Spark!Lab

Draper Spark!Lab, the popular hands-on invention experience from the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, reopens July 1 at the National Museum of American History in a new, open and flexible 2,000-square-foot space with the look and feel of an inventor’s workspace. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 will create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and work their way through the invention process from start to finish.

The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation will open its first permanent public home—the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation—at the National Museum of American History July 1. The Hall will feature “Places of Invention,” a signature 3,500 square-foot exhibition examining hotspots of invention throughout history; Draper Spark!Lab, a hands-on space for children aged 6 to 12; and “Inventive Minds,” a small gallery that will introduce the work of the Lemelson Center.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is transforming how its audiences will experience history beginning July 1 when it opens exhibitions, learning places and programming spaces all centered on the theme of innovation. The first floor of the museum’s West Wing will open with 45,000-square-feet featuring exhibitions that explore the history of American business, showcase “hot spots” of invention and put the spotlight on the National Numismatic Collection.

The west wing exhibition spaces of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History are about to undergo an extensive $37 million renovation beginning this month. The construction work on the 127,000-square-foot space will be completed by Grunley Construction Company Inc. of Rockville, Md. The Philadelphia-based architectural firm EwingCole prepared the design and engineering plans for the museum. During the estimated two-and-a-half-year construction project, the center core and east wing of the museum will remain open.