Staff Report
Curate My Community is a series of exhibits at various locations that lets the Cincinnati Museum Center share its rich collections and the region’s incredible natural and manmade history while extensive renovations are being made to the facility.
The Museum Center is still open for business as usual with construction set to begin in the coming month. The Museum of Natural History & Science and the Cincinnati History Museum will close on June 30 for an exterior restoration and renovation of the interior and restoration of the historic foundation and grounds.
The $212.7 million full structural renovation of Union Terminal will take a out two years to complete. Portions of the museum will remain open during this time.
GBBN Architects, Turner Construction Company and Ellington Management Services have been selected to lead the much-anticipated restoration and renovation of historic Union Terminal. GBBN Architects will serve as architect and design lead with Turner Construction serving as construction manager. Ellington Management Services has also joined the project as a diversity inclusion consultant.
A special exhibit at CVG will be the first Curate My Community project to take flight, starting today with the installation of a World Wart II-era Aeronca Defender airplane (built in Middletown) from the Cincinnati History Museum.
Among the items with ties to transportation through the region, or made possible by innovations or individuals from the region, are a 1910 Model K Schacht automobile, a 1951 Crosley Convertible and 1951 Crosley Super Station Wagon, and a variety of steamboat and locomotive models
Over 90 artifacts and collection items from the history museum and the Museum of Natural History & Science, will make CVG their temporary home, telling the stories of Cincinnati’s impact on transportation, American paleontology, space exploration and more. This includes:
• Cincinnati Transportation – The story of Cincinnati, like the story of Union Terminal and CVG, has its beginnings in transportation. From the region’s first settlers who traveled down the Ohio River to hub of railroad activity to the dominance of the automobile and airplane, experience how the region was transformed by transportation, and how Cincinnati transformed travel. A 1940 Aeronca “Defender” 65-TL Tandem Trainer airplane, 1910 Model K Schacht automobile, 1951 Crosley Convertible and several steamboat and locomotive models help chart the history of transporation in Cincinnati.
Located in Terminal 3 Ticketing, Baggage Claim and the Ground Transportation Tunnel.
• Union Terminal Mosaics – Union Terminal’s Rotunda mosaics once again greet visitors to Cincinnati, this time in the form of Winold Reiss’s original 1932 preparatory paintings for the Rotunda mosaics.
Located near the Terminal 3 Security Hall.
• Ohio Space Exploration – The first person to take one giant leap for mankind was Ohio-born Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the surface of the moon. Explore the impact Ohioans have had in space exploration and see a replica of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit built to NASA specifications.
Located in the Terminal 3 Welcome/Receiving Area.
• Cincinnati: Leader in Manufacturing – Cincinnati has been a regional innovator and leader in industry since its earliest days. See some of the large machine tools that helped the nation manufacture its way to victory during wartime and prosperity in peacetime, including machine tools dating back to 1855.
Located in the Terminal 3 Welcome/Receiving Area.
• First Peoples and Landscape History – A Cincinnati-themed totem pole commemorating Alaskan statehood in 1959 and a giant Redwood cross-section tell the stories of American mythology and its awe-inspiring natural beauty. Located on the Boarding Level of Concourse A.
• Earthworks – The peoples who came before us and the land around us still have incredible stories to tell. Take a look into the ceremonial mounds of native peoples and the items they left behind, including pottery, tools, and spear points. Located on the Boarding Level of Concourse A.
• The Ice Age – Cincinnati is located just miles from Big Bone Lick, the birthplace of American paleontology. The giant beasts of the Ice Age were drawn to the natural salt licks at the site, including mastodons, mammoths, bison, horses, giant ground sloths and more.
It also attracted human hunters as early as 13,000 BCE. The remains of the animals accumulated and were gradually covered by sediment from flooding streams, preserving them until they were discovered centuries later by European explorers. The skeletons of these massive Ice Age animals, including the iconic mastodon, will once again tower over the region. Located on the Boarding Level of Concourse B.
“For the past 25 years, Cincinnati Museum Center has been a place where people can come to be inspired, to fuel their curiosity and to learn more about the world around them and the people who came before them,” says Elizabeth Pierce, president and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. “Curate My Community enables people to continue to learn from and be inspired by their favorite artifacts even as they’re outside of Union Terminal, and will allow us to reach new audiences and inspire new lifelong learners.”
The mastodon that has welcomed visitors to the Museum of Natural History & Science for over two decades will also move to CVG, along with several other Ice Age animal skeletons, including Jefferson’s Ground Sloth and a dire wolf. Some of Winold Reiss’s original canvas paintings used to produce the iconic Rotunda mosaic murals at Union Terminal will once again greet visitors to Cincinnati at the region’s current primary transportation hub.
Starting in mid-summer, other key items making CVG their temporary home will include large machine tools from the 19th century, a totem pole carved to commemorate Alaska’s statehood in 1959 and the replica of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit.
In addition to providing a temporary home for some of Cincinnati Museum Center’s collection pieces, Curate My Community exposes the collections of Cincinnati Museum Center to new audiences, particularly those traveling through or to Cincinnati via CVG.
“We’re excited to support such a highly-regarded community asset as Cincinnati Museum Center during their restoration,” said Candace McGraw, CEO of CVG. “The partnership is a wonderful fit and allows us to deliver on our vision to make travel through CVG an unforgettably positive experience. We can’t wait to see the expressions on people’s faces as they enjoy the exhibits when traveling through CVG.”
While Curate My Community is launching at CVG, objects will appear at other locations throughout Cincinnati in the coming months. Stay tuned to find out where your favorite artifact or scientific specimen is going, or visit www.cincymuseum.org/exhibits/curate-my-community for more information.