About the Network

The Arkansas Discovery Network was funded by The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in 2006 with a grant of more than $7 million. It is an innovative network of seven museums and educational centers in Arkansas that focuses on making hands-on, interactive museum experiences more accessible to the state's 498,000 schoolchildren and their families.

Fred W. Smith, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, said, "We know that many children in Arkansas seldom, if ever, have the opportunity to engage in the exciting experiential learning that comes from visiting our nation's first-rate discovery museums. The Discovery Network will allow children even in the most remote parts of the state to share in the hands-on learning and the sheer fun that comes from experiencing wonderful museum exhibits."

Strategically Located
The Network's seven member organizations are located strategically throughout Arkansas to extend outreach to all areas. The museums support each other by sharing operational strategies, collaborating with teachers and expanding educational programs. Network members include the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, Mid America Science Museum in Hot Springs, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Texarkana Museums System in Texarkana, Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover and Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro. The University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education in Fayetteville will host network exhibits until a permanent northwest Arkansas museum partner is established.

Our Mission
A planning grant was awarded the Network in 2003 to study the potential benefits of a state-wide network of museums. Pilot exhibits and touring educational shows increased visitation and taught museums valuable lessons in direct marketing and multi-organization coordination. Capacity building workshops trained museum boards and staff in new approaches to fund-raising, strategic planning and marketing. Attendance at out-of-state workshops exposed partner museums to the latest best practices in the field. Research pinpointed the needs of the state's educators and visitor interests previously unrealized. Focus groups with state educators and others fostered new interest and collaboration. This effort led to the development of a rich relationship between the partners and other educational agencies.

With this new grant, the Network partners can continue fostering relationships with schools, communities and organizations while providing innovative, challenging and exciting educational opportunities to all the regions of the state, especially the underserved rural areas. This will be accomplished, in part, through a mobile museum vehicle, engaging interactive custom and rental exhibits, ongoing contact with community and educational advisory groups, teacher workshops, and networking with other museums, libraries and community centers in the state and throughout the country. All these efforts will contribute to a unique synergy of systems that cannot fail to improve the quality educational experiences in Arkansas.

Learn more about the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation: http://www.dwrf.org/