<\/p>\n
Visitors to the State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
State Museum Director Jennifer Saunders gives a tour of the museum\u2019s new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. Touring shows like \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d will comprise much of the Kids Zone\u2019s programming, Saunders said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Visitors to the New York State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone. The Kids Zone is part of the first phase of the museum’s ongoing renovation.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Visitors to the State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Visitors to the State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Visitors to the New York State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The State Museum is seen on Tuesday at Empire State Plaza in Albany. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Visitors to the New York State Museum can gaze out from the mouth of a T-Rex that is part of a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
New York State Museum Director Jennifer Saunders is interviewed on Tuesday at the State Museum in Albany. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Visitors to the State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The New York State Museum\u2019s new dinosaur exhibit is promoted in the lobby on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The New York State Museum\u2019s new dinosaur exhibit features animated models on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d is the first exhibit in the museum\u2019s new Kids Zone. The museum is undergoing a $150 million renovation plan. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
ALBANY\u00a0\u2014 \u201cOur team here\u00a0\u2014 there\u2019s nothing that we love more than hearing this,\u201d said Jennifer Saunders, director of the New York State Museum<\/a>. \u201cThis is why we do the work that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n Saunders was competing with the excited chatter of children filling the new Kids Zone for its inaugural exhibition: \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals.\u201d The interactive show and the State Museum\u2019s youth-centric fourth-floor space are major components in the first phase of its $150 million renewal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cExpedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Where:<\/strong>\u00a0New York State Museum, 222 Madison Ave., Albany Since arriving nine months ago, Saunders was regularly asked when the museum would bring back dinosaurs, which haven\u2019t roamed its halls since the late 1980s. The Kids Zone provided the perfect opportunity to revive a fan-favorite subject.<\/p>\n The traveling exhibition, created by the California-based Stage Nine Designs, is indicative of what the Kids Zone will house, Saunders said. It\u2019s interactive\u00a0\u2014 one station lets visitors color dinosaurs and scan them into a digital field of rainbow Tyrannosaurus\u00a0rexes and striped Brachiosauruses, while another uses projection mapping to create volcanoes and waterways based on how a table of rice is manipulated. There are areas for digging, microscopes, and fossil excavations modeled after the board game Operation. All around, animatronic dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals roar\u00a0in wooden cases or behind ropes.<\/p>\n Touring shows will comprise much of the Kids Zone\u2019s programming, Saunders said. This is because they allow the museum to take the state\u2019s history and \u201cput it in a wider context,\u201d and they can fill gaps in the museum\u2019s archives (\u201cWe don\u2019t have any dinosaurs in our collections,\u201d Saunders noted.). Traveling shows also mean the Kids Zone can maintain a robust schedule after \u201cExpedition Dinosaur\u201d closes Jan. 3, 2027; exhibits for the next few years are already being reserved.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Kids Zone was one of the primary, public-facing components of the first phase of the museum\u2019s overdue renovation. Saunders called the children\u2019s area an \u201cimmediate first step\u201d towards creating an active museum. Though it \u201chasn\u2019t been used like this for quite a while,\u201d the fourth floor is an ideal setting for large, family-friendly exhibits, Saunders explained. Daylight pouring through the windows creates a brighter, \u201cwelcoming environment,\u201d and the layout gives kids \u201cthe opportunity to really play and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we have the funding for the renewal of the permanent galleries, but that\u2019s a process that\u2019s going to be intentional and thoughtful, and, as a result, it\u2019s going to take a little bit of time,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cMy goal has been to make sure that the museum is as exciting and fun and filled with learning opportunities as possible as we go through that process.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the crowd filling the Kids Zone even on a school day morning, Saunders\u2019 plan seems to be working. Since opening on May 23, attendance has been \u201camazing,\u201d the museum director said. While the museum\u2019s free admission policy means there aren\u2019t tickets to track attendance, Saunders noted the carousel<\/a>, also on the fourth floor, clocked around 1,500 rides on May 30. Staff expect visitor numbers to rise when school lets out, which will buck the usual trend of quiet summers.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe first weekend, there were more people here than my staff said they\u2019ve seen in years,\u201d Saunders said.<\/p>\n There have been other noticeable changes to the museum. Stacks assumed operation of the cafe, and the gift shop reopened; both had been closed since 2020. Programming has increased, and installation is underway for an exhibition on revolutions to coincide with America 250<\/a>, keeping the museum on pace to achieve its goal of four to six major exhibitions per year. \u201cBarbie: A Cultural Icon<\/a>,\u201d which closed in April, launched this effort.<\/p>\n Behind the scenes, a task force<\/a> of museum, education, cultural and government leaders has begun research for the renovation. The museum recently concluded its first visitor survey, which examined who was already coming to the museum, how often and why, Saunders said. A second, statewide survey is underway to assess \u201cwhat visitors would like to see, experience and learn\u201d per the online survey<\/a>; these results will inform the vision plan. A comprehensive planning process will follow, which Saunders said will look at the \u201cnitty-gritty\u201d facility items like visitor flow, electrical systems, what kind of exhibitions can be supported in the physical space and more.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe can do a lot of internally focused work, and we\u2019re doing that,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cBut we want to make sure that the public is getting the benefit of everything that we\u2019re doing as all of that work is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Museum renewals have been promised, but never realized<\/a>, since 1999. The current work marks a notable step towards finally achieving those promises, and the effort is being supported by $150 million in state funding, which\u00a0Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in 2025<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors to the State Museum are entertained by a new dinosaur exhibit on Tuesday in Albany. \u201cExpedition Dinosaur:…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":846225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[342144,5229,648,171,275397,425,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-846224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-alco","tag-america","tag-arts","tag-entertainment","tag-latestnews","tag-local","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116697784071688213","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, excluding state-observed holidays
Admission:<\/strong> Free
More info:<\/strong> 518-474-5877 or\u00a0nysm.nysed.gov<\/a>
Museum\u00a0survey:<\/strong>\u00a0surveymonkey.com\/r\/NYSMSurvey<\/a>; survey ends July 10<\/p>\n