Phone +1 360-738-3886 | Founded 1998 | |
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Address 1312 Bay St, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA Hours Open today · 11AM–5PMSunday11AM–5PMMondayClosedTuesdayClosedWednesday11AM–5PMThursday11AM–5PMFriday11AM–5PMSaturday11AM–5PMSuggest an edit Similar Mount Baker Theatre, Heritage Flight Museum, Museum of Radio and Technology, Western Washington University, Museum of Northwest Art Profiles | ||
Spark museum of electrical invention bellingham museum
The SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention (formerly the American Museum of Radio and Electricity) is an interactive museum located in Bellingham, Washington, United States, which offers educational experiences for audiences of all ages through galleries and public programs that illustrate the development and use of electricity, radio and the related inventions that changed the course of human history. The museum features a collection of artifacts showcasing four centuries of human innovation from 1580 into the 1950s.
Contents
Spark museum of electrical invention
Museum history
The museum began in 1985 as an informal collection of radio sets, spare parts, schematics, recordings, and vintage magazines and manuals owned by a Bellingham resident, Jonathan Winter Winter's collection continued to grow, and by 1998, the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum was officially established, with the more than 800 radio sets from Winter's collection forming the core of the museum's collection.
The museum took on the name "American Museum of Radio and Electricity" in 2001 when it moved into its 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) facility and John Jenkins, a former sales and marketing executive at Microsoft, retired and became co-curator of the museum. Jenkins added his collection to the museum, which included early wireless and electrical devices, and rare books with first editions dating back to 1560 and written by Robert Boyle, Michael Faraday, C. F. du Fay, Benjamin Franklin, Luigi Galvani, William Gilbert, Joseph Henry, Heinrich Hertz, James Clerk Maxwell, Pieter van Musschenbroek, Georg Ohm, Hans Christian Ørsted, Alessandro Volta, among others.
Early in its history, the museum was featured on An American Moment. In 2012, the American Museum of Radio and Electricity became Spark Museum of Electrical Invention.
Collections
The museum's collections include:
Notable exhibits
Exhibits include:
Radio station
The museum operates the low-power radio station KMRE-LP in Bellingham. KMRE-LP focuses on showcasing SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention's vast and diverse media collection featuring music from the earliest cylinder recordings of 1888 through the Golden Age of Radio. The station is also geared toward cultivating local programming that provides educational, cultural and historical value to its listeners. KMRE was granted its license by the FCC on July 19, 2006.
SPARK science education program
The museum's education program includes outreach and community education. The outreach program augments the regular science curriculum of public schools, private schools and home-school networks in Western Washington through assemblies, in-class science courses and special focus tours. The community education program holds regular Science Saturday classes, summer camps, lectures and special events illuminating core facets of radio, electricity and physics. Hands-on classes include topics such as static electricity, magnetism, motors, circuits, and crystal radios.
Additionally, the museum works directly with educators, offering courses to increase grade school teachers' comfort with and proficiency in teaching science. Teachers taking part in this program receive continued education credits (clock hours) to fulfill key professional development goals.
In 2009, the SPARK education program served nearly 4,000 students.
Events
Aside from normal operations, the museum utilizes its Tesla Performance Center to host various events.
Past events include: