Be a tourist in your own neighborhood

I've done a good amount of traveling lately and have written much about my "On the Road" adventures. Visiting all of these new cities has given me an even greater appreciation for where I live. No matter how many times I go away, it's always good to come home. 

I took a couple more trips to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida after my visit to Montreal and after so many months of traveling, I realized that lately, I've been doing more sightseeing and have seen more museums in other cities that I have in my own city. I suppose there's an urgency to see as much as possible when you're visiting a new place for a short time. We just assume there will be plenty of time to take advantage of all the fun things to do in our own neighborhoods. 

These days, many people can't afford to take trips to other cities but there's lots of fun things you can do and great places to visit in your own area. You can look up your local Visitor's Bureau online and find out about sightseeing, shopping, dining, shows, museums, activities and sports in your area. 

One of my favorite things to do in my neighborhood is what I like to call "Queens Fun Day." I'll take a short subway ride to Flushing Meadows Corona Park which was the site of the 1939 and 1964 Worlds Fair. In addition to its many lakes, playground, and athletic fields, the park houses the Queens Zoo the Queens Museum of Art and the New York Hall of Science.

After enjoying a concert at the theater or a stroll through one of the many gardens, you can head over to the Queens Zoo and see animals from North and South America, feed animals in the petting zoo and take the "Migration Challenge" in the new playground. I helped develop some of the new interactive elements throughout the zoo which address the topics of Endangered Species, Invasive Species, and Extinction.

If the weather isn't conducive to outdoor activities, a visit to the Queens Museum of Art is a mandatory stop. Many people who live here don't even know it exists but it's one of my favorite places to visit because of the Panorama. No matter how many times I visit, it never ceases to impress me. The panorama is the world's largest scale model of New York City. It includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs and it takes up an entire room. After a short period of time, the room will go dark and all of the little windows in the buildings will light up!

The museum also houses the Worlds Fair Exhibition. I took my mom to see this when she came to visit a couple years ago. She had actually been to the World's Fair when she was about 10 or 11 years old and was able to tell me stories about all of the pictures and objects on display. Even though I'd seen this exhibit a few times already, it was even better to see it with someone who'd actually been there. 

The last stop on the "Queens Fun Day" tour is the New York Hall of Science which is just a short walk from the Queens Zoo and Queens Museum. The NY Hall of Science is a hands-on science and technology center. With over 400 interactive exhibits, there's something fun for everyone whether you're a toddler, kid, or an adult. They also have a space for traveling exhibits so there's always something new to see. (This a picture of "Genomes", a traveling exhibit I worked on at the Hall of Science a couple years ago)

I hope this has inspired you to create you're own "Fun Day" wherever you live. I'd love to hear comments or suggestions about your favorite places in the neighborhood you live in. Here's some links to tourist bureaus in other cities to give you some ideas.

San Diego

Los Angeles

Philadelphia

New York

San Antonio

Louisville

Raleigh

Albuquerque

New Orleans

Seattle

Chattanooga

Orlando

On the road in Montreal

I’m back home now from my trip to Montreal. There was so much to see and do there that it was hard to decide. I did lots of sight-seeing. Highlights were the hike I took through Parc du Mont Royal. The foliage is absolutely beautiful this time of year and the fall leaves, all gold and orange and red, were falling from the trees like snow. There’s a long staircase that goes up to the top of the hill and overlooks the entire city. The view was breathtaking.

I was staying in an excellent location right in Downtown Montreal which had a ton of great museums and restaurants as well as fantastic architecture to look at. Another area that I really loved was Vieux-Montreal (Old Montreal) which had the Notre Dame Basilica, Clock tower, Hotel de Ville and lots of other Neo-Classical buildings to admire.

Botanical Gardens

Over the weekend I went to the Botanical Garden, the Insectarium and the Biodome. You can buy a combo ticket for all three of these places which is what I did. The woman at the ticket booth told me that I could see all of these places in one day but this turned out to be absolutely insane!!! The Botanical Garden is enormous and involves a ton of walking plus it’s the type of place that you don’t want to rush through. You could literally spend the entire day here and still not see the whole thing. It is recognized as one of the world’s finest and largest botanical gardens and I know I mentioned my previous blog that I am not much of a “plant person” but I was definitely blown away. (The one plant that I own has been sitting in a bucket of water in my apartment while I’ve been traveling and it has actually never looked better. I feel a little insulted that it has been thriving in my absence. )

The gardens and arboretum were impressively beautiful and there were also 10 greenhouses as well as various art exhibitions in some of their thematic gardens, and the Tree House which has a permanent interactive exhibit and activities for kids. If you want to see it all while avoiding the painful sensation that your legs are going to fall off, I’d recommend hopping on and off the mini-train which drives around the park. This is an especially good idea if you have kids.

