Carson City Children’s Museum receives $10,000 grant

The E.L. Cord Foundation awarded $10,000 to the Children’s Museum.

The money will be used to renovate the museum’s ocean, arctic, savanna, and forest biomes, which provide visitors with information about wildlife, vegetation, and climate.

“This funding is critical because it allows us to finish these exhibits with life size animal replicas that are sure to capture the imagination of the families that come to our museum,” said Casey Gilles, president of the museum’s Board of Directors. “The museum receives no state support so we must rely on private philanthropy to maintain our programs.”

The Carson City museum also has a new director, Benjamin Korn, who joined in November, 2018.

Korn has a master of arts in Non Profit Arts Administration from Golden Gate University and has worked as a development officer with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Pacifica, Oregon State University’s College of Liberal Arts, and the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. He was most recently a teacher in Washoe County, where he served as interim orchestra director at Wooster High School.

“I took this job because it was clear that I could have an impact and increase the budget and quality of exhibits in a relatively short amount of time,” said Korn. “The museum is universally loved here in Carson City. Virtually every family with toddlers has enjoyed our offerings. My most significant contribution will be presenting our programs to the foundation community in Reno. We’ve already had some success. The E.L. Cord Foundation recently granted us $10,000 to update our exhibits and Carson City is going to spend $50,000 to build on outdoor play area in front of the museum.”

The museum is located at 813 N. Carson St. and is open 10 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. daily except on major holidays. Admission is free for children 1 year old and younger, $4 for children aged 2-15, $6 for individuals aged 16-64, and $5 for seniors and military.