Museum Updates

The last 18 months have been an exciting time for the museum. We
have welcomed talented new staff and have made progress in many
areas, including community partnerships, wayfinding signage, and
exhibit improvements.
The museum made many Museum Gallery improvements, including
a new exhibit on Mark Twain’s inventions, a refresh of the
Huckleberry Finn raft exhibit, (a visitor favorite) and a new feature
of Mark Twain’s family tree. A special highlight is the new Behind
the Scenes Curator Tour, which allows visitors to hear interesting
facts and stories about our campus using their own smartphone via
QR codes. This free tour addition was made possible by a
sponsorship from Gilstrap Restaurants Ltd.
The Museum Gallery also features a new exhibit case that tells the
story of how museum’s 15 original Norman Rockwell paintings came
to Hannibal. Speaking of Hannibal, the museum’s updated
wayfinding signage helps our visitors navigate our eight-building
campus more easily while enjoying their time. We also redesigned
our tickets to help with navigation. The new “Making Your Mark”
rotating exhibit enables local creatives to showcase how Hannibal
continues to inspire people today. We have had several local
creatives display their work and give artist talks about their creative
process. The museum completed an Exhibit Ideation Phase with
community listening sessions as a start in reimaging the museum
campus for the future.