I also thought that it was nice that they had a “Courtyard of the Senses.” This is a little area where everything is at wheelchair/child height and you are encouraged to touch and smell the plants and flowers. The labels are also in Braille and the path is wheelchair accessible.




My favorite garden in the park was the Chinese Garden. Most of the park closed at 5 o’clock but they kept Chinese Garden open until 9. When the sun went down, all of the lanterns lit up and it was really pretty.

Biodome

The park has a free shuttle bus which will take you over to the Olympic Stadium and the Biodome which was my next stop. I guess the Biodome could be described as an indoor zoo. It has these faux-natural depictions of four ecosystems. It’s a good rainy day activity but if you’re looking to occupy your kids for an entire day then this is not the place to go. You can see the whole thing in one hour and don’t expect to see any large animals. The biggest animal I saw was a sea otter. The Madagascar exhibit was pretty disappointing too. It was basically a small room with about 3 or 4 lemurs sitting in a tree. I am a little biased though, since I was just working on the Madagascar exhibit at the Bronx Zoo back in June and it is a million times better than the Biodome’s exhibit (I’ve been meaning to write a new blog about the opening of this exhibit so check back in the near future to read all about it!).

One of the things I did like about the Biodome was the graphics in the Marine Ecosystem. They had both overhead and floor graphics and the floor tiles had a rock and water design. Placement of graphics in Aquarium settings is always tricky because everyone tends to lean on the handrail, which is the typical placement for animal ID’s, and then no one can read them. The Biodome had ID’s overhead and on the floor which was pretty clever since most people were looking down to see the fish.

Insectarium

After zipping through the Biodome I hopped back on the shuttle to the Insectarium. My expectations were that it was either going to be A) Creepy. or B)Gross. But to my surprise it was C) None of the Above. The museum was actually quite phenomenal. It had live insect displays as well as 160,000 fantastic mounted specimens throughout the entire space.     
                            

From my observation, the kids absolutely loved it and so did I. The museum was extremely kid-friendly (because kids love bugs) and there were lots of low to the ground insect/kid height displays (see image on the left) which I never would have noticed if one little girl didn’t slam into my knees and start clapping and jumping up and down when she saw it. I thought these ground displays were very clever and a nice touch.

This butterfly display in the image here shows the butterfly migration from Canada through the United States to Mexico. I found this particularly interesting because I followed a similar migration pattern although not in the same order. I’d have to say the way the butterflies do it is much better.

 

Which brings me to my travel tips for this week….

1) I do not recommend traveling straight from a country that is typical 90 degrees every day to a country that is typically 40 degrees every day. This is very painful.

2) Tell immigration that you are a tourist even if you are traveling for business. This will save you a lot of time and frustration and will prevent you from being detained for not having a work permit while you watch from a glass room everyone else who is allowed to enter the country.

3) Become bilingual OR at least learn how to say “I am not a spy who is trying to steal company secrets” in both Spanish and French.

4) Once again…Don’t fly on Delta. If you have no other choice then arrive at the airport an hour earlier than the recommended 1 hour before your flight’s departure or else you will be running to board your flight while they are announcing your name throughout the entire airport. Their check-in process and security is always a disorganized mess no matter what airport.

So that’s it for now for my “On the Road” adventures. It’s been 8 weeks, about 15 cities, 16 flights and 10 hotels. I’m happy to say I made it home in one piece which is pretty impressive since the airline literally made me sign a waiver to release the remains of my suitcase and my shoes completely disintegrated while still on my feet. It’s been a lot of fun and an amazing experience but now I am looking forward to getting reacquainted with my couch!

On the Road in Mexico!

After 8 days in Ohio, I made a pit-stop in New York for less than 48 hours before heading off to Mexico. This gave me just enough time to pay my rent (for the apartment I never see) and other bills (for utilities I don't use) and change the water in the bucket that my plant is sitting in. I came home with one less shoe and a brand new suitcase. After 9 flights in 3 weeks, my old suitcase couldn't go on any longer and is resting in peace in the dumpster behind the Columbus Best Western.

