Hot Wheels: Race to Win!
February 5, 2022 - May 15, 2022
Speed, power, performance... Buckle up and race with the most famous toy vehicles on the planet—Hot Wheels! Be part of a dynamic race team working together to build and test the world’s fastest (and safest) speed machines, using Hot Wheels® diecast cars to experiment and play. This behind-the-scenes look at the thrilling world of racing investigates the scientific process for designing super-fast cars. Hands-on experiences, authentic race gear, and captivating memorabilia will engage families in the process of experimenting with speed, power, and performance using Hot Wheels cars and track as the their tools. In Hot Wheels™: Race to Win™ children and families join the race team crew and explore four zones in the team garage.
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Dinosaurs Unearthed
June 16, 2018 - January 6, 2019
Roaring, moving, life-size dinosaurs thundered into Sloan Museum at Courtland Center. State-of-the-art and scientifically accurate, down to the feathers on T. rex, Dinosaurs Unearthed featured over 15 animatronic dinosaurs, as well as giant skeletons, fossil casts of skulls, claws, and horns, real specimens of Mosasaur and Spinosaurus teeth, an Oviraptor egg, and even coprolite (dinosaur poop).
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RACE: Are We So Different?
August 4 - December 9, 2018
This exhibit was the first in a series of events designed to inspire community conversations, presented by the University of Michigan-Flint and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. The RACE: Are We So Different? exhibition explores the science, history, and everyday experience of race in the United States.
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An Equal Opportunity Lie
January 15 - December 9, 2018
In 1967, Flint Mayor Floyd McCree, resigned his appointed position, stating, “I refuse to live an equal opportunity lie.” He did so in protest of the city commission’s defeat of an open housing ordinance. Using objects and images from Sloan Museum’s collection, this exhibition examines the housing segregation that characterized Flint’s residential development, as well as efforts to wrest the city free from discriminatory housing practices.
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Flint Sit Down Strike Exhibit
Closed December 9, 2018
Celebrating the 1936-37 Sit-Down Strike in Flint, Michigan, Sloan Museum's exhibit tells the story of the struggles of automotive workers and their families, as well as what was happening in General Motors offices, through videos, displays, and hands-on activities.
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Flint and the American Dream
Closed December 9, 2018
Flint’s dramatic history as the birthplace of General Motors comes to life in the Flint and the American Dream exhibit. Visitors journey through Flint in the 20th century, from the birth of the auto industry to the present. Encounter the ups and downs of General Motors, the birth of the UAW, Flint’s role as the “Arsenal of Democracy,” and discover what life was like during the 1950s-70s. This exhibit includes over 600 artifacts and photographs, including rare antique automobiles, colorful neon signs, period clothing, household furnishings and commercial goods.
Genesee Regional Women’s Hall of Fame
Closed December 9, 2018
The Zonta Club of Flint proudly presents the Genesee Regional Women’s Hall of Fame to honor those women in our community who have made a difference and changed the history of Genesee County. Visit their website for more information.The Genesee County Regional Women’s Hall of Fame will recognize the accomplishments of Genesee County women, past and present. The Zonta Club of Flint will strive to bring greater visibility to the roles that women have played in Genesee County history and acknowledge that women impact and improve our lives everyday. An exhibit honoring these women has been on display at Sloan Museum since 2011.
Collecting Flint from A to Z
November 2014 - July 2018
Most exhibits are about one thing; this exhibit is about everything!
Sloan Museum has a lot of artifacts, nearly 400,000 of them! You name it, we probably have one. A large, eclectic collection is required to accurately record life in Flint and Genesee County over the last 200 years. Collecting Flint from A to Z highlights 26 groups from our vast and varied collection, normally hidden away in museum storage. Each alphabetized set reveals something about our shared history. See historic automobiles and firearms, radios and wedding dresses, furniture, postcards and everything in between.
Check out Artifact Spotlight to view selected artifacts from the exhibit.
Be The Astronaut
January 20-May 13, 2018
Blast off in your own space capsule and discover the future of space exploration! Come aboard Starship Sloan, explore interactive navigation and technology stations, and get ready to pilot your own mission. Videogame interfaces and hands-on command centers allow YOU to become the engineers and astronauts that make space flight possible. Be The Astronaut is a traveling exhibit by Eureka Exhibits.
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Art At Work: Early GM Designs of Dick Ruzzin
Extended through May 6, 2018
One of General Motor’s most prolific car designers, Dick Ruzzin got his start in GM design as a Junior Designer in Oldsmobile Exterior Design Studio. He would ultimately spend over 40 years designing for GM in its various studios for its various brands, before retiring as the Director of Design for Chevrolet cars. This exhibition features works from the artist's early career, 1964-1979. It was a time that Ruzzin describes as a “hot-bed of design activity” under legendary Vice-President of Design Bill Mitchell.
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Adventures with Clifford The Big Red Dog
September 16-December 30, 2017
This exhibit transformed Sloan Museum's gallery into Clifford's home on Birdwell Island! Visitors encountered a colossal nine-foot tall Clifford with a tail to slide down. Children worked together to fill Clifford’s big dog bowl, and gained self-confidence on stage with Clifford and his pals, along with many other activities designed to promote early childhood development and Kindergarten readiness.
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Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
January 21-September 3, 2017
This blockbuster exhibition took visitors back in time to 1912 with replica boarding passes of actual passengers aboard Titanic. Visitors experienced the life of Titanic, moving through the ship’s construction to life on board, the ill-fated sinking, and amazing artifact recovery efforts. They explored re-created first and third class cabins, encountered the freezing iceberg wall, and experienced countless stories of heroism and humanity, as well as over 100 artifacts recovered from the ship’s debris field. In the Memorial Gallery, visitors scanned the memorial wall with their boarding passes to discover whether their passenger and traveling companions survived or perished.
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In The Dark
September 17-December 30, 2016
The dark: a place of mystery. Sometimes scary, but always intriguing, darkness beckons exploration and represents the unknown. But it’s also a natural evolutionary selective pressure that has caused plants and animals to adapt to ecosystems like caves, the deep sea, the forest at night, and underneath the ground. In the Dark visitors explored four types of dark ecosystems via electronic, mechanical and computer interactives, immersive dioramas, and lifelike models.
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A Bug's World
May 21-September 4, 2016
Giant bugs spent summer 2016 hanging out in Sloan Museum! Visitors traded sizes with insects and encountered bugs looming large in this interactive exhibit. Visitors learned about entomology—the study of insects—while exploring common backyard species magnified 40-120 times their size in scientifically accurate animatronic detail. Aspiring entomologists investigated giant replicas of 5 species: Chinese praying mantis, stick bug, swallowtail butterfly caterpillar, desert locust, and rhinoceros beetle.
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Water's Extreme Journey
January 23-May 8, 2016
Journey through an interactive maze that engages visitors in an exciting quest to stay clean, while flowing through rivers, lakes, backyards, and into homes. After exploring the maze, delve into Flint’s water system history, learn the science of filtration, examine current issues and solutions, and investigate the Flint River today.
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