By Adia Shabazz
Boost Your Life! The Science Museum kicks off the summer with two exhibits that will be both exciting and memorable. Two weeks ago the Science Museum opened Boost!, sales the first new permanent exhibition in over a decade. Opening on July 11th and running through July 24th, SMV, in support of the Arthur Ashe Learning Center, will host the Inspirational Tour Exhibit of Arthur Ashe celebrating his 70th birthday.
During the month of July the Science Museum of Virginia will honor and celebrate the 70th birthday of homegrown humanitarian, educator, athlete and conscience leader Arthur Ashe. The Arthur Ashe Learning Center will host a Birthday Celebration honoring what would be Arthur Ashe’s 70th birthday at the Science Museum of Virginia on July 10th from 6:30-9:00 p.m. The celebration will include a reception and brief program that will conclude with a ribbon cutting and preview of the Inspirational Tour: a free educational exhibit that will share the life and legacy of Arthur Ashe. The evening will be co-hosted by AALC founder and chair, Ms. Jeanne Mountoussamy-Ashe and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Chewning. This evening will be the launch of the Inspirational Tour which will move to New York City for its second installation from August 24th to September 9th, 2013. This installation of the exhibit will coincide with the U.S. Open. It is completely fitting that this world renowned agent of change and compassion be honored in his hometown first. Tickets to the Celebration and Inspirational Tour preview can be purchased at http://www.arthurashe.org/, the website of the Arthur Ashe Learning Center.
Arthur Ashe championed many different causes during his lifetime with the common theme of them all being encouraging healing in society as well as individual health. Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ashe began his athletic career at a young age under the tutelage of the same coach who coached Althea Gibson, the only African-American competing in world tennis in the 1950s. Ashe rose through the ranks of the tennis world despite challenging racism at home and abroad. Unable to participate in the South African Open due to laws in support of apartheid, he used his experiences to expose the injustices of apartheid, a commitment he maintained for the next twenty years of his life.
After winning three career grand Slam singles titles, Ashe retired from tennis shortly after suffering a heart attack and undergoing quadruple-bypass surgery. During a second bypass, he received a blood transfusion that resulted in him contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Along with protesting US policy toward Haitian refugees and continuing his work against apartheid, Ashe utilized his position as a world figure to also fight for a cure for AIDS through his Arthur Ashe Foundation as well as founding the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health that addresses health care disparities to urban minority populations.
On July 10, 1996, a statue of Ashe was dedicated on Monument Avenue, just miles from the Science Museum of Virginia where Ashe will be honored on July 10th, 2013, the 17th anniversary of that monument installation. Prior to the installation of Ashe’s monument, only prominent confederate historical figures had been honored on Monument Avenue. As a child Arthur Ashe would not have been allowed to visit Monument Avenue due to segregation, racism and prejudice.
The Inspirational Tour exhibit, honoring the life and work of Arthur Ashe, will be free to the public from July 11th through July 24th. All ages are encouraged to come and enjoy the exhibit which has been created with families in mind. The Science Museum of Virginia will still charge regular admission for the rest of the exhibits in the museum. Through contributions to wellness, service, tennis, children and education, the Arthur Ashe Learning Center continues the work of its namesake.
The Science Museum of Virginia never fails to excite and educate; the opening of Boost! is no exception. Boost! is a unique exhibit where you are part of the exhibit and can track your own stored data on numerous visits as well as online at www.smv.org. The overall goal of Boost! is to improve the life of every attendee through a series of fun interactive activities.
When first entering the exhibit, an SMV volunteer welcomes you and encourages you to receive a free Boost! chip. This chip allows you to tailor an exhibit visit particular to you. With that chip, every activity you participate in is recorded and can be stored for future visits, while comparing your data with the data of other participants and the statistics of people nationwide. Walk across a tightrope and compare your speed with others and most importantly yourself. Play “More Cowbell” and create a rhythmic composition with others consisting of wood blocks, a djembe, tambourines, congos and more percussion. Visit “Happiness Is. . .” and take an evaluation of what you enjoy that makes you happy. Remember the heroic freedom work of Henry “Box” Brown while demonstrating your flexibility and discovering what size cargo you’d be able to squeeze into. Engage activities that test your memory, ability to relax, singing ability, acting prowess and more! There are so many ways to engage your body, your mind and your lifestyle.
Daily demonstrations in the kitchen stadium test out new meals while discussing the scientific facts behind how many of the dishes are created and how the nutrients in the dishes contribute to health and wellness. Attendees are encouraged to taste dishes that are created. One of the most popular dishes so far has been kale chips made right in the built in kitchen in the exhibit. Other dishes have included quinoa and blueberry salad, popcorn, and avocado/strawberry salsa with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips. In the kitchen stadium, when there is no demonstration there are still opportunities to test your knowledge about how food benefits our bodies in many different ways. On the backside of the kitchen is an activity that allows you to remix recipes to come up with new healthy versions of familiar dishes. Boost! seeks to enrich the lifestyle of participants by suggesting new and creative ways to eat healthy with offerings that can easily be recreated at home. “Endless Buffet” brings together hand-eye coordination with healthy meal construction in an activity reminiscent of an episode of “I Love Lucy”, according to Nancy Tait, Manager of Communications and Stories at SMV. We had a ball trying to construct healthy meals with puzzle like wood pieces that represented each member of the four food groups on a quick moving conveyor belt.
There are activities that test your strength with everything from how much weight you can bench press, how high you can jump, and cycling machines that help you estimate how long it would take you to reach certain fitness goals. The cycling exhibit even features a wheelchair accessible option, so that patrons in wheelchairs or little bitty patrons, who don’t have legs long enough to reach the pedals on the cycles, can still demonstrate their own levels of fitness. Challenge friends in a reflex game that is reminiscent of wack-a-mole and see who is quicker on the draw.
Not only does Boost! seek to enrich lives through the health of body and mind, it seeks to enrich lifestyles by encouraging passions. An activity that asks “What’s Your Passion” provides information about various pioneers and examples in varied hobbies, artistic interests and sports. This information can be recorded on your Boost! chip and loaded at a data hub in the exhibit or online. In the future, museum curators welcome interested participants to come and share their passions in Hobby of the Month, a part of the exhibit that will welcome artists, athletes and enthusiasts to come and demonstrate their passions for other exhibit attendees. People who are interested in sharing their unique hobbies and talents with others are encouraged to call the main number at the Science Museum, 804.864.1400, or email SMV at info@smv.org and ask how they can participate in Hobby of the Month.
Boost! is the first permanent exhibition installed in the Museum in 10 years and is part of a 60 million dollar “Inspire the World” campaign, which aims to transform the Museum. Boost! is made possible by Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc., The Cabell Foundation and The Marietta Morgan and Samuel Tate Morgan, Jr. Foundation. This exhibit is a unique offering that seeks to affect lifestyle changes through the integration of learning, activity and lots and lots of fun. Visit it as soon as you can and be ready to visit and enjoy more than once!
Through two very distinct and unique experiences at the Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond and Central Virginia residents have opportunities to boost inspiration, enrichment, education, health and fun. Be sure to come out and Boost! your life as well as your awareness of Arthur Ashe and his lifelong commitments to eradicate injustices and inequities in society, the world of athleticism, and the field of health. These experiences may not just arouse a desire to make personal lifestyle changes but also improvements in the world around you.