So I packed my new suitcase and was off to Mexico. The first stop was Mexico City. The climate was a moderate and comfortable low-70's. Everyone there seemed to think it was cold because they were all bundled up in winter coats and scarves unless they were protesting something, in which case they were standing in the street naked. The city was crowded with people and traffic (about 10 times more than NYC) but really colorful with beautiful views of mountains and volcanoes. I especially liked that all of the streets were lined with benches that were each a unique sculpture. I was only in Mexico City for a few days before flying off to Veracruz so I didn't get to see any museums but I did take a tour of the Pyramids. The tour stops at several churches and archaeological sites on the way but the most interesting stop was the Maguey shop. We got to watch how the artisans make things out of obsidian which comes from the volcanic lava and how the silversmith turns the silver into jewelry but the most intriguing demonstration was where they showed us all the ways they use the agave plant. First, they peeled the skin of one of the leaves to create paper. You can write on it with a pen and the ink won't smudge. Then if you rub the leaf it will create a film that is used for antiseptic. Break off the tip of the leaf and the sharp point is used for a needle. Attached to it are long strands that are used as thread. Lastly, inside the plant itself, they stir the pulp to create the liquid that is fermented to make tequila. This part of the demonstration involved getting us drunk off of pure agave juice, mescal, and tequila. This was great but probably would have been better after the climb to the top of two pyramids!

After that, we went to the Pyramids of the Teotihuacan. I climbed to the top of both the Pyramid of the Sun and the Moon. The climb up was pretty treacherous and steep. It's helpful to have really long legs (which I don't) because the stairs are very high but once you get to the top the view is worth the effort. There were butterflies flying all around me. I felt like they followed me on my journey across the U.S. and we all migrated together from North America to get to this place! They only added to the surreal feeling of being someplace so ancient that so many others throughout history have climbed before me. If you've never climbed to the top of a pyramid then I highly recommend putting it on your to-do list because it was an absolutely amazing experience.

The next day I flew to Veracruz. I don't have much to report about this trip because I was advised by my local site contact to stay close to my hotel due to the unsafe conditions in the area. This

part of Mexico was not a tourist destination but this was the real Mexico that most tourists never see. People were living in extreme poverty (mostly Third-world conditions) and scavenging what was supposed to be a beach but looked more like a garbage dump.

It was about 20 degrees warmer than Mexico City... approximately 90 sticky degrees every day.

Now I'm in Montreal, Canada and it feels like it's been a year rather than a week since I was in Mexico. Probably because I flew out Summer and straight into Winter! The leaves here have already changed to yellow and orange and from what I've seen of Montreal so far it looks like a beautiful city. My brain is having a bit of a meltdown though. I'm finally remembering my room number and floor but now have to remember to speak in French rather than Spanish. It also would have been useful information to know that there are 5 Marriott hotels here. Two are on the same street. Luckily, I found mine on the second try.

It's been almost 9 weeks and I've been in about 15 different cities and on 15 flights with one more flight to go (back home to New York!). This will be my last trip for a while and I'm hoping to see some great museums while I'm here so check back next week for the last of the "On the Road" blogs.

On the Road in Ohio

COSIAfter my trip to Wisconsin, I went to three cities in Ohio. My favorite city that I visited was Columbus. There's a lot of great restaurants, shops, art galleries and museums in Columbus and the people were great too. I think a must-see for anyone who goes to Columbus is COSI. It was rated the number one science museum in the U.S. by parenting magazine and although I haven't been to every science museum in the U.S. I'd have to say it was the best one I've ever been to. The staff was very friendly and helpful, the children were well behaved and the museum was clean. The exhibits were engaging and immersive and well-maintained. There were very few out-of-order signs and it was just a fun place to visit.


Franklin Park Conservatory
During my fun-filled trip to Ohio, I also went to the Franklin Park Conservatory. Horticulture is not one of my biggest interests but they boasted having some pieces leftover from Dale Chihuly's traveling exhibit. I saw this exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden and it was fantastic so I thought it would be a place worth visiting. The Conservatory was very pretty and Chihuly's work was beautiful as always but I was expecting more. There weren't very many pieces and they were dispersed throughout the entire space with bits and pieces placed here and there. Even in their Chihuly Resource Center, there were only a couple small pieces of his work. I thought the nicest part of the Franklin Park Conservatory was the outdoor area which is free to the public (as opposed to the $7.50 for admission to the greenhouse). If anyone wants a nice peaceful outdoor activity with beautiful scenery then they will really enjoy this area and save themselves $7.50.

