By Karen Bloom
Children and adults can take part in a three-month-long "construction project" called Salvage City. The summer exhibit is one of three temporary exhibits to visit the museum in 2006."Salvage City is both an exhibit and a program space," explained Edith Gonzalez de Scollard, LICM's Director of Education. "This hybrid approach is quite innovative and represents the type of programs that children's museums are able to do best." The design and program development of Salvage City was coordinated by Gonzalez de Scollard, with LICM's Director of Exhibits, Erik Schurink, artist-in-residence Shirley Panton Parker and LICM education staff members Janet Costello and Heather Gottfried."The exhibit is designed to inspire visitors to take another look at used materials and discover creative applications for their use in built structures," explained Schurink. "Salvage City is a celebration of materials, color, texture and sound in our environment. Our aim is to get people of all ages in touch with the beauty of texture and how those qualities are essential in creating a respect for the environment."He further noted that this exhibit represents a "first" for the staff of Long Island Children's Museum. "It's the first non-rental exhibit that we've done," Schurink said. "This exhibit has shown [museum staff] how much fun it is to create in-house. It's the next step in the evolution of the museum." Interdisciplinary artist Shirley Panton Parker serves as the exhibit's artist-in-residence. Guests have the opportunity to become members of project teams to tackle design challenges she presents. The exhibit and related workshops engage children (and their parents) in the creation of a variety of recycled and organic building materials - bricks from adobe, rolled newspapers and crushed cans, mosaic tiles from cereal boxes, walls from woven plastic bags and fabric remnants - that are used to build various structures. Adding other recycled materials, such as quilted and painted muslin or paper mache, visitors are able to add hilly landscapes, flowers and trees, clouds and animals to surround those structures.As visitors "create" their way through the exhibit, Panton Parker said, "they become aware of the earth and environment. Salvage City allows kids to experience using materials that people take for granted."As the building and design community grapples with issues of sustainable and green design, visitors to Long Island Children's Museum have the opportunity to address these concerns through hands-on exploration of the built environment. This issue is particularly relevant for Long Island as the region struggles to balance the need for community development with the desire to protect open spaces and natural resources.Salvage City will intentionally remain a "work in progress" throughout its three-month run, ending in early September. During this time, visitors can construct, deconstruct and reconstruct this multi-sensory landscape. Time-lapse photography captures each phase of the design process, as well as create a lasting record of this innovative exhibit. Salvage City visitors have the opportunity to provide "building materials" for the exhibit by bringing in recyclable items, including: heavy cardboard tubes, bottle caps, rubber bands, flattened cereal boxes, magazines and catalogs, six-pack plastic soda rings, twist ties, envelopes, egg cartons ,and playing cards. "We've found that people are really interested in bringing objects to donate and use," said Schurink. "They have a sense of ownership, and that brings another dimension to the exhibit."Salvage City is constantly changing and evolving. "We want visitors to look at the exhibit anew when they come back," Shurink said.And come back they do. Salvage City averaged 44,000 visitors in June/July. LICM projects that nearly 70,000 people will have seen the exhibit by the time it closes, up 25 percent over last summer's exhibit.
Salvage City at Long Island Children's Museum
Children must be accompanied by an adult. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $8 for adults and children over 1 year old, $7 seniors. Additional fees for theater and special programs may apply. 11 Davis Ave., Garden City. (516) 224-5800.
