After the Great Depression, a charismatic gent named Con Foster had a vision to beautify the Traverse City waterfront, create a civic park that would include a regional zoo, aquarium and museum. It became a reality in 1935. Over time, the Con Foster collection of artifacts was moved to a vacant city building and became the History Center. It closed in 2016 from lack of civic engagement.
In 2017, a small group of history enthusiasts conceived of a new way forward. While there are a dozen or so small history museums and societies in the five-county area, this group saw a vital need to embrace the entire region and tell the fascinating stories of its inhabitants through the eyes of the pioneers and civic founders. Today, our schools generally neglect teaching local history to the next generation. Visitors to the area appreciate our scenic beauty but have little knowledge of how we came to be.
Completely different – The more we plan, the more we research, the more we know we have to collaborate and do something completely different. The whole museum concept has changed in the last eight years.
Studying history is valuable because it helps us understand the past, learn from mistakes, and develop critical thinking skills, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
1. Understanding the Present and Predicting the Future
2. Developing Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills
3. Fostering Empathy and Cultural Understanding
4. Building a Sense of Identity and Belonging
“The world is in a constant state of evolution and change. Museum methods are two: over the past year the closure of physical museums due to the COVID 19 pandemic challenged us to re-image our institutions and re-ignite our audience engagement in innovative ways. With resiliency and agility, museums are re-defining what it means to be a museum in contemporary society. We are more than a place, a building, a noun, a repository. We are relationships. We are community. We aim to be art and not just see it, to inspire history in the making and not just study it.”
Museums must change from being places continuing artifacts requiring expert interpretation to places that provide impactful experiences and emotional connections that lead to life-changing personal insights. They must become agile content creators able to change as their visitors change. Only if this shift takes place can museums remain relevant to the populations they need to serve in today’s rapidly changing world.
As well as a shift in how museums think about visitors, there’s been a shift in how people think about museums. Rather than monolithic institutions, they are now seen as ever-changing community centers.
Source – Mark Walhimer, 2022, Designing Museum Experiences.
Digital collection – Rather than being burdened by the cost of collecting, cataloging, preserving and displaying hundreds of artifacts, our museum is a non-collecting entity with well-planned galleries and a presentation stage, plus a few permanent and temporary exhibits.
Eye-opening technology – An integral part of our mission is to use new technology and artificial intelligence to create, present and maintain fast-paced, engaging, ever-evolving content and experiences that build awareness of our cultural heritage and history affecting community life today and into the future.
Learn and explore – We intend to stimulate young people – whether in a private or public educational setting with programming and activities which unlock their heritage and spur exploration.
Benefits for all – While encouraging the growth of cultural tourism, our aim is to serve as a valued resource for collaboration with businesses, organizations, residents and visitors.
Why Regional?
It’s been said that we who live here are good at recreation, agriculture, food, beer & wine, small business, the arts and festivals, hunting & fishing, but we “don’t do history well.” Our first responders demonstrate courage, our business and education leaders demonstrate our brains, our charitable and healthcare organizations demonstrate our heart, but there is more need to demonstrate our commitment to the region’s soul.
There are dozens of chambers, tourism outlets and publications, yet none encompass the region and present the history and culture in a comprehensive and innovative way. History on the Water will be a hub, gateway, and the “History Channel” for our region.
Storytelling is the way of preserving history since the dawn of humanity. It is engaging, entertaining and most of all, memorable. From tribal ceremonies to the latest movies, it’s how we preserve what we individually cherish.
To embrace everything that makes the region special, we charted all the things we consider our “treasures.” There are more than 200 stories we can tell behind the 77 Elements of the Grand Traverse Region. That is our core process for entertaining and educating our future museum visitors.
The road we travel – To really be the best, we need to excel at all 10 values. Because if you are missing one, progress will be slowed.
After the Great Depression, a charismatic gent named Con Foster had a vision to beautify the Traverse City waterfront, create a civic park that would include a regional zoo, aquarium and museum. It became a reality in 1935. Over time, the Con Foster collection of artifacts was moved to a vacant city building and became the History Center. It closed in 2016 from lack of civic engagement.
In 2017, a small group of history enthusiasts conceived of a new way forward. While there are a dozen or so small history museums and societies in the five-county area, this group saw a vital need to embrace the entire region and tell the fascinating stories of its inhabitants through the eyes of the pioneers and civic founders. Today, our schools generally neglect teaching local history to the next generation. Visitors to the area appreciate our scenic beauty but have little knowledge of how we came to be.
Completely different – The more we plan, the more we research, the more we know we have to collaborate and do something completely different. The whole museum concept has changed in the last eight years.
Studying history is valuable because it helps us understand the past, learn from mistakes, and develop critical thinking skills, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
1. Understanding the Present and Predicting the Future
2. Developing Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills
3. Fostering Empathy and Cultural Understanding
4. Building a Sense of Identity and Belonging
“The world is in a constant state of evolution and change. Museum methods are two: over the past year the closure of physical museums due to the COVID 19 pandemic challenged us to re-image our institutions and re-ignite our audience engagement in innovative ways. With resiliency and agility, museums are re-defining what it means to be a museum in contemporary society. We are more than a place, a building, a noun, a repository. We are relationships. We are community. We aim to be art and not just see it, to inspire history in the making and not just study it.”
Museums must change from being places continuing artifacts requiring expert interpretation to places that provide impactful experiences and emotional connections that lead to life-changing personal insights. They must become agile content creators able to change as their visitors change. Only if this shift takes place can museums remain relevant to the populations they need to serve in today’s rapidly changing world.
As well as a shift in how museums think about visitors, there’s been a shift in how people think about museums. Rather than monolithic institutions, they are now seen as ever-changing community centers.
Source – Mark Walhimer, 2022, Designing Museum Experiences.
Digital collection – Rather than being burdened by the cost of collecting, cataloging, preserving and displaying hundreds of artifacts, our museum is a non-collecting entity with well-planned galleries and a presentation stage, plus a few permanent and temporary exhibits.
Eye-opening technology – An integral part of our mission is to use new technology and artificial intelligence to create, present and maintain fast-paced, engaging, ever-evolving content and experiences that build awareness of our cultural heritage and history affecting community life today and into the future.
Learn and explore – We intend to stimulate young people – whether in a private or public educational setting with programming and activities which unlock their heritage and spur exploration.
Benefits for all – While encouraging the growth of cultural tourism, our aim is to serve as a valued resource for collaboration with businesses, organizations, residents and visitors.
Why Regional?
It’s been said that we who live here are good at recreation, agriculture, food, beer & wine, small business, the arts and festivals, hunting & fishing, but we “don’t do history well.” Our first responders demonstrate courage, our business and education leaders demonstrate our brains, our charitable and healthcare organizations demonstrate our heart, but there is more need to demonstrate our commitment to the region’s soul.
There are dozens of chambers, tourism outlets and publications, yet none encompass the region and present the history and culture in a comprehensive and innovative way. History on the Water will be a hub, gateway, and the “History Channel” for our region.
Storytelling is the way of preserving history since the dawn of humanity. It is engaging, entertaining and most of all, memorable. From tribal ceremonies to the latest movies, it’s how we preserve what we individually cherish.
To embrace everything that makes the region special, we charted all the things we consider our “treasures.” There are more than 200 stories we can tell behind the 77 Elements of the Grand Traverse Region. That is our core process for entertaining and educating our future museum visitors.
The road we travel – To really be the best, we need to excel at all 10 values. Because if you are missing one, progress will be slowed.