I also have some more valuable travel tips for this week:

1. If you are staying in 3 different hotels per week, it's a good idea to write down your room number on a piece of paper, on your phone, or on your arm. This way you won't repeatedly go to the room numbers of the 5 previous hotels you just stayed in and try to unlock someone else's door. You might also want to make a note of the floor you are staying on so that you don't spend your whole day in the elevator trying to figure it out. This also applies to the city that you are currently in because that tends to get confusing too. Just be sure to carry a pen and paper wherever you go and write reminder notes to yourself and you will be fine!

2. Do not put your magnetic room key anywhere near your phone or keys because apparently, it will de-magnetize the key. I managed to lock myself out of a hotel room 3 times in 4 days before I figured this out.

3. If you are running late for your flight you can fake a broken leg and get an airport wheelchair. Anyone in a wheelchair gets to go to the front of the airport security line (including all of the people traveling with them). I've never done this myself but I've witnessed people suddenly being afflicted with all sorts of disabilities when they approach airport security. I recently witnessed one woman with a broken arm suddenly become incapable of walking. The airport wheelchair is the E-Z Pass of airport security. It took me 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. The lady with the broken arm (and her husband) were through those metal detectors in less than two.

On the Road in Wisconsin (part 2)

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame

I went to check out Lambeau Field before I left Wisconsin because I felt that it was something I needed to do in order to get the real Green Bay experience. I wanted to take the stadium tour because I heard that they actually let you go on the field. I arrived at 9:15 but unfortunately the first tour started at 11 am and I had to leave for the airport at 11:30 so I opted for the ticket to the Packers Hall of Fame which is located on the lower level of the stadium.


The museum was surprisingly nice. It had beautiful displays, sculptures, and really nice graphics. The labels were clear and well placed and there was also video footage to supplement the text. It had a good balance of technology and hands-on interactives plus lots of cool photo-ops with lifelike sculptures. They had tons of interesting artifacts and an exact replica of Vince Lombardi's office that you could walk through. There was also a separate area for kids to play in where they could put on football jerseys and throw footballs or slide down a giant hunk of cheese.


The exhibit was clean and well maintained, the content was well organized and I didn't find anything out of order or broken. The staff was also very friendly and helpful and even gave me the senior citizen discount when I told them I work in museums.

Even though I'm not a Packers fan I thought this was a great museum. I was really very impressed. I would recommend buying the Stadium Tour and Hall of Fame package. If you do take the stadium tour please let me know how it was since I never got to see it myself!

On the Road in Wisconsin (part 1)

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

I just spent the last week in Wisconsin. During the first half of the trip, I was in a city called Rothschild. With a population of 5,201, there wasn't much to do there. I tried reading the phone book but it was only 10 pages long. No kidding. This place had more cows than people. Thankfully, my hotel room came with a hot tub. This really helped with the boredom and the fact that it was a shocking 48 degrees outside after I just came from 80-degree weather in NY. I discovered there's a lot of things you can do while in the hot tub such as reading, watching TV, calling friends, text messaging, eating, sending emails, working on your laptop...blogging, etc...

So my travel tip for this week is: if you must travel, be sure to book a hotel room with a hot tub 3 feet from your bed. A flat-screen TV in the bathroom doesn't hurt either.

After my exciting trip to Rothschild, I drove back across the state (another 88 miles of corn) to Green Bay which is a relative metropolis compared to Rothschild. During this trip, my GPS and I got into our first fight. After an hour of driving, she led me back to where I started. Some harsh words were spoken but I realize it wasn't her fault and we've since made up. She didn't know there was highway construction and I know she would never intentionally lead me astray.

My first day there I went to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. It's a beautiful 700-acre urban wildlife refuge that receives over 3,000 injured, orphaned and sick animals each year. They rehabilitate as many animals as possible and release them back into the wild. Animals that can't survive in the wild remain at the Wildlife Sanctuary. The park, which is Green Bay's largest city park, also has 6.6 miles of hiking trails and is open year-round with no admission fee.

