Just a Stop Along the Way

AWS BUZZING, HAMMERS pounding, drills singing, dust clouds rising. In our shop, the pieces of the BodyStops are coming together. We're preparing walls and panels to carry images and text, and we've built our first interactive, a light table where people can put together a full body X-ray puzzle.

The BodyStops, as reported in the last issue of Healthwise, are seven exhibits about anatomy and physiology. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the BodyStops are part of the overall plan for new exhibits at The Health Museum of Cleveland. Project Manager Jon Bricker leads a creative, multidisciplinary team in this complex undertaking.

Although some exhibits are going straight from the drawing board to their finished form, others require feedback from our audience. We want to be sure that visitors understand and enjoy the exhibits. So, before we build the final exhibit, we assemble prototypes, like the nose exhibit which is part of the Five Senses BodyStop. Museum Artist/Designer Laura Probola drew and painted the nose cross-section, and Exhibits Director Bob Davidson used his own Christmas lights to illuminate the pathway to the brain. When Exhibit Developer Sharyn Horowitz asked a third-grade boy to explain the nose prototype, here's what happened:

Boy: The smells go through this tunnel and into your brain. (as if odors really enter the brain, instead of nerve impulses)
Sharyn: Ok, sort of, but what if I told you that's not exactly how it works?
Boy: Then you'd be lying.

Oh well, back to the drawing board. Thanks to visitor input, a new, improved nose is in the making.

If you would like to experience prototypes of the new BodyStops as they're developed, please call Sharyn at ext. 120.