Cleveland Museum of Natural History is at the end of a more than decade-long transformation project. The reimagined museum opened with aplomb on 15 December 2024, following its expansion to 375,000 square feet. It now has two additional acres of reimagined outdoor visitor areas and an entirely redefined visitor experience.
Its collection of over 5 million objects includes pivotal archaeological finds, such as Lucy, a humanlike fossil discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia by Cleveland Museum of Natural History curator Dr Donald Johanson. This museum has a plenitude of extraordinary stories to tell.
Guests can now explore these stories through three new gallery spaces created in collaboration with DLR Group and G&A. Together, they form a captivating suite of experiences, which also includes the redesigned Visitor Hall, which opened last year.
Sonia Winner has been director and CEO at Cleveland Museum of Natural History since 2018. She spoke to blooloop about the new visitor experience and the project’s vision.
Sharing knowledge for over a century
Winner has an extensive background in development in educational institutions. Before joining the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, she was vice president for university development at Columbia University. While at this institution, she was part of the leadership team that raised an Ivy League record-breaking $6.1 billion in a single campaign. Winner also held positions at Case Western Reserve University. Before entering education, she was one of the first lawyers in the US to serve in a career service capacity.
The transformation project was already underway when she joined Cleveland Museum of Natural History. “It really was a dream for about 15 years to do this at the Natural History Museum,” Winner says. “And the first iteration of the project was something that the team inherited. We went out, and we rescoped the project and were able to hire new architects and new designers.
“We’ve had amazing partners in all of this,” she adds. “Nothing gets done without a very dedicated staff. There are many hundreds of people behind this project and ensuring its success.”
The reimagined project elegantly reflects the museum’s mission, which has been held for over 100 years.
“The museum was established in 1920. One of the things that the founders believed in was this concept of the diffusion of knowledge. That knowledge was to be shared. It wasn’t just an academic exercise, it wasn’t just about science, it was about sharing evidence-based learning with others.”
Shaped by the environment
“One of the things we thought about was how to be authentic to that mission. We went back and thought about how we could really reflect the uniqueness of our region and Northeast Ohio.”
Northeast Ohio borders Lake Erie in the Great Lake Plains region of the state.
“The Great Lakes hold a quarter of the world’s freshwater,” says Winner. “ So we dedicated ourselves to this notion of the glacial history of Northeast Ohio, as well as showing the importance of water and human health and the health of the planet.”
This focus is reflected in the building’s curving façade designed by DLR Group, and inspired by the region’s geological history. The museum design includes swathes of glass, which drench the indoor space in light and provide a tangible connection to the natural environment. This aspect of design is also a pragmatic reaction to visitor feedback.
“We did a listening project and talked to the community about what they wanted to see,” says Winner. “And there are two reasons that people gave why they don’t come to museums. One was that it was way too dark. And second, there aren’t enough bathrooms. So those are two very practical things that we kept in mind.
“When you come into the museum, you’re going to see light everywhere. This connects to the message that nature is such an important portal to science.”
Welcome to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History Visitor Hall
Visitors enter this space through the dramatic, 14,650-square-foot Visitor Hall, which is free to enter and open daily.
Here, they can see a timeline and explore eight of the Museum’s key exhibits, including “Happy”, one of the first specimens of long-necked dinosaur Haplocanthosaurus delfsi to be discovered, and Dunkleosteus terrelli, a giant armoured fish which dates to the Paleozoic Era when Ohio was covered by a tropical sea. Star exhibit Lucy is also on show here.
“We are celebrating the discovery of Lucy, who’s 3.2 million years old this year. She was discovered 50 years ago by one of our scientists at the museum,” says Winner. “We’ll be talking about Lucy, and the science stories, and their connection to our own lives.”
The visitor hall also features Balto, a rescue dog who led a 13-dog team during a 674-mile dogsled relay to take urgent diphtheria medicine to Nome, Alaska.
“Balto is why we run the Iditarod [an annual long-distance dog sled race] in his honour in Nome. He tells a story about the importance of studying mammals and their gene pool. Today, he’s still being used,” says Winner.
Integrated storytelling
Beyond the Visitor Hall, the exhibit design takes a new approach.
“The traditional model for natural history museums was just to show objects. And that was great when people couldn’t see lions or different kinds of minerals, but now they can,” says Winner.
“And so, what we’re trying to show in our new museum is that integrated story of life, the fragility of life, the beauty of life. But also how we survive with other living things. That we’re all part of this large web of life that started really with the Big Bang Theory.
“We’re telling those stories, but we want the visitor to have a 3D experience, so that not only are they seeing objects but they’re able to touch them and be immersed in different areas of self-discovery.”
“Natural history museums obviously are very geared to children, but we have a number of experiences now where adults will be able to learn. If you bring something in from your backyard or have something you know that someone gave you or passed down to you, you will be able to come into the Ames Family Curiosity Center and have a scientist look at them and talk to them.”
The Ames Family Curiosity Center is a participatory space where visitors can engage in hands-on science, exploring the Museum collections, science and art through immersive media experiences, interactive workstations and self-guided exploration of different specimens.
Evidence-based learning at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Also on show is an immersive experience about bald eagles.
Ohio was home to a large bald eagle population until 1970, when the pesticide DDT caused a nationwide decline. DDT was outlawed in 1972, and by 1979, Ohio had only four remaining nesting pairs of bald eagles. Following the museum’s action to protect their chosen habitat and nesting locations, there are now over 200 nesting pairs in the state.