I went on a day where the weather was perfect for outdoor activities. The animals were extremely friendly and were not shy about coming up close to the visitors (probably because you're allowed to buy food to feed them). One of the things I really liked about the park was that it offered unique views of wildlife such as this viewing tower in the picture to the left. The park was really pretty and had many benches and picnic areas with beautiful views of ponds. It wasn't crowded at all and was actually very peaceful. I just picked up a map at the Nature Center and walked at my leisure through the trails. This was definitely a great daytime outdoor activity that I would recommend for all ages.

Also, right across the street is the Bay Beach Amusement park (open seasonally) which had rides, go carts and mini-golf with a view of the waterfront.

For more info about the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

call (920) 391-3671 or go to www.baybeachwildlife.com

On the Road in Michigan & Canada (part 2)

Greenfield Village and Windsor Museum

I was in Michigan for 8 days and had some free time over the weekend so I went to the old car show at Greenfield Village. Greenfield Village houses more than 83 authentic historic sites throughout its 90 acres including the Wright Brothers' workshop, Thomas Edison's laboratory, the Firestone Farm and George Washington Carver's cabin. It has costumed presenters who give demonstrations in weaving, pottery, glass blowing, etc... and will answer all of your questions. You can also take a ride in a vintage Model T, hop on a steam-powered train, a horse-drawn omnibus or ride on a carousel from 1913.

That weekend, there were hundreds of old cars parked or driving throughout Greenfield Village so if you're someone who loves cars then this was the place to be. There was a lot to see and do and I would recommend Greenfield Village as a fun family activity.

The next day I took a drive over to Windsor, Canada. Its biggest attraction is Caesar's Casino so if you're like me and you're not into gambling then I would recommend taking a stroll along the river. There's separate walking and bike trails (you can rent a bike for only $5 an hour) and a pretty sculpture garden that runs along the entire path. There's also plenty of bathrooms, snack stands, and restaurants along the way if you want to take a break and enjoy the view of the Detroit skyline.

I also wandered around the city for a little while and stumbled upon the Windsor Museum which is free to the public and has an exhibit that in my opinion rivals the Museum of Jurassic technology in its weirdness.

(I had a similar exhibit in my childhood bedroom when I was about 10. This was back before I knew I wanted to be an exhibit designer or that such a thing even existed but I used to have artwork, sculptures, dioramas and artifacts displayed all over every inch of my room complete with interpretive signage. There was even a sign telling a story I made up about a hole in the wall that was created by a poor blind fly named Milly who met a tragic end when she crashed into the wall).

Well, my bedroom exhibit made more sense than the Windsor Museum which was set up in an old house that looked as if they dragged a bunch of stuff out of the attic and put it up all over the walls. But it had an un-museum like quality that I liked. It was unpretentious and absolutely devoid of any technology or special effects and I found it kind of nice that I wasn't sprayed with anything and wasn't forced to watch a movie. I get the feeling that most people who live in Windsor probably don't even know that this little gem exists but if you are planning a trip to the area I recommend popping in just to see for yourself because I think it's just impossible for me to describe in words and pictures just don't do it justice.

Now I'm back in NY for a couple of days and getting ready to leave for my trip to Wisconsin. It was great to be somewhere new but when my taxi dropped me off at my building and I was wheeling my suitcase up to my front door, my path was blocked by a woman who was letting her dog relieve himself on my stoop. I laughed and thought to myself, "Aah New York...it's good to be home!"

On the Road in Michigan & Canada (part 1)

Here I am in Detroit, Michigan on week 2 of traveling. Last week was Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love and home of our founding fathers. I had a lot of work to do so I had to do the speed tour on 5 hours' sleep and in the 2 hours of free time I had before I had to get back to the airport (see the delirious picture of me at the Liberty Bell). The good thing about being completely exhausted and delirious in another city is that you sometimes stumble into places that you're not supposed to be without even knowing it. Such as the Constitution Center. I somehow wandered in the wrong way and wound up seeing the whole exhibit (although backward) without having to pay admission.

Tips for visiting Philadelphia:

If you want to tour the Franklin Mint, don't bring a camera...because they won't let you in : (



Other traveling tips: 

1. GPS is a must-have. I don't know how I've lived my life without this. The person who invented the GPS should be awarded the Nobel Prize. I am currently looking into getting one surgically implanted in my brain. If anyone has any info about how I can achieve this please forward it to me! 

