public transit access | ![]() ![]() |
Website | perotmuseum.org/ |
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science (shortened to Perot Museum) is a natural history and science museum in Dallas, Texas in Victory Park. The museum was named in honor of Margot and Ross Perot. [3] The current chief executive officer of the museum is Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver. [4]
On June 6, 1936, the Dallas Museum of Natural History opened to the public as part of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exhibition. On September 20, 1946, the Dallas Health Museum was founded by a group chartered as the Dallas Academy of Medicine. It was renamed the Dallas Health and Science Museum in 1958. The name was changed yet again to the Science Place in 1981. In 1995, the Dallas Children's Museum was founded elsewhere.
In 2006, Perot Museum CEO Nicole Small oversaw the uniting of the Dallas Museum of Natural History, the Science Place, and the Dallas Children's Museum at Fair Park. Following the merger, the museum was in three buildings there, featuring an IMAX-style theater, a planetarium, an extensive exhibit hall, and its own paleontology lab. [5] [6] The museum moved on December 1, 2012, to a new facility in Victory Park.
On June 1, 2014, CEO Small was replaced by Colleen Walker. [7]
Walker resigned as CEO in 2017, and was replaced in 2017 by Linda Abraham-Silver. [8]
The Victory Park campus museum was named in honor of Margot and Ross Perot as the result of a $50,000,000 gift made by their adult children Ross Perot, Jr., Nancy Perot Mulford, Suzanne Perot McGee, Carolyn Perot Rathjen, and Katherine Perot Reeves. The $185,000,000 fundraising goal, slated to provide for the site acquisition, exhibition planning and design, construction of the new building, education programs and an endowment, was achieved by November 2011, more than a year before the museum's scheduled opening in December 2012. The donated funds enabled the museum to be built, incurring no debt or public funding. [6] [9]
The 180,000-square-foot (17,000 m2) facility has six floors and stands about 14 stories high. Five of the floors are accessible to the public and house 11 permanent exhibit halls as well as 6 learning labs. [10] The top floor houses the museum's administration offices. The Victory Park campus opened its doors to the public on December 1, 2012. Approximately 6,000 visitors came to the museum on its first day of operation. [11]
![]() | This section contains content that is written like an advertisement .(April 2018) |
Designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, the building was conceived as a large cube floating over a landscaped plinth (or base).
The stone roof, which features a landscape of drought-tolerant greenery, was inspired by Dallas surroundings. The plinth was landscaped with a 1-acre (0.40 ha) rolling green roof comprising rock and native drought-resistant grasses that reflects Texas' indigenous landscape and demonstrate a living system that will evolve naturally. [12] Building on the museum's commitment to resource conservation, the new building has a rainwater collection system that captures run-off water from the roof and parking lot, satisfying 74% of the museum's non-potable water needs and 100% of its irrigation needs. [13]
The building is characterized by a continuous flow escalator, measuring 54 feet (16 m) in length and housed within a 150-foot (46 m) glass casing that extends diagonally outside the building cube. The building also prioritizes sustainability by utilizing LED lighting, off-grid energy generation technology, and solar-powered water heating. To enhance energy efficiency, the atrium and other spaces within the building benefit from natural sunlight via strategically placed skylights. [9] [14]
The building has secured the highest possible 4 Green Globes from the Green Building Initiative. It got a rating of an overall 85% on the Green Globes rating scale and 100% for its design and its sustainable performance measures. [15] [16] Green Globes is a nationally recognized green building guidance and assessment program in the United States. [14]
Exhibit hall | Level | Feature Highlights [10] [17] |
---|---|---|
Moody Family Children's Museum | Lower Level |
|
Sports | Lower Level |
|
Discovering Life | 2 |
|
Being Human | 2 |
|
Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation | 2 |
|
The Rees-Jones Foundation Dynamic Earth | 3 |
|
Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals | 3 |
|
Tom Hunt Energy | 3 |
|
T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now | 4 | Follow the evolution of life on Earth over 4 billion years, the Beringia land bridge where people migrated from Siberia to Alaska across a land bridge that spanned the current day Bering Strait and life in prehistoric Alaska. Soundscape for this exhibit was designed by students from the University of Texas at Dallas. [23]
|
Expanding Universe | 4 |
|
Rose Hall of Birds | 4 Mezzanine |
|
