Besser Museum Set To Launch New Discover Exhibit In 2024
The Besser Museum in Alpena has announced that they’ve received a $50,000 donation from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council to help fund their new and upcoming Discover Northeast Michigan History Exhibit. The budget set for the new exhibit is set at $1.8 million, but with their recent donation from Michigan Arts and Culture Council, they’re $400,000 dollars away from reaching their monetary goal.
“The budget for the exhibit is set at 1.8 million dollars, this is going to transform 3,000 square feet of exhibit space that has remained the same for 51 years. So our new exhibit is going to be family friendly, immersive, interactive and it will chronicle 11 different time periods throughout Northeast Michigan, starting with Big Bang to Big Industry.” said Chris Witulski, Besser Museum Executive Director.
The Museum will feature a collection of early civilization depicting tribal life and the origins of the Thunder Bay River before logging and the installation of dams.
“With this new exhibit being immersive and hands on, visitors will be able to travel through the Big bang into the Devonian period. The ice age section is really special cause we’re gonna have an ice climber that kids can actually climb on and slide down into what Lake Huron would’ve looked like 10,000 years ago and go right into the Paleo period. We’ll have actual evidence of occupation here of over 12,000 years.” said Witulski.
The discover exhibit will provide an interactive agricultural experience that will allow visitors to experience farming duties such as milking cows.
“People will really get a feel of what northeast Michigan is all about from our early days, up to our present days and how the lumber and limestone really impacted our economy and the way people lived here and are living in northeast Michigan”, said Witulski.
The Museum is projecting its discover exhibit to launch in December 2024 and are taking donations from those willing to help funding this project. If you’re interested in being a donor, stop by the museum or call them at 989-356-2202 to learn more.
