Many years ago when we were trying to start up the Orion Science Center, we gained some insight into how big city museums and science centers operate. One such institution rented two warehouses to store retired museum exhibits because they had no plan for getting rid of the old as they were replaced by the new. A few of those old exhibit materials came into our possession merely because we were willing to haul them away. Shortly after we got our exhibits, the rest of the stored materials were shipped to a landfill in order to avoid the cost of further storage. What a waste! This experience inspired us to create a business to serve the museum community which we are calling Museum Exchange. The idea is to identify institutions with excess exhibit and materials inventory and connect them with other museums that need new exhibits. The selling institution will recover some of their cost in creating exhibits, those in need of exhibits will acquire them at a cheaper than new cost, and Orion Center will earn a commission to help fund our operations. It's a win-win-win solution. |