Exhibit hall | Level | Exhibit Name | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Building the Building | December 1, 2012– May 12, 2013 | Showcases the stories of the more than 2,500 people it took to create and design the Victory Park campus building and exhibits. Includes interviews with museum leaders, architect Thom Mayne, exhibit designers, landscape designer Coy Talley, Balfour Beatty construction team members, local educators from school districts and universities. Also includes the remnants of a Ford Model T discovered as the site was prepared for construction. [24] |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Recycle Reef | June 17, 2013– August 25, 2013 | Visitors will participate in building the exhibit from the ground up by using recyclable materials to transform them into creative works of art. The exhibit will be dynamic and ever-changing as it develops with each newly contributed art work. The entire exhibit will be recycled after the exhibit closes. |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Animal Inside Out | September 22, 2013– February 23, 2014 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Build It! Garage | June 21, 2014– August 17, 2014 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | World's Largest Dinosaur | April 6, 2014– September 1, 2014 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | 2theXtreme: MathAlive! | September 27, 2014– January 1, 2015 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes | February 14, 2015– May 10, 2015 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Build It! Nature | June 19, 2015– August 6, 2015 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Amazing Animals: Built to Survive | June 13, 2015– September 7, 2015 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Creatures of Light: Nature's Bioluminescence | October 31, 2015– February 21, 2016 | |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Eye of the Collector | April 16, 2016– September 5, 2016 | Nine exhibits displaying historical and fashionable objects of 10 people displaying their recollections of items they have gathered during their lives. [25] |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Birds of Paradise | October 8, 2016– January 8, 2017 | Exhibits display video footage, photographs, artifacts, and interactive experiences to create a science exhibition, art show, and natural history display from a comprehensive study of all 39 known species of birds-of-paradise. [26] |
Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals | 3rd Floor | Giant Gems of the Smithsonian | September 9, 2016– January 17, 2017 | Exhibit displays a close up view of the National Museum of Natural History's National Gem Collection. [27] |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed | February 11, 2017– September 4, 2017 | Exhibit allowing guests to explore an underworld cave, excavate an ancient burial site, and encounter the richness of Maya culture through hands-on explorations such as building arches, deciphering hieroglyphs and translating the Maya calendar. [28] |
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | Ultimate Dinosaurs | ||
Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals | 3rd Floor | Mineral Art of China | ||
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | The Art of the Brick | ||
Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall | Lower Level | The Science of Guinness World Records | March 6, 2021– September 6, 2021 | |
The 297-seat Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant theater has a 2D, 3D 4K digital projection and sound system. The theater features a variety of films, from educational features and documentaries to experimental independent films. [29]
The museum creates a Teacher's Guide, which is a booklet and online publication that is distributed to North Texas educators. The guide outlines programming designed for children pre-K to 12th grade in earth and space sciences, life and natural sciences, chemistry, physical sciences and engineering. Programming reinforces Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) objectives. [30] [31]
There are four educational outreach opportunities: field trips to the museum, onsite programming at schools (in the classroom and after school), community engagement through the museum's TECH Truck and The Whynauts virtual, bilingual video series.
Students can explore 11 permanent exhibit halls, experience educational films in their theater, and take advantage of TEKS-aligned onsite classroom or auditorium programming. Further learning, available through program extensions, is held in the learning labs and auditorium of the museum's Lower Level. The museum also features educational films, offered in partnership with National Geographic.
Museum educators offer 26 programs that can be taught in schools’ classrooms, presented to large groups in auditoriums, or showcased as part of after-school programming.
The TECH Truck brings hands-on discovery directly to community centers programs, libraries, parks, public events, out-of-school programs and more — providing science-based experiences for the public.
Bring the wonders of the Perot Museum to your classroom through an interactive, bilingual, STEM educational series.
West Texas A&M University is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on September 20, 1910, as West Texas State Normal College as one of the seven state-funded teachers' colleges in Texas.
Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex in Dallas, Texas, United States, located immediately east of downtown. The 277-acre (112 ha) area is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark; many of the buildings were constructed for the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936.
The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The academy began in 1853 as a learned society and still carries out a large amount of original research. The institution is located at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
The University of Texas at Dallas is a public research university in Richardson, Texas. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private research arm of Texas Instruments.
The Tech Interactive is a science and technology center that offers hands-on activities, labs, design challenges and other STEAM education resources. It is located in downtown San Jose, California, adjacent to the Plaza de César Chávez.
