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- Welcome to the State of Exploratorium 2021. I wish I could thank you in person for your support. Each and every one of your gifts has meant so much to me and to my colleagues at the Exploratorium during the long months of closure. At this time last year, we were uncertain when, or even if we could reopen. But it felt wonderful to know how many people cared about the Exploratorium. You donated, watched our virtual events, did Science Snacks at home, and learned with us. We may not be together right now, but the museum is open. The giant mirror is reflecting children and families again. The listening vessels are filled with conversation. Visitors are exploring the galleries and rediscovering that science is exciting and that science can be understood. In the museum, in our programs for educators, in everything we do, we are making science come alive. Your gifts help us inspire curiosity and empower people of all ages to seek answers. The Exploratorium's mission is to help people ask questions and think critically. And in the past year, we have also turned those questions inward. Questions like what voices are typically excluded in scientific conversations? And what can we do to help change this? We don't have all the answers, but we do have ideas and prototypes. You'll hear some of those stories today in addition to getting a glimpse of our reopening programming and our afterschool tinkering work with the Boys & Girls Club. Thank you for being here.

- Hi there. My name is Jessica Parker, and I'm the senior director of educator engagement at the Exploratorium. I oversee our four educator groups. And tonight I'm excited to highlight Jake Montano, a senior museum educator from the Tinkering Studio. Jake oversees the Tinkering Afterschool Program that works directly with San Francisco's Boys & Girls Clubs. In order to give you insight into our Tinkering Afterschool Program, Jake and his team of young educators will share how tinkering offers youth an entry point for making, mixing, and remixing with materials, tools, and ideas. Tinkering activities bridge science, art, and technology, and they're hands-on and open-ended. This kind of activity design is referred to as having a low floor and a high ceiling, meaning that these activities are easy to start, have ample opportunities for increased complexity, and have endless possibilities and different outcomes. This complexity and the many possibilities are based then on the learner's own ideas, interests, and driving questions. You might hear Jake and his tinkering facilitators asking youth, "What are you curious about? "What would you like to make? "What would you like to do next?" This kind of facilitation centers learners and their process, which is a hallmark of our tinkering activities and the Exploratorium. I am so excited for you to learn more about Jake Montano and his team of educators who supported over 150 youth in local Boys & Girls Clubs this past year. With the shift to online engagement with the clubhouses, Jake and his team were able to reach three times as many youth by inviting every Boys & Girls Club in San Francisco to participate. I hope you enjoy.

- What is tinkering? It's big. It's very hands-on. It requires that you tussle with materials, with tools in a very embodied way in order to not only figure out ideas and concepts that are laden in the projects, but to also figure out yourself and how you relate to these things, and how these things and these different projects, because there's so many that are, I would say constitute in a tinkering sort of way, whether it's automata or embroidery, even cooking, is all based on like your choices and your personal motivations. And so I think the hands-on element, the personal motivations and connections, and I think the ability to exist and co-exist with other people are all the major, major parts of what makes tinkering a very special part of the larger field of education. So Tinkering Afterschool in a day-to-day sort of way involves a group of facilitators and I. Facilitators are themselves graduates, if you will, of the program. Previously participants, students who have grown, literally grown up through the program and are invited to work with me as facilitators to co-design and co-facilitate the projects to the young people. So in a day-to-day way, it involves the team and I going into clubhouse spaces for the Boys & Girls Clubs and bringing in a host of materials. And we invite kids to make stuff, explore things in a very multimedia way. Sometimes it's laptops that we're bringing. Sometimes it's already previously built objects that, you know, kids from past years have made or artists or scientists here at the Exploratorium have made that act as the resources and access points, the entryways for our making experiences. And kids are then invited to make their own stuff and riff and remix ideas and projects in ways that feel special to them and feel personal to them. And then the team and I collect all these things together, we reflect on them, and then we come up with new ways to engage with kids and make nimble decisions about the way that we facilitate the next time.

- The arrow goes up and down.

- There's also similar ones, like they could just go up and down.

- A facilitator's role is to guide the learner through the project in a way that is more collaborative than like a step-by-step process. Lot of times we ask like guiding questions on like what ideas that they have for a project, because there's a lot of different ways that they can go depending on their own interests.

- I guess, to make a project, like if you make a project, let's say it's automatas, like I'm looking at them right now. You know how there's usually like a mechanic in the bottom and then the mechanic makes the motion at the top. You know how like YouTube would be like, "Do it this way. Do it this way to make it move"? This program is kind of like, well, figure it out. Like maybe move the circle sideways, move the circle flat, maybe add more circles, maybe add less circles, like experiment, figure it out. Different stuff makes different motions. And it's like you have your own freedom to really, like explore like different solutions, different like your creativity inside of your head. Like if you want to make something flow, well, how can you make a flow? Like, can you make it jump? Can you add a string? Like, it's like so many possibilities.

