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I.d.e.a. Museum

Art museum in Maricopa County, Arizona

Field	Value
name	i.d.e.a. Museum
logo	File:I.d.e.a. Museum logo.png
logo_alt	"idea" with puffy letters in multiple colors
logo_caption	imagination, design, experience, art
image	File:Idea Museum.jpg
alt	Gray building with blue trim
caption	Front entrance of museum
coordinates
former_name	Arizona Museum for Youth
established
dissolved
location	150 West Pepper Place
Mesa, Arizona 85201 USA
type	Children's museum
visitors	126,000 (2023)
founder	John O. Whiteman
director	Jarrad Bittner
chairperson	Allyn Bransby
parking
website
embedded

Mesa, Arizona 85201 USA The i.d.e.a. Museum, formerly the Arizona Museum for Youth, is a museum designed for exhibiting, teaching, and interacting with the fine arts. It changed its name on February 6, 2014, to i.d.e.a., which stands for "imagination, design, experience, art." The i.d.e.a. Museum is primarily designed for younger age groups but has exhibits, classes and activities designed for all age groups. As part of the exhibits, art classes, workshops and family programs are available to teach art principles and techniques. The i.d.e.a. Museum is run and operated by the City of Mesa, Arizona and is located at 150 Pepper Place in downtown Mesa.

History

The museum received its 501(c)(3) status in 1978 and was incorporated after several years in the preliminary development phase, bringing the dream of valley philanthropists Jack and John Whiteman to life. The museum was founded in 1980 as the only children's museum in the United States with a focus on fine art. In 1987, the Arizona Museum for Youth became a public/private partnership between the City of Mesa and the Arizona Museum for Youth Friends, Incorporated. In 2024, the facility closed for several montsh for widespread renovations.

Activities

Housed in a refurbished 1950s grocery store, the museum contains over 20,000 feet of public exhibition space featuring the Whiteman Family Exhibit Gallery, ArtVille, The HUB gallery, the Snackery, and three classrooms. The exhibit gallery showcases new exhibitions several times a year featuring artworks that reflect a chosen topic or theme. The HUB gallery is a space that has engaging art activities for all ages to participate in such as building with recyclable materials, creating art on a dry erase marker wall, making contraptions with the Rigamajig, and more. ArtVille is a permanent exhibition and activity area, especially tailored for children 0 – 4 years of age as a small town environment. The museum strives to provide an alternative to screen time.

Fine arts workshops are presented year-round for children between the ages of 6 months and 12 years. Family programs, summer camps, Girl Scout Badge classes, and special Saturday drop-in workshops are also offered that focuses on art and the museum's exhibitions. The three spaces are also used during school tours for related art activities led by trained Gallery Educators.

References

Ventura, Ignacio. (December 8, 2024). "Mesa's idea Museum reopens Dec. 13 with updates to inspire kids' creativity". [[Rio Salado College]].
Gutierrez, Nicole. (June 9, 2025). "Inside the 'idea Lab,' a new interactive space at Mesa's idea Museum that explores art and tech". [[E. W. Scripps Company]].
LeMoine, Leah. (March 13, 2025). "A New Idea from Mesa’s idea Museum". Cities West Media.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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