Rochester Business Journal

The Strong has received a $150,000 grant for an ongoing transformation of its second floor into an artifact-dense, interactive exhibit titled “America at Play,” museum officials announced Thursday.

The funding came from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Museums for America Program. The Strong is one of 152 museums nationwide to receive grants out of 470 that applied. 

“America at Play” will consist of five thematic zones, Strong officials said—electronic games, games and puzzles, dolls and dollhouses, construction toys and miniature worlds. The exhibit represents the first historical overview of three centuries of play in America and will tell the story of the evolution of play and how it has affected both children and adults, officials said.

Funding will be applied toward making and installing a 4,200-square-foot thematic exhibit on games and puzzles titled “Game Time!” The museum’s game and puzzle collection is the largest diversified collection of such artifacts in a public institution in the United States, officials noted.

The first “America at Play” zone is “eGameRevolution,” a 5,000-square-foot interactive exhibit that opened to the public November 2010. Guests can play games from throughout the history of video games—from Pong to Xbox 360.

“Game Time!”—the second zone—is scheduled to open next April.

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