- If you ever like took apart like a clock or something and then just like made something out of it, there's a lot of that. Just like taking stuff, taking apart, putting together, or like taking concepts and stuff and putting it together with other stuff. It's like bridging science, technology, and like art, lots of art.

- So normally with Tinkering Afterschool we work with two or three core partners, clubhouses who have their own individual cultures and groups of kids that attend. But with sheltering in place forcing us to sort of like rethink how we were going to make these adaptations to our work, we realized that because virtual was gonna be the norm for, you know, an indefinite period of time, we went from serving two to three clubhouses to serving and inviting the entire city's network of clubhouses, which is about 14 sites. We set up Zoom broadcasts, and everybody from their individual homes and sites and things like that tuned in. And we went from serving about 50, 60 kids in a semester to that summer, that first summer, summer of 2020 serving on average, 150 kids. So threefold the number of kids that we normally work with. And though we weren't able to exist in a physical space in an in-person way to make these projects happen, it was a lot of fun and a lot of chaos, fun, beautiful chaos.

- I think hands-on learning is so important. When you get your own hands on it, it really like feel out like, how does this thing work? And like really like look at it and be like, I'm physically moving it like this. So it does that. And it like clicks in your brain so much more.

- Well, it's not that like what I hope they're learning. It's like what they learn to like enrich, I guess, themselves, 'cause not every kid is the same, not every kid is gonna like want to learn how to cut wood. Not every kid has, is gonna want to like, make something, I guess, like a specific way you teach it. Everyone comes from like different backgrounds and some kids want to like do more drawing. Some kids want to do more like sticking, more cutting. And it's like what do they want to advance their skills with?

- So you've come. I hope that what they get from it isn't just like a souvenir, you know? I want to develop like a sort of, I guess a curiosity about like, oh, how does this thing work? It helps to see it in a better, like the world in a different way that I think more people should be conscious of, 'cause the world is pretty cool, I think. There's a lot of stuff out there, and it'd be a shame to not explore it, you know?

- [Boy] Okay, okay, let's go, 100%.

- [Jake] And when tinkering is at its best, when education's at its best, it allows these components of identity to really flourish and to really find expression.

- Got inspired by someone else, like a teacher.

- It's that expression and it's those motivations and those personal stories and experiences that don't go away when you enter into a classroom or a workshop space. Those things in the background, whether it's like the experiences you had growing up watching, you know, someone sew or watching someone fix something, doing a very DIY thing, whether it was successful or not, those are experiences that informed the people that we are, that we enter with and bring into these spaces. And so to be able to honor that in very direct ways I think is what makes tinkering a form of education that will remain on the cutting edge.

- There we go.

- Making sure to involve young people in these processes and to hear how our experiences of working here allow for the museum, the institution to grow and to remain relevant are invaluable. As institutions around the world continue to reflect and reckon with anti-racism and equity and belonging and intersectionality and all of these things that I think more and more people are caring about that are still yet to make their way into the field of education in pronounced intentional ways, makes this work feel exciting. It makes it feel relevant. It makes it feel very geared for the future.

- Hello. My name is Akiko Minaga, and I'm the director of the Explainer Program. The Explainer Program has been here since the first day we opened our doors to the public with one Explainer back in 1969. Since then we have employed thousands of Explainers to inspire curiosity and our visitors through exhibit exploration, museum orientations, and demonstrations on our floor. Explainers learn how to think critically and do inquiry-based learning through training, direct work experience, and engaging with the public. High school Explainers experience a unique youth and workforce development opportunity that helps them develop effective communication skills and increase confidence in their ability to learn. I came to work at the Exploratorium as a field trip Explainer in 2006. I greeted school field trips, dissected cow eyeballs, and facilitated exhibits. But most importantly, I began to learn how to ask better questions, think more critically, and talk to others about science and phenomenon. As a former public high school teacher, I've always had a love of teaching and learning, but becoming an Explainer gave me the confidence in knowing I have the power to learn anything while also teaching me the humility around how much I don't know. When the museum had to close its doors to the public at the start of the pandemic, we could no longer work with visitors and each other in person. We had to drastically change how we run our programs. Like many in-person programs, we switched to doing everything we could online while trying to figure out how to stay connected and keep going with our work. Then that summer, the murder of George Floyd and the protest to support the Black Lives Matter movement spurred an urgency for us to think more critically about who we are and the responsibilities we have to each other as humans and through our work. The development of the STARS Program, which I am about to introduce to you, came during this time. The STARS Program is a brand new program that was designed to engage transitional-aged youth from ages 18 to 24. It was developed by our team this past year and centers around LGBTQ+ people, racial equity, and people of color. Through this program, we were able to bring new important voices and perspectives to the Exploratorium. We learned together and helped develop new inclusive programming celebrating Trans Day of Visibility. STARS interns challenged the ways we think and engage with one another through anti-racist and inclusive ways of learning. I'm excited and proud that we can share this work with you.

- During the pandemic closure, we decided to develop a program called STARS standing for Striving for Trans Inclusion and Anti-Racism in Science learning. The hope of this program is to support folks that are 18 to 24 and developing an identity of a science learner and science educator. In the last few years, there's been a real attack on transgender young folks. And so the Exploratorium, we really wanted to address the needs of our community. And top of that, we also have been really fortunate in our society to be moving towards more anti-racism, including our work at the Exploratorium. We hired 13 interns, and we really wanted to center trans folks in the hiring process, but we also wanted to center people of color. And so that intersection of the identities was really important.

- When you have people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives and areas of skill, all these pieces of the puzzle come together to build something more effective, especially when that comes to inclusion.

- Growing up as a trans person in a very small, conservative town, a very conservative, small, white town, it's been very important to me to kind of merge my current understanding of trans inclusion and trans recognition along with a need to continue to be anti-racist.

- I think mentorship and seeing yourself in communities is the best way to propel the agenda forward and like create advocacy and equity.

- Growing up, I never really got to fall in love with science because I've never seen anybody who looked like me within the field.

- I think learning about science is really important to trans communities and like people of color as well. I think it's definitely a field that has been gatekept and has been inaccessible for a really long time. And even today, I feel like there's a lot of work that has to go into it, but I do appreciate the work that has been put in already. And the work that not only POC are making, but also white people are making to be more inclusive in their own workspace.

- So our intern team is an amazing group of folks that are excited about art and science and activism and social justice, and came in to both learn, but also to produce things for the Exploratorium audiences. So this included the first-ever time that we did Transgender Day of Visibility. So we developed a bunch of different media pieces to reach out to the transgender community as part of thinking about science learning, and how does the transgender community get impacted by science?

- [Lavender] We created a video assessing gender expression and what that looks like. Other groups talked about the difference between sex and gender. And so it was this wonderful spectrum of everything from like how can we embody gender, I guess, how are we gender, to what is gender? And it was a really wonderful application to see the integration of STEM and queerness.

- We were able to create an Instagram infographic, and it highlights some wonderful trans scientists in the fields. And it was just a really wonderful opportunity to be able to dive in and see for myself as a trans person who wants to become a scientist, that there are folks out there like me who are doing exactly what I want to do. I think that representation is one of the most important things when you're approaching something that you care about and love by seeing other folks and going, "Oh, I do belong here."

- A group of interpreters and I started a group called Pro Bono ASL, and we did a lot of work specifically for marginalized deaf communities. And so I had this wonderful resource to kind of integrate with the Exploratorium. And it was really wonderful being able to provide, you know, the deaf community within Explo and through the ether of the Internet with access to some of these amazing programmings that are so informational and foundational for a lot of like younger deaf folks that might want to get into STEM and haven't seen themselves or the information in a way that connects with them very specifically.

- I thought it was really beautiful that the Exploratorium really collaborated with other science organizations that were based locally. I never really had that in other workspaces. Usually it's like us versus them. And like, that's not the way the Exploratorium, even coming in here today I saw a sign in the front door that said, "Everyone's welcome," and that's how I truly felt coming to work every day.

- Not many spaces out there in current day time where you see museums and STEM fields try to be inclusive towards race and diversity. You always see the STEM field kind of always walking away from the diversity and inclusion. But I thought STARS within the Exploratorium was just a great opportunity to seek out that diversity and inclusion in safe spaces within the STEM field.

- I've been working with young people for over 10 years. And the learning that I do as a facilitator of that space is huge. And this group especially taught me so much about how much they value building community with each other, accessibility work, supporting and centering the marginalized identities of our visitors and our audiences.

- What I hope the Exploratorium takes from this program is that the value of our thoughts can be, you know, can be implemented. And what we have to say is really important because we have the platform now to bring change. And I really hope that the Exploratorium does more programs like these to get actual feedback from the people they're trying to impact. Because honestly, that's who you need to reach out to.

- I've never seen something like this before that was done so well. A lot of times when institutions are thinking about DEAI work, it's hard to find a beginning, right? You never know where all of that work needs to begin. It's hard to find the center of it. And so having a group of folks come in who are, you know, that have this cultural communal wealth, this expertise, because it is lived experience rather than academically gathered experience is crucial. There's a level of vulnerability and generosity in that information. And being able to pay someone, a group of folks to come in and do that work, like diligently, and share their experiences and see that kind of, you know, trickle out into a place that faces all kinds of folks every day is incredibly important. And I highly advise that this continues. I would love to see this happen again. And I'd love to see other institutions take on something like this as well. I think without a group like STARS, Exploratorium would not have been able to take some of the leaps and bounds that it has with, you know, diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.

