Museum of Idaho celebrates 20 year anniversary with new exhibit
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – The Museum of Idaho is unveiling a special, new exhibit to commemorate its 20 year anniversary.
“Bringing the World to Idaho: 20 Years of MOI Special Exhibits” will debut on Friday, March 17 on the top floor of the museum. The exhibit will showcase two decades of special, traveling exhibits and run alongside the current special exhibit, “Dinos of the Deep.”
MOI executive director Jeff Carr says this is just the beginning.
“The trajectory of this museum over the last 20 years has been astounding,” Carr said. “It’s a real testament to how thoughtful and cool our community is – that it has built and supported our nonprofit from day one without any tax dollars, and helped it grow into one of the West’s premier museums. The continuation of this trajectory leads to some pretty incredible things over the next 20 years for our region as well.”
The museum opened its first traveling exhibit, “A T.Rex Named Sue” on February 18, 2003, putting East Idaho on the cultural map. Since then, MOI has been the only venue in the Gem State to bring an endless stream of world-renowned special exhibits. MOI has brought in 37 such exhibits in all, including favorites such as “Bodies: The Exhibition,” “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” and “Race to the End of the Earth.” And bringing these exhibits to Idaho isn’t cheap.
It took a gargantuan amount of support to make the museum happen, from the Village Improvement Society that built the Carnegie Library in 1916, to the Bonneville County Historical Society that opened a museum there in 1985, to the visionaries and donors that called for something bigger and better for our community.
Since its opening as MOI in 2003, the museum has served nearly two million guests, hosted thousands of educational programs, and contributed to groundbreaking research. And it's all been possible solely due to contributions, memberships and admission tickets.
This exhibit opening kicks off a year of celebrations. The museum will continue to announce upcoming events commemorating the 20 year anniversary throughout the rest of the year.
