Thursday, February 27, 2025–10:00 a.m.
-News Release-
Two of Georgia Museums, Inc.’s institutions, Booth Western Art Museum and Tellus Science Museum, have been recognized for their contributions to the museum industry at the annual Georgia Association of Museums (GAM) conference. The awards highlight both museums’ dedication to innovation, accessibility, and education.
Booth Western Art Museum
Booth Western Art Museum received accolades for its bilingual digital tour, an initiative spearheaded by museum educator McKenzie Brick. Recognizing the need for greater accessibility for the region’s Spanish-speaking community, which makes up over 13% of the local population, the museum developed a low-cost, web-based tour that delivers an engaging, bilingual experience.
Up against budget constraints and a lack of resources, Brick and colleague Erin Zaballa utilized Panda Suite, an existing low-cost platform, to create an interactive and accessible digital tour. The team also leveraged Speechify’s AI voice generator for lifelike text-to-speech narration and worked closely with Spanish-speaking staff and community consultants to ensure accurate and culturally appropriate translations.
“It’s a gratifying experience to be a part of a project to make the Booth Museum and its galleries more accessible,” said Brick. “I’m excited to continue this journey and find innovative ways to make our museum experiences more inclusive and engaging for all.”
The tour is free and available on any mobile device and includes features for low-vision visitors, such as enlarged images, read-aloud text, and visual descriptions. The tour was tested by local high school students currently enrolled in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program and members of the Oral Language Acquisition School (OLA Language School), who provided valuable feedback that helped refine the final product.
Tellus Science Museum
Tellus Science Museum’s annual summer internship program was honored with GAM’s Student Project Award for developing a new Solar System Traveling Trunk program.
Designed by interns Renee Dunn and Katherine Underwood, the portable educational resource aligns with Georgia’s state science curriculum and provides interactive lessons for students suitable for a wide range of grade levels.
“Creating this program was so much fun!” said Katherine Underwood. “Renee and I worked on it from beginning to end. It was a capstone project that came together as we worked with Tellus educators and got to know more about museum programming.”
“Working with other educators, Renee and I were able to gather great ideas and create a trunk based on one of the museum galleries to be used as a resource for teachers,” said Katherine Underwood.“We were very excited to receive the Student Project Award because it reflected the hard work and determination we put into the internship program.”
Each lesson kit includes visual presentations, vocabulary lists, hands-on activities, and detailed lesson plans tailored for classroom use. The 4th-grade program introduces students to planetary classification and stellar differences through a Space Bingo game, while the 6th-grade program fosters comparative analysis of planetary characteristics with an engaging Gallery Walk activity. At the high school level, students explore the origins and dynamics of the solar system through a Guess Who game, reinforcing their understanding of celestial objects through active learning.
“Creating the program was an exciting project for me since I did not come from an education background,” said Renee Dunn. “I was able to learn so many new things and have fun working with Katherine and other educators. I was surprised to learn that we won the award, and it meant so much to me and Katherine to have our hard work be recognized and honored.”
About Booth Western Art Museum
Booth Western Art Museum, an Affiliate to the Smithsonian Institution, is a 120,000 square foot museum located in Cartersville, Georgia, where guests are invited to see America’s story through contemporary Western artwork, a Presidential Gallery, and Civil War art gallery. Open since August 2003, Booth Museum is the only museum of its kind in the Southeast and was named the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 USA Today’s 10BEST Reader’s Choice award Best Art Museum in the United States. To learn more about Booth Western Art Museum, visit www.boothmuseum.org.
About Tellus Science Museum
Tellus Science Museum is a world-class 120,000 square foot Smithsonian Affiliate museum located in Cartersville, GA just off I-75 at exit 293. The museum’s exhibits open minds and ignite a passion for science. Tellus features four main galleries: The Weinman Mineral Gallery, The Fossil Gallery, The Millar Science in Motion Gallery, and The Collins Family My Big Backyard. A digital planetarium and an observatory with a state-of-the-art 20-inch telescope is also located at Tellus. For more information about Tellus Science Museum, visit www.tellusmuseum.org.
About Georgia Museums, Inc.
Georgia Museums, Inc. (GMI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Cartersville, Georgia, overseeing four distinguished institutions: Booth Western Art Museum, Bartow History Museum, Tellus Science Museum, and Savoy Automobile Museum. Committed to preserving and promoting history, art, science, and culture, GMI provides immersive exhibits, educational programming, and dynamic events designed to engage and inspire diverse audiences.