Child's Play:
The New Children's Museum of Baltimore

Bolz Center alumna Kathy Southern takes the helm
of Baltimore's new "kid-powered" museum.

One of the United States' newest, largest and most innovative children's museums opened in Baltimore in December 1998, with an alumna of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the helm. Kathy Dwyer Southern helped usher Port Discovery from the drafting stage to its grand opening as president and CEO.

The $32 million project, based in a refitted 1906 fish market near Baltimore's Inner Harbor, is the first museum to work with Disney's Imagineers (the same designers and engineers that work on Disneyworld) and with children's museum pioneer Michael Spock to design the exhibits. Opening celebrations included a gala emceed by Baltimore native Montel Williams and a visit by talk show host Rosie O'Donnell.

The heart of Port Discovery is a 5,300-square-foot KidWorks play area, standing 60-feet high. Both the climbing and the puzzles get more difficult as visitors go up. Other features include the Baffled Family House, where clues help visitors to solve the mystery of vanishing family members. A 1920s archaeological dig set in Egypt helps children discover history for themselves, and an R&D Dreamlab lets young inventors build their own ideas.

"Port Discovery is a place where children can discover their talents and interests and test their ideas and dreams," said Southern. "It's a place where fun translates into a lifetime love of learning."

Although designed for children and families, Port Discovery required Southern and her team to build a broad coalition of "grown-ups" to realize its full potential. National corporate sponsors such as MCI WorldCom, Citigroup, NationsBank, and W.K. Kellogg contributed between $1 million and $3 million each to the effort. City, state, and federal agencies provided significant public sector support, as well.

The new museum is targeted to become a primary destination for family entertainment in Baltimore's inner harbor, which already boasts a renowned aquarium and science museum. The museum attracted almost 35,000 visitors in its first month.