Cincy Center Museum
By Mike Marino

The Cincinnati Museum Center – Art Deco Meets History Education and Natural Science

When it comes to preserving the regional history and culture of our area, Cincinnati has it all under one magnificent roof known as the Cincinnati Museum Center. The center itself is not only the largest cultural institution in the the city, but a historic art deco repository and multi-museum complex housing a collection that encompasses more than 1.8 million artifacts, art works and archives, along with presenting programs that educate and entertain at the same time.

These programs include learning programs for teachers, students, day and overnight camps, naturalist programs, public lectures, tours of historic sites and community-wide cultural events. The Center delves into the mysteries of Cincinnati's natural history, that explains the past and the story of the people who first settled the region, not to mention the amazing growth over the centuries that Cincinnati has experienced. A past well preserved and well documented and a valuable treasured jewel in the crown of the Queen City.

Housed under the roof of the old Union Terminal, built in 1933, the building itself is a national landmark; a tribute to an era when art and architecture met in a head-on collision of form, function and style. Elegance exemplified, it was one of the great massive tributes to transportation when train travel was in vogue and stylish. and today is host to over one million visitors, young and old, a year.

All is not science and education at the museum complex, as the Terminal is also home to one of the largest collections of public art in the city housing over 18,000 square feet of art work that includes massive murals that pay tribute to the cultural heritage of the United States and especially our own fair city. Inside the massive structure are the Cincinnati History Museum, Library and Archive Center, a childrens museum, museum of natural history and science and an OMNIMAX theater. The prized collections, both permanent and temporary are watched over by the Geier Collections & Research Center, a state-of-the-art collections and research facility.

The Museum Center extends it's cultural outreach beyond it's art laden walls by engaging in a collaborative marriage that goes back over half a century with the Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. The project has one major goal on it's agenda, and that is to protect the 16,000 acre Richard and Lucille Durrell Edge of the Appalachia Preserve System located a mere 75 miles east of Cincy. The Preserve is a unique eco system that maintains habitat areas for rare plant and animal species indigenous to the region. The preserve is home to 11 diverse preserves that include places with such exotic names as Buzzardroost Rock, Lynx Prairie, Cave Hollow and The Wilderness. Four of these sites have been classified as National Natural Landmarks.

The Center goes above and beyond the presentation of artifacts and educational displays by offering numerous walking and bus tours along with lectures presented by experienced volunteer guides that are passionate about history, local culture and architecture as a part of the Cincinnati Heritage Program. This program is unique in that visitors get to see places that are not normally open to the general public, all with a goal of inspiring people to learn more about Cincinnati's unique history and cultural background, and all tours include lunch!

There is a cornucopia of cultural tours scheduled for 2013 that include tours of discovery of hidden treasures of the Queen City, a Subway Talk and Walk, the White Water Shaker Village tour and Cincinnati's Art Deco Architecture which is abundant.

The Billboard music charts at one time or another were ruled by Cincinnati singers who topped the charts and jukeboxes of America. They include such diverse acts from Doris Day to the Isley Brothers. Other Cincy artists were the Lemon Pipers with their hit “Green Tambourine” along with singers Otis Williams, the Heywoods, Pure Prairie League, the Casinos, Lonnie Mack and Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane.

If the song "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" happens to be one of your favorites then you won't want to miss the Take Me Out to the Ballparks Tour to explore the bases loaded history of America's Past Time in America's Queen City.

When I was living in Detroit, I volunteered at the Henry Ford Museum Complex as a guide and the Cincinnati Museum Center offers a program as well where you can volunteer as a docent or guide and be a part of the cultural action. To find out more about volunteer opportunities contact the Director of Volunteer Services by email at volunteer@cincymuseum.org or call them at 287-7025.

Natural History, Culture and Art are in abundance in Cincy and the Cincinnati Museum Center is the epicenter of learning that is world class by all standards. It's more than a museum complex..it's an all encompassing experience in education, art and culture that will appeal to young and old alike. So if you have never visited the center, or if you're a visitor, enjoy Cincinnati...naturally.

The Cincinnati Museum Center located at 1301 Western Avenue is open Monday – Saturday, from 10 AM to 5 PM and on Sundays from 11 AM to 6 PM. For more more information call them at 287-7010 or visit their website at http://www.cincymuseum.org