Exhibition Review

On April 1, 2000, Wichita, Kansas, dedicated its newest museum, Exploration Place. Emphasizing hands-on learning, the museum combines the exhibits of a science museum and a children's museum with a focus on issues related to Kansas and Wichita. Therefore, the section on nature highlights the ecology of the Great Plains. One of the largest exhibition halls features aviation-related exhibits and activities, a testament to the city's ties to the aviation industry. Another example of this Kansas theme is the display called "Kansas in Miniature," which is intended to illustrate connections between the land and environment of Kansas and Kansas society. Guided by the theme "Exploring Our Only Home," the exhibit attempts to convey the importance of stewardship of the state's natural, built, and cultural heritages.	1
"Kansas in Miniature" is a large diorama that depicts Kansas circa 1948 through the use of 125 scale models of historic Kansas structures. Some examples are of famous buildings, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower's boyhood home in Abilene and the Carry Nation house in Medicine Lodge. However, there were also common buildings such as the first Nu Way Hamburger stand (a popular local chain), an oil field worker's house, and an example of housing from Planeview, a community of defense workers established during World War II. These models and miniatures form composite "communities," including the courthouse square of a town and a farm. For example, the Chase County Courthouse in Cottonwood Falls is situated next to buildings from Wichita, Kingman, and a host of other communities. The diorama does in miniature what some open-air museums do in full scale: it brings representative structures together from a variety of locations to form a new setting. In addition, the exhibit presents natural features such as sections of the vast prairies and unique Kansas landforms including Mushroom Rock in Ellsworth County and sections of the Gypsum Hills in the southern part of the state.	2
In addition to scale models, the display makes use of detailed figures and lighting and audio effects. There are over one thousand figures in the display and over fifty animations and special effects that range from a man chopping wood to glowing fireflies in a field. As in most living history museums, the focus is on daily life with displays of work, play, and social situations. The display is in a room whose lighting changes to reflect different times of day as well as changes in the infamous Kansas weather. The room is usually lit in a bluish light, representing the daytime, but occasionally the lighting darkens, allowing a now lighted display to appear as if it were nighttime.	3
One of the major vehicles of the historical interpretation is an ongoing audio presentation. While visitors study the display, they hear a sequence of commentaries, vignettes, and music that presents daily life in Kansas in the late 1940s. The sequence includes the reflections of a young bride and groom making their start in life, reminiscences of working in the aircraft industry during World War II, and memories of being a child growing up in Kansas during the 1940s. It also offers parts of radio programs from the era with excerpts from presidential speeches, comments from radio disc jockeys, and representative big band music. Another part of the audio presentation explains the relationship between the terrain of Kansas and its industries, focusing especially on agriculture. Yet another segment discusses the need for historic preservation, noting that some of the structures depicted are no longer standing. The goal of the exhibit's planners is to have this program change periodically in the future, with new topics and commentary added to the audio repertoire.	. . .