Track Our Progress and Future Plans

Milestones

  • The Children’s Museum of Central Oregon was founded as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2015 by Kayla Wopschall.

  • From 2016 - 2019 we hosted STEAM-based summer camps in Bend and pop-up museums throughout Central Oregon.

  • All programming and events were paused in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • In 2022 a newly energized board took over and reimagined CMCO with a new focus on building a permanent museum while continuing to develop and re-launch the mobile museum exhibits and programming.

  • In 2023 we launched a successful grassroots fundraising campaign to raise $100,000. These funds were used to develop the Visitor Experience Plan and exhibit concept designs for the museum.

    We also re-launched the mobile museum and started offering STEAM-based experiences at festivals and events.

  • Stay tuned over the next year as we launch our Capital Campaign for building the museum and take the mobile museum to schools, libraries, and community centers throughout Central Oregon.

Volcanic Wonder: future exhibit zone at CMCO

Museum Vision & Strategy

In 2023 we held multiple stakeholder meetings, a community forum, and conducted a community survey to gather input about what you want the Children’s Museum of Central Oregon to be.

  • We invite you to dive into our Visitor Experience Plan to share our vision of a world class children’s museum for Central Oregon.

  • Review the strategic pillars guiding our growth over the next 10 years

Life on the river: future exhibit zone at CMCO