St. George Children’s Museum cuts ribbon to open desert exhibit

Written by Nick Yamashita
February 14, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Children’s eyes lit up with excitement as the black curtain was opened and they wandered into the new and long-awaited Desert Discovery Room on Saturday within the St. George Children’s Museum, immediately running to explore and play.

The museum held the grand opening of its new and long-awaited exhibit to a crowd of around 50 people. They also held a sneak peek to museum members and families the night before to another crowd of about 40 people. 

Visitors got to experience the Desert Discovery Room at the St. George Children’s Museum, St. George, Utah, Feb. 11, 2023 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

Museum board chair Kurt Ivie said there was no way to describe the exhibit without doing it justice.

“You have to see it,” Ivie said. “You have to come and see it for yourself.”

The exhibit room was closed off with black curtains at the entrances, and children waited for the ribbon to be cut so they could enter.

Ivie, along with Sonya Darter, who serves as the museum’s executive director, and St. George City Councilwoman Danielle Larkin, each made remarks. Other special guests were St. George City Councilwoman Natalie Larsen and Rufus the Dragon.

St. George City Mayor Michele Randall was scheduled to appear but reportedly was absent due to illness. Councilwoman Larkin spoke on her behalf.

Brian Larkin and exhibit designer Will Craven received accolades from board members and visitors for their vision of the project.

“What you are about to see sprang out of their mind,” Darter said, “out of their hearts and out of their hands.”

Craven said that several workers, including himself and Larkin, put in 70-80 hours of work each last week to ensure they were ready for the opening on Saturday.

The ribbon was cut by the children of museum exhibit designer Will Craven and the children of Matt Harrison, a museum board member.

After the ribbon was cut, the youth ran inside and explored the campsite, the tent, the Silver Reef Mine, the Night Sky, the coin drop pond, the animals and the two-cable mining system with buckets. For the latter, foam rocks were loaded into buckets, and the youth used a crank to move the buckets across the ceiling where they then dumped the rocks down a chute.

Visitors got to experience the Desert Discovery Room at the St. George Children’s Museum, St. George, Utah, Feb. 11, 2023 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

The children found time to roast marshmallows by the campfire while others spent time finding constellations in the desert night sky.

While some of the youth seemed worried about the cougar and javelina mounts on cliff edges in the corner of the rooms but found the courage to wave to the leering mammals.

Darter said the goal of this exhibit was to show visitors features of the local environment to help foster a love for nature and encourage youth to go explore “our backyard.”

Naturalists and outdoor enthusiasts were present to answer questions. The specialists had vendor booths with craft and art activities for the youth.

A representative of the Red Hills Desert Gardens was on hand with examples of prickly pear cacti and split one in half so visitors could feel the inside of the plant and how it collects moisture.

Visitors got to experience the Desert Discovery Room at the St. George Children’s Museum, St. George, Utah, Feb. 11, 2023 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

Leaping Lizards Reptile Experience featured live tortoises, lizards and snakes for visitors to see and touch.

“This room is really special to me personally as it shows Southern Utahns what our area has to offer,” Ivie said. “Having grown up here there are a lot of things that are really important to me.”

This is the second remodeled and new exhibit to open this year. The Story Castle Library opened on Jan. 14.

Ivie said the prehistoric exhibit will receive a makeover next.

The St. George Children’s Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Entry is $6.25 per person and children 2 and younger are free.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Yamashita has extensive experience reporting for small town media, covering a variety of subjects and events for The Virgin River Times and The Progress in Southern Nevada. Before a career in journalism, he worked a variety of jobs in criminal justice systems. Yamashita holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southern Utah University. He is an award-winning photographer and writer. He has been published in scholarly articles and poetry compilations. In his spare time, he practices and teaches martial arts.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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