California’s Central Valley doesn’t just produce one in four bites of food eaten nationwide; it’s also a place where ideas are planted, grow, and flourish. That’s the central concept behind the Modesto Children’s Museum’s – MoChiMu – upcoming large-scale exhibit installation, Food for Thought, officially announced at the museum’s third annual Imagination Celebration gala on Sept. 18.
Renderings released by the museum and produced by Oakland-based design studio Gyroscope Inc. (who designed all of the museum’s opening day exhibits) show the new 600 square foot hands-on space as a laboratory of agricultural innovation through play. It’ll all be centered on an interactive sculptural centerpiece made in classic MoChiMu style from chickens, cows, mushrooms, carrots, and other Central Valley staples, each connected to the next by steel tracks and rolling balls representing energy and action.
The idea, according to the museum, is to discover “Unexpected Connections” between agriculture and innovation. For example, a ball that rolls down a cow’s back and is released via a lift of the tail will land in a power plant. It’s a simplified way of showing actual ongoing work to repurpose what’s been thought of as waste (cow manure) into material that can power vehicles and homes. From there, visitors can gather that “energy” from the plant and send it onward through steel tracks, lighting up fantastical “mushroom skyscrapers” – again, illustrating real work underway to explore how mushroom fibers can be used to create “bricks” for building homes of the future.
The exhibit is inspired by the work of local nonprofit BEAM Circular. It will allow families to experiment with the big ideas behind the circular bioeconomy – an emerging industry for which the Central Valley is poised to be a global convening place. BEAM Circular’s work focuses on transforming waste into opportunity by advancing economic opportunities by launching businesses that reframe agricultural waste into useful byproducts. Design of the exhibit was funded by a BEAM Circular grant program backed by Stanislaus County that aims to expose youth to new career opportunities, innovation, and science and engineering skills.
In addition to the “Unexpected Connections” cause-and-effect machine, the exhibit is also planned to feature “Win-Win Pinball,” a first-of-its-kind three-player pinball game where players explore the ways that all of the parts of an almond crop – including shells, hulls, and tree trimmings – can create value instead of going to waste. There’s also a “Grow Everything Lab” to explore local plants and produce, make observations with a video microscope, and learn the real stories of how agricultural innovation isn’t just good for the planet; it’s also good for business, supporting a thriving and diversified economy of the future.
The Food for Thought exhibit experience is made possible by premier sponsor, The Raymus Foundation, with additional support from the Kayla Bernardi Bee Positive Foundation and Steve and Jennie Zeff & Family – all longtime benefactors of the nonprofit museum, which was founded in 2019 and opened its physical location in downtown Modesto in 2023.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome families into an entirely new STEAM-and-career-centered exhibit,” said Katie Trausch, the museum’s CEO. “It’s important to us that MoChiMu continuously reflects the stories of our county and region, and that it instills the skills that its kids will need in their future careers. Food for Thought introduces families to the flexible thinking, creative connections, and ‘anything’s-possible’ mindset that will power the Valley’s forward momentum.”
Food for Thought will join the museum’s other nine interactive exhibit areas, including a Water Lab, an Air Lab, a kid-sized Valley Proud grocery store, the MSR Maker Lab (recently “plussed” with an interactive digital projection-based exhibit), and the two-story Adventure Climber. It will replace the Powerful Pollinators exhibit, which, the museum says, can now be rented out to other children’s museums, spreading Modesto’s story regionally and beyond.
The big question is when families will be able to get hands-on with becoming “connection engineers,” seeing the opportunity in what others consider waste. According to Trausch, “We expect that visitors will be planting their ideas for the future in the Food for Thought exhibit in Spring 2027.”
Learn more about Modesto Children’s Museum at modestochildrensmuseum.org or by following @modestochildrensmuseum on social media.
