Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry on Sunday officially changed its name to the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in acknowledgment of a record donation by the billionaire Illinois businessman.
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry officially changed its name to the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in acknowledgment of a record donation by the billionaire Illinois businessman.
Signs on the museum's grounds in Hyde Park reflected the new name, as did its website and account on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. To celebrate, visitors were granted free admission on Sunday.
While other changes were made as well, the museum emphasized that much remains the same.
A page on its website featured the headline "New Name, Same Museum."
The name change was first announced in 2019 after a $125 million donation from Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel.
The museum, famously located within the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition's former Palace of Fine Arts building, said the move aimed to recognize "the largest single gift in the museum’s history."
But they were "building towards a time when the outside of our Museum reflects the progress we've made on the inside" before officially changing their name.
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As part of their new identity, the museum also revealed a new logo and experiences. Among them, is a new Griffin Studio, "a one-of-a-kind immersive digital gallery" with a premier exhibit dubbed Notes to Neurons, "an exploration of the bond between music and emotions." The renovated Henry Crown Space Center also opened on Sunday and the SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft made its debut.
Officials previously said a majority of Griffin's donation will be used for "securing the museum’s long-term future" and support plans "to create the Pixel Studio, a state-of-the-art digital gallery and performance space that will be the only experience of its kind in North America."
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"As we re-emerge as the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, we're moving forward with great purpose and respect for our history—challenging ourselves to progress, to modernize, to innovate, and to place our visitors and community at the center of all that we do," the museum wrote on its website.
