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Sam Dean, govt director of the Scott Household Amazeum, not too long ago celebrated 10 years because the Bentonville museum’s founding govt director. Accomplishments embody the conception, planning and opening of the 50,000-square-foot museum and its neighborhood outreach and educator coaching applications.
The Toledo, Ohio, native moved to Northwest Arkansas in November 2012 for the highest govt function and began the identical month. The museum’s board of administrators recruited him whereas he labored for San Francisco-based Exploratorium.
Dean, 49, has greater than 25 years of museum business expertise, beginning in 1995 when he labored at a planetarium throughout faculty. He stepped away from the business to attend medical college however returned after realizing he might make a profession of working with households and in science communications and studying.
“I cherished the type of studying that occurs when households come collectively and discover primarily based on their curiosity, they usually vote with their toes,” he mentioned. “They stroll and comply with their very own pursuits via your house.”
His skilled expertise contains 9 years on the Heart of Science and Business Toledo, one yr on the Fort Value (Texas) Museum of Science and Historical past and 5 years on the Exploratorium.
Whereas there, he labored all through Arkansas, serving to to construct Tinkering Studios with the Arkansas Discovery Community. Northwest Arkansas wasn’t a cease on his state tour, however a pal informed him concerning the space and alternative.
“This mission at that stage was a board of administrators who had a dream that had momentum on this a part of, not simply state however nation, the place at the moment I wasn’t conscious of all of this vitality that was constructed up right here,” he mentioned. “I got here out right here as a result of it was a fantastic alternative — an opportunity to start out one thing cool in an incredible neighborhood and make a huge impact on a area hungry for family-friendly, science-rich programming.”
In 2006, the 501(c)3 nonprofit was chartered because the Youngsters’s Museum of Northwest Arkansas. It was rebranded to the Scott Household Amazeum in the summertime of 2013, named for one of many museum’s main fundraising contributors, former Walmart CEO Lee Scott and his household. Dean defined that the rebrand was to make it relevant to youngsters, adults and educators.
Dean mentioned his profession spotlight has comprised Amazeum’s work internally and externally, together with offering the neighborhood with skilled improvement alternatives for educators and after-school programming. The Amazeum has supplied visitors of all ages with hands-on experiences and actions in science, expertise, engineering, the humanities and arithmetic (STEAM).
Whitney Yoder, president of the Amazeum board of administrators, highlighted its broader regional impression.
“I see the Amazeum because the keeper of the inventive studying atmosphere for Northwest Arkansas,” she mentioned. “That’s Sam’s imaginative and prescient to suppose past the 4 partitions and what’s the impression to create a thriving ecosystem of inventive thinkers and doers.”
BACK ON TRACK
The museum was on observe to have one among its greatest years earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic led to its closure from mid-March to July 2020. Dean mentioned the business misplaced about half of its workforce amid the pandemic.
Whereas closed, Amazeum employees labored to proceed to make a neighborhood impression and began to supply digital programming for varsity youngsters. After reopening, he mentioned employees relearned tips on how to function the museum with new cleansing procedures. He famous that employees proceed monitoring COVID ranges and are ready to make crucial modifications.
Dean mentioned museum attendance has but to get better from the pandemic absolutely however is on observe to take action by summer season 2023. He expects membership ranges to get better in additional than a yr. Company have returned, however some issues, resembling college journeys, have but to return to pre-pandemic ranges.
For the reason that museum opened, it’s hosted 169,258 college students for “Unfield” journeys, in keeping with a information launch. It’s additionally participated in additional than 500 offsite academic and outreach occasions.
Maddy Schultz, govt director of Potential Tree Arkansas, mentioned that for at the very least the previous 4 years, it’d supplied Amazeum employees with skilled improvement coaching for particular wants youngsters. It’s additionally collaborated on applications with the Amazeum for the previous three years, with employees coming to Potential Tree’s Siloam Springs facility twice month-to-month.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Amazeum has welcomed greater than 1.66 million guests because it opened on July 15, 2015. That features member and visitor visits, excluding camps, workshops or facility rental attendance.
In April 2019, the museum surpassed 1 million visitor visits, exceeding preliminary attendance estimates by about 4 years. The museum welcomed visitors from each U.S. state and a number of nations inside 4 years of opening.
Dean seems to be to hit the two million mark in additional than a yr however earlier than the museum’s tenth anniversary.
As of Dec. 4, the museum has had 204,782 guests this yr. That’s up from 161,213 in 2021 and 102,312 in 2020. Attendance hit a peak of 272,141 in 2019. The museum’s second-highest attendance was in 2016, with 265,174 guests.
Practically 19,000 households have had a museum membership since 2015. Membership rose to 4,833, as of Dec. 3, up from 4,442 in 2021. Nevertheless, it’s down from 5,020 in 2020, 6,057 in 2019 and 6,093 in 2018.
In keeping with the museum web site, memberships embody an infinite entry for relations. Memberships for a household of six vary from $165 to $1,000 per yr primarily based on perks, together with visitor passes, single-use complimentary passes and occasions invites. A membership for a household of 4 is $115 yearly.
In June, museum admission elevated by $1 to $11. Between July 2015 and January 2020, admission was $9.50. It elevated by 50 cents to $10 in February 2020.
Dean mentioned the Amazeum prices $22 to $23 per particular person to fund it. The museum earns about 50% to 60% of the wanted funding and closes the hole with federal grants and contributions from donors and sponsors.
In keeping with the museum’s most up-to-date IRS Type 990, income rose to $3.73 million in 2019 from $2.44 million in 2018. The fiscal yr for the newest report ended on June 30, 2020. The report for the yr ending June 30, 2021, is predicted to be out there in January.
The Amazeum has 85 workers, about twice as many as when it opened.
GROWTH STRATEGY
In 2023, Dean seems to be to find out about how the museum can proceed to develop in its present house and have conversations on the course of its help of STEAM regionally. He expects to develop a grasp plan to information the museum’s course.
“We’re regularly constructing the Amazeum as a workforce,” he mentioned. “This area has a lot vitality and pleasure in it. We have now a company that has a lot vitality and pleasure. We have now a neighborhood that’s hungry to proceed to develop with us.
“We’re able to launch a marketing campaign to take a look at some growth, to supply extra science-rich programming for the youngest of youngsters, to teenagers and adults… We’ll be taking a look at doing a constructing growth on our campus and viewers growth… We’ve had extremely profitable grownup nights. We’re excited to construct on a few of that work to proceed to have teenagers and adults engaged on their creativity, working with instruments – unleashing their creativeness.”
Yoder defined that Dean’s imaginative and prescient and skill to dream have accelerated the museum’s development, resulting in a capital marketing campaign.
“We’re solely 7 years outdated, however we’re already to the purpose the place we should proceed to develop to maintain up with what’s occurring,” she mentioned. “If we had anybody else on the helm who didn’t have that imaginative and prescient, we might be behind due to the way in which Northwest Arkansas is altering and rising so quickly.”
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