“Our museum brought bald eagles back from the brink of extinction, so we’re telling that story. But we’re also telling a story about humans and how humans can come up with solutions when there is extinction,” says Winner.
“We’re telling that story as well because there’s a lot of doom and gloom about our planet and planetary health. But we think it’s important to provide a context that there have been numerous extinctions throughout the life of our planet, and other living forms have adapted. We are providing an evidence-based learning experience for the public.
“We did a national survey of Americans about scientific understanding. 90% of those surveyed said they wanted to learn more about science. They wanted authentic information, and from museums and scientists because they did not trust public officials. They weren’t sure what stories were authentic online, so they come to scientists to ask those questions. And more than 50% of Americans feel like they’re falling behind.”
A new model for museums
This focus has resulted in a new natural history museum design model, using this enquiry-based approach to present a unified story of life on Earth.
“It was an essential part of designing the visitor experience for us. So when the visitor comes to the museum, they can learn, and they can contemplate what they learn. And they can also ask questions.
“That puts the learning outcome on the individual. What do I want to learn about? Everything in our museum is constructed based on a number of questions that people might ask about a particular exhibit or a particular area of human health or planetary health.”
“There are a lot of interactive displays that put the visitor in the middle of the experience. One explores the idea that we are all made out of stardust, that the same components in our body were in the development of our planet, and that we are all part of a larger experience. The Earth, the entire solar system, and the galaxies are all part of this greater planetary experience. I think people will love it.”
The museum has three staff astronomers, plus a planetarium and observatory. These complement the new immersive exhibits in the Sears Dynamic Earth Wing.
“Here we have a full body, immersive experience where a visitor can control the life cycle of a star,” says Winner. “They receive different outcomes depending on the decisions that they make, such as creating a black hole.”
A voice for the planet
Interactivity forms a key part of the museum experience.
“We have a lot of mechanical interactives exploring the concept of deep time or the power of earthquakes, for example. And, for other parts of evolving life, we have ways that you can touch and learn about the human body, and how we’re connected to other animals and our similarities and differences.
“We’re trying to help visitors understand that we are evolving as a species, and living creatures around us are also evolving. Many of them are adapting to climate change, but others, for example, insect populations, are dying. We’re showing the evidence-based details for the visitor.”
With these spaces, the museum aims to empower visitors to become knowledgeable advocates for the planet. Furthermore, its commitment to sustainability is reflected in the building.
“We worked with DLR, the largest architect of cultural institutions in the world. And as we had a Cleveland-based team, and they were able to draw on international, and also local experience. If you look at the architecture, for the first time, it reflects our mission. And that was important to us.”
The building has been awarded platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, which is the highest level of the internationally recognised green building rating system,
“We’re proud that we received platinum LEED Certification. We will be the only museum in the United States and among the few in the world that have this designation,” says Winner.
Reducing energy consumption
This acclaimed certification has been achieved through a wide range of green building measures.
“Obviously, the most important thing is to reduce your carbon footprint,” says Winner. “That is one way that all of us can help the planet and create a healthier place for our families. We’ve been able to reduce our energy consumption by 32% and we’ve reduced our operational carbon. We’ve achieved a 10% reduction in embodied carbon. That’s the amount of carbon emissions that occur during the life cycle of a building.”
“The project has restored 50% of the previous museum site and planted native plants and vegetation so it fills more than two acres of outdoor visitor areas. There’s a unique design of our windows, with these little dots, that keep birds from hitting our windows because we are in an area with a lot of migration. We have a rainwater capture system, a rain garden.
“We want people to have conversations about how they can reduce their footprint on the earth, and ways that we can plant different things and grow different things to make not only ourselves healthier but also the planet healthier.”
Inspiring curiosity
“It’s about people having a sense of fun about science and nature,” says Winner, when asked which part of this project at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History excites her most.
“I think that all of us, whatever age we are, want to have that sense of curiosity, and going back and understanding ‘Why am I here? Why am I part of this larger story of life?’ People will love being in these beautiful spaces and being inspired by nature, and that’s an important part of why we did this project.”
“We are sharing evidence-based knowledge with the community and the world. Our scientists go all over the globe; they are world-renowned, and that’s so important. But if you don’t share that with others, it becomes more of an academic exercise. That’s a wonderful way to contribute. But for us, and for the mission of museums, I think they need to become more and more places where communities can exchange ideas and be hubs to discuss the important issues of the day.
“Just sharing objects has a very limited role for museums and can contribute to a lack of relevancy that museums can have. So for me, I’m excited for the sense of fun and to share the information that we have so that our visitors can experience it and contemplate their own health and the health of the planet.”
Building relevancy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
By creating a playful, visitor-focused space, the transformation of Cleveland Museum of Natural History embodies Winner’s vision for the broader sector.
“It’s so important that museums that are well established and have collected huge amounts of information stay relevant. And one of the ways that we can stay relevant is to listen to our visitors, hear what they’re interested in doing and also be willing to have a sense of fun about the things that we do.
“For example, we did a Taylor Swift night and had a wonderful experience with primarily girls who came, but we also introduced them to science.”
“We cannot be so insular as institutions. It’s great that we can have these big intellectual ideas about certain topics. Still, we also need to make sure that we’re listening to the community and creating spaces where people want to learn and have fun, dance and play music, and all of those things that make life worthwhile.
“I think that for museums, we can’t take ourselves too seriously.”