- Hello, everyone. I'm Anne Holmes, the senior director of Science, Arts, and Research at the Exploratorium. I oversee the work of the Exploratorium's core science, arts, and research teams. The people who dream up all the wonderful exhibits, programs, and learning experiences you find here at the museum. So much of what you encounter in our dynamic galleries involves the concept of change. Both science and learning depend on change to spur growth and transformation and evolution. This past year, we've all experienced societal changes that have been deeply challenging, but have also inspired revolutionary ideas. The Exploratorium is wholeheartedly embracing this opportunity to rethink, reimagine, and reinvent, in short, to change. It is in this spirit of change that I'd like you to meet Dr. Heike Winterheld, program director of social sciences at the Exploratorium, as well as the brilliant artists, Bianca Marie Rivera, Mark Harris, and Amy Snyder representing Stories of Change, an installation open to the public now in Osher Gallery 1.

- In the fall of 2020, we were thinking about how to best welcome our visitors back, knowing at the time that by the time we reopened people would have had experienced major change in one way or another. And we were trying to think of ways that would help people process the change and also encourage a positive outlook on the future. Stories of Change touches on three of the major events that brought on change that affected people's lives. One is obviously the COVID-19 pandemic. And the second major event involving the killing of George Floyd and many others that spurred change on a broader level. And yet another change on top of it was the record-breaking California wildfires as a sign of environmental change that's ongoing. The exhibit encourages processing of the change that people experienced. And we wanted to also provide people with the opportunity to connect with each other. So the exhibition area consists of different elements. One are the vibrant murals by two local artists, Mark Harris and Bianca Rivera. The second element is the photography by Amy Snyder. The third element is the participatory element that allow visitors to share their own personal stories of change.

- I refer to myself as a contemporary artist, so I'm doing art of the now. Mostly it's a reflection of my experience. So it's coming from an African-American perspective. The piece is gonna be two young boys, brothers, who are, you know, they're trying to see who's the tallest, who's growing the fastest, and they're sort of standing back to back. And so what I'm hoping that the piece will do is to show the African-American male in a light that they're not usually portrayed in, especially young African-American men. They're often painted as criminals, you know, thugs. And, you know, they grew up just like any other kids doing the same things the kids do, having the same desires and wishes and hopes for their lives. I'm hoping that people will see a side of the African-American experience that they may not be able to see or be able to consider. I really want people to get in touch with their humanity when they see my work.

- [Bianca] Mural making is very new to me. And so it's been a real joy to see that my illustrative practice can be transferred into like this very large and public space. When we first started the process and the Exploratorium team gave me four themes to work with, or like get inspired by, one of them was celebrating moments of joy and community. I was just immediately drawn to that one. So what I landed on for this final design is just to display the little vignettes of this past year. This piece definitely meshes moments of collective action. You see families holding up poster boards and protesting, and you see the small moments of joy when they're like introducing a new baby to the family via FaceTime, or someone is announcing to the family that they got engaged via Zoom. And so I really wanted to just visually explore that whole spectrum of what we all definitely experienced this past year.

- [Amy] I would describe my photography as portrait documentary, so people-centric, things happening in real time, kind of journalistic. And when COVID started, I kind of went back to my original, my first love in photography, which was street photography. Initially I started by walking around in my neighborhood with my camera. I feel like it's a really great way to see how things are changing in the landscape. The exhibition of photographs is divided into three walls. The first wall when you enter on the left is about the fires that happened last year, in particular, the day that the sky turned orange. The second wall is about the social justice movement, in particular, in Oakland. The third wall is on shelter in place. Most of the photographs don't have people in them, and that's because there weren't a lot of people out and about, but you did see signs of people wanting to communicate. I really tried to edit the photographs to show some of the more positive aspects of the year. I hope that it shows some of the resilience of people. I also hope that they see a little bit of levity in my photographs.

- At heart, Stories of Change is about how we think, feel, and behave in a changed environment, especially in a social environment. And the broader theme of Gallery 1 is how we relate to our social environment. Is the role of humans in their social environment. Many of the exhibits that you see on the floor in Gallery 1 are informed by different disciplines in the social sciences. Stories of Change focuses more on the arts than on the sciences. But the Exploratorium has a history of focusing on both art and science as major fundamental methods of inquiry. And to me as a social scientist, this is particularly a productive marriage because both artists and social scientists share an interest in the role of humans in the social environment.

- Thank you for being here. Thank you for your passion and support. Stay curious. And we hope to see you in the museum soon.