2. If the lock on your suitcase breaks and won't open and your house-keys are locked inside, there are plenty of airport employees who are more than happy and willing to break it off for you. As one security employee said, "We love to cut locks!" Thank you JFK airport for your determination and enthusiasm.

3. Don't fly Delta. Always a nightmare. Every time.

4. If you must travel, the best way to do it is on someone else's dime!

So now here I am in my Detroit hotel suite which is bigger than my NY apartment. So far I've been to Detroit, Lansing, Troy, and Dearborn. Detroit happens to be the hometown of my mentor and exhibit mastermind extraordinaire, Paul Orselli. Yesterday, on Paul's recommendation, I went to the Henry Ford Museum which was really impressive. I saw the "Chocolate" traveling exhibit. Which was great for many reasons but mostly because they have a delicious chocolate bar at the end. Yum! I love exhibits with food. I also saw the chair that Lincoln was assassinated in, Rosa Parks bus, the DC-3, the Kennedy presidential limousine, Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House (I'm a Bucky fan so this was my favorite. Bucky Fuller was a mastermind designer who was way ahead of his time), the Allegheny Locomotive and oh yeah...how could I forget the biggest weiner I've ever seen.

I also took a tour of the Ford Rouge factory which I have to say was pretty boring since there was no production going on. If there was, I would have seen them making the Ford F-150. Instead, I saw an empty factory and wasted $7.50. Although, they do have a pretty interesting multi-sensory theater where they spray you and heat you as if you're the Ford being made on the assembly line. This was the second of 2 movies that you watch on the tour and I'm personally not very fond of exhibits with lots of videos. If I wanted to watch a movie I would have gone to a movie theater and not a museum. Since I was the only person on the tour (usually a good indicator that it's not a great exhibit) I had my very own tour guide and I learned that it's called "the Rouge" because the factory runs over the Rouge River. Which got its name because of the color it turns due to the red clay and minerals it picks up turning it red in color. Ok so maybe that was worth a buck seventy-five. If you're really into cars then you might enjoy this tour. But for someone like me who doesn't even own a car, then the chocolate exhibit is much more appealing.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the old car show at Greenfield Village, which has people dressed in period costumes from the 1800s (kind of like the Old-Bethpage village restoration) and also houses the Wright Brothers workshop, Thomas Edison's laboratory and George Washington Carver's cabin.

Then I'm off to Canada!

Exhibit on Wheels

Over the summer I worked for a little bit at the New York Aquarium located in Coney Island. This year was the first time that the NY Aquarium had a float in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.  I had never been to the parade before but heard it was a lot of fun. When I found out the Aquarium needed puppeteers for their float I happily volunteered and I learned that it's way more fun to march in a parade than to just watch one pass by. The giant octopus float was created by the lovely and talented Katherine McLeod who builds and maintains the exhibits for the NY Aquarium. Many volunteers also helped Katherine build the float and march in the parade. I got to be an octopus tentacle (along with 7 other volunteers) and of course, we also had a mermaid.

The Octopus float brought new meaning to the words "traveling exhibit" as the Aquarium used the opportunity to get it's conservation message out and we even gave out free passes to the crowd so they could come to see the exhibits after the parade. 

Being an octopus tentacle was a lot of fun. I know myself, and all the other tentacles, can't wait to build a bigger and better float next year and march again.

Amazing Amphibians Exhibit

Long time no blog. Where has Kim Wagner been? Well, I've been busy frog wrangling at the Bronx Zoo! I was just hired to create and install 30 orange frogs of various sizes for the new "Amazing Amphibian" exhibit in the historical Zoo Center building. The frogs were made by cutting, gluing and heat bending Sintra plus many coats of orange paint. They were hung through the dome's 12 oculi and required two men up inside the dome fighting off pigeons and two on the ground with walkie talkies.

The exhibit was created to address the threats to amphibians. Close to half of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, pollution, global warming, food use, introduced species, collection for the pet trade and amphibian chytrid fungus.

Featured amphibians are the Anderson's Newt, Puerto Rican Crested Toad, Mudpuppy, Green Poison Frog, Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Clown Tree Frog, Hourglass Tree Frog, Chacoan Horned Frog, Smooth-Sided Toad, and the Waxy Monkey Frog. 

Although the exhibit focuses on the amphibian crisis, it ends with a message of hope by highlighting ways you can help save amphibians.