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. Fernbank Museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansive facility, designed by Graham Gund Architects. Giants of the Mesozoic, on display in the atrium of Fernbank Museum, features a 123-foot (37 m) long Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever classified; as well as a Giganotosaurus. The permanent exhibition, A Walk Through Time in Georgia, tells the twofold story of Georgia's natural history and the development of the planet. Fernbank Museum has won several national and international awards for one of its newest permanent exhibitions, Fernbank NatureQuest, an immersive, interactive exhibition for children that was designed and produced by Thinkwell Group. The awards NatureQuest has won include the 2012 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement for a Museum Exhibit and the 2011 Bronze Award for Best Museum Environment from Event Design. The nearby Fernbank Science Center is a separate organization operated by the DeKalb County Board of Education and is not affiliated with Fernbank Museum of Natural History.
The Museum of Science (MoS) is a nature and science museum and indoor zoological establishment located in Science Park, a plot of land in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live and interactive presentations throughout the building each day, along with scheduled film showings at the Charles Hayden Planetarium and the Mugar Omni Theater. Additionally, the Museum of Science is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), being home to over 100 animals, many of which the museum gained after they were surrendered, confiscated, rescued or rehabilitated.
COSI, officially the Center of Science and Industry, is a science museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio. COSI was opened to the public on 29 March 1964 and remained there for 35 years. In 1999, COSI was moved to a 320,000-square-foot (30,000 m2) facility, designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki along a bend in the Scioto River in the Franklinton neighborhood. COSI features more than 300 interactive exhibits throughout themed exhibition areas.
Victory Park is a master planned development northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA) and north of Spur 366. It is along Interstate 35E, part of the Stemmons Corridor and Uptown.
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is a natural history museum located in Chicago, Illinois, and operated by the Chicago Academy of Sciences. The museum traces its history to the founding collection of the academy in 1857. After a century at a nearby location, where it was the first of what eventually became eleven Chicago museum-in-the-parks, the academy opened its present museum named for benefactor Peggy Notebaert in 1999 at the intersection of Fullerton Parkway and Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park. The institution focuses on the natural history of the Chicago region, and offers educational programs for children and adults. It is also known for its live butterfly house, which is attached to a laboratory and program to study and enhance native Chicago area butterfly populations.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) is a natural history museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The museum is the oldest in the state, and the largest natural history museum in the Southeastern United States.
The Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) is a museum in Rochester, New York, dedicated to community education in science, technology and local history. The museum also operates the Strasenburgh Planetarium, located next to the museum, and the Cumming Nature Center, a 900-acre (3.6 km2) nature preserve near Naples, New York. The museum resides at 657 East Ave. and has a collection of 1.2 million artifacts.
The Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space is a science and technology museum in the city of Haifa, Israel. The museum has approximately 400,000 visitors annually.
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is located on 1600 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76107 in the city's Cultural District. It was opened in 1945 as the Fort Worth Children's Museum and moved to its current location in 1954. In 1968, the museum adopted its current name. Attractions at the museum include the Noble Planetarium, the Omni Theater, and the Star's Café, in addition to both traveling and permanent science and history exhibits.
The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. Founded by physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer in 1969, the museum was originally located in the Palace of Fine Arts, and was relocated in 2013 to Piers 15 and 17 on San Francisco's waterfront.
The Boston Museum was a proposed history museum for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The museum had chosen a nickname, "BoMu", before it was terminated.
The National Museum of Commercial Aviation (NMCA) was the nation's first comprehensive airline industry museum in the United States. It was located in Forest Park, Georgia, just south of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It was founded in 2006 by Executive Director & Chief Curator Grant Wainscott. It was a public 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and was governed by a 12-member Board of Trustees, chaired by Captain Chuck Maire Jr. The NMCA was a collaborative effort between the non-profit Museum, local and regional governments, and hundreds of business, aviation, and community partners throughout the country. The museum was closed with intentions of moving to a new location, but never reopened. The museum dissolved as an organization in 2016.
Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational strategies and conduct joint research. Partner organizations are known as "Smithsonian Affiliates".
A private 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1967, the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary is located in McKinney, Texas, United States. With a 289-acre wildlife sanctuary, five miles of hiking trails, about fifty acres of wetlands, a two-acre native plant garden, a butterfly house, live animals, indoor and outdoor exhibits, the Heard welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually. The Heard is one of the most important attractions in the City of McKinney.
Northern Vermont University (NVU) was a public university in Johnson and Lyndon, Vermont. It was established in 2018 by the unification of the former Johnson State College and Lyndon State College. The university offered over 50 Bachelor's degree programs and Master's degree programs. On July 1, 2023, its two locations became campuses of the newly formed Vermont State University.