Throwback Thursday: Volunteer Herb Masters
by Exploratorium Staff • September 10, 2015
Volunteer extraordinaire Herb Masters has been a regular face at the Exploratorium since 2005. A retired firefighter for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Herb can be found working on projects in the museum's shop or outdoor space up to five days a week. In 2013, when the Exploratorium was relocating from the Palace of Fine Arts to Pier 15, five days became seven.
"I think I was at [Pier 15] or [the Palace of Fine Arts] almost every day, including many Saturdays and Sundays, from January 2 until we opened," Herb said. "It was an incredible privilege. To be part of it was one of the sweetest times of my life." The Exploratorium open on Pier 15 on April 17, 2013.
A member of the Exploratorium's Oppenheimer Circle, Herb grew up in San Carlos and lives there today. His involvement with the Exploratorium dates back as far as 1999, when he started volunteering occasionally for special events. Most recently, the San Francisco Chronicle snapped this photo of Herb helping staff lift the Exploratorium's NOAA research buoy out of the Bay for annual maintenance. Scroll down to see some of the other ways Herb's made a difference at the Exploratorium.
Closing up shop at the Palace of Fine Arts. (Photo by Gayle Laird/Exploratorium)
Assembling the pieces of the Disappearing Rings exhibit. (Photo by Shawn Lani)
Hoisted up to install the Aeolian Harp by Doug Hollis. (Photo by Gayle Laird/Exploratorium)
Giving pieces of the Buchanan Mall installation a lift. (Photo by Adam Esposito)
Disassembling We Make the Treasure by Paul Ramirez Jonas. (Photo by Adam Esposito)
