The founder of a nationally recognized museum in Rockford is retiring this year.
The Discovery Center Museum has received accolades locally and nationally. A couple of recent ones include Trip Advisor – Traveler’s Choice Award and the Rockford Register Star newspaper “What Rocks” contest for the “Best Child Friendly Place.”
Sarah Wolf is the executive director of the museum – its first and only since she and others founded it in the 1980s.
Wolf said she started her career as a teacher. She was actively involved in the Rockford Area Arts Council and the Junior League of Rockford when an opportunity came to change the city’s old post office building into something else. She said the idea for what is now the Discovery Center Museum came to her when she took a trip to a St. Louis suburb, Kirkwood, to see what she originally thought would be a magic show.
“It wasn't a magic show at all. It was a renovated, great big old home, like a mansion, filled with exhibits that were all interactive, experiential,” she said. “And so, this light bulb went off, ‘this is what we need.’ And so, it was really fun to see my mother and father and my two little boys and me all having a good time experiencing things a little bit differently.”
She said after two years of trying to figure things out, she and some friends started creating exhibits. At first, the space was used for school field trips.
But then Wolf said parents started to learn about this place and wanted to take their children outside of school.
“We decided then that summer, we would open to the public during the summer,” she said. “And then it just started very humbly, and it just kind of kept going.”
Wolf said she never went back to teaching. The center ultimately moved a new place. There have been many different exhibits over the years but the one thing that she continues to be proud of is the outside space.
“We built most of that park in a three-week timeframe, which is pretty amazing when you see the park,” Wolf added. “And people volunteered their time. Like when Marshfield still existed, they gave two days off for anybody working there to volunteer and come and help us.”
She said there is something called museum fatigue and this area helps with that.
“You know, if you go into a museum, you can only stand for so long,” she said. “And even though it's all very engaging, you need a break, you either need to go into a cafe or something.”
Wolf said the real pleasure of being the executive director is watching how people enjoy the museum. She said that now that people know that she’s retiring they feel compelled to tell her their favorite memory of it.
“Some that come up to me and said, ‘we still talk about the first time we came to Discovery Center, or, you know, being at Discovery Center helped my little boy learn how to share,” Wolf added, “‘because he hadn't been with other little children very often.’”
Wolf said she’s had plenty of help to keep the museum going. A board of directors was established in 1985. The people on the board can serve for up to six years. In addition to this, Wolf said other museums across the country have been a source of support. These partnerships started when the pandemic hit. The museum partnered with other ones via Zoom meetings once a week. The collaborations have not stopped although the frequency has changed.
“We are still Zooming once a month. And actually, I still Zoom with some of the Wisconsin Children's museums too, because I already knew some of them,” she explained. “So, we spend a lot of time zooming. But I think that we have all become better museums, because of that collaborating.”
Wolf plans to retire this month. She said she is looking forward to getting more exercise, playing bridge, and visiting more museums in her free time.
The board of directors is looking for her replacement.
