about
About the Museum at Prairiefire
Mission
Through a unique collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History, as well as with other cultural and educational institutions in the nation, the Museum at Prairiefire is a place that provides access for all to understand and celebrate natural history and science in our region and around the world. The Museum engages visitors and students with world-class exhibitions, important programming, and significant educational and STEM opportunities.
Visit and Explore
The Museum at Prairiefire hosts the American Museum of Natural History’s (New York City) timely and scientifically accurate exhibitions, curated by its top research scientists. Each year, the American Museum of Natural History develops new exhibitions that explore wide-ranging topics such as the powerful link between humans and horses; fireflies and medicine; and the biggest, smallest, and most amazing species of all time.
Complementing the AMNH exhibitions, Museum at Prairiefire offerings include the Discovery Room for children ages 3-12, events and programming such as Science Happy Hour and Little Explorers Club, stunning artifacts from national and regional collections, and two amazing Virtual Reality Experiences.
History
The Museum at Prairiefire was founded in 2008 and opened in 2014 through a unique partnership with the world renowned American Museum of Natural History. Until now, the American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869 in New York, has not collaborated to this degree with another museum in the world. Because of this unprecedented association, the Museum at Prairiefire has premiere access to the American Museum of Natural History’s timely and scientifically accurate exhibitions, renowned educational resources and some of the best scientists in the world.
Museum at Prairiefire is a place that provides access for all to understand and celebrate natural history and science in our region and around the world.
AMNH
American Museum of Natural History
About AMNH
The American Museum of Natural History, located in New York City and founded in 1869, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses 45 permanent exhibition halls, including the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium, as well as galleries for temporary exhibitions. Five active research divisions and three cross-disciplinary centers support 200 scientists, whose work draws on a world-class permanent collection of more than 32 million specimens and artifacts, including specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, as well as one of the largest natural history libraries in the Western Hemisphere. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, it is the first American museum authorized to grant the Ph.D. degree. In 2012, the Museum began offering a pilot Master of Arts in Teaching with a specialization in earth science. Approximately 5 million visitors from around the world came to the Museum last year, and its exhibitions and Space Shows can be seen in venues on five continents.
The Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world and the universe through a wide-reaching program of scientific research, education and exhibitions.
Long celebrated for the depth of its collections and the wide scope of its halls, the Museum has continuously been at the forefront of scientific discovery and interpretive programming. The Museum is dedicated both to acquiring scientific knowledge and to sharing that information with the broadest audience possible. By combining research and educational efforts, the Museum seeks to expand public understanding of the cosmos and the diversity of life on Earth.
museum team
Candy Merrill
Founding Director
913.333.3305
Terri Thompson
Director of Community Engagement
913.333.3503
Dr. Kathryn McKinney
Education Director
913.333.3504
Educational Programming
Chris Muehlbach
Operations Director
913.333.3508
Cathie O'Sullivan
Education Coordinator
913.333.3516
Group Tours and Community Outreach
Ian Clark
Education Coordinator
Guest Experience
Collections
Tim Shaban
Education Specialist
913.333.3551
Field Trips and Programs
the building
A Building Made From Space
Age Materials
The Museum at Prairiefire is the first building in North America to feature dichroic glass on its exterior. This light-bending material, developed by NASA to protect its astronauts’ eyes from the radiation of the sun, absorbs light as tone color on its exterior and filters into an entirely different hue on its interior. Observe how the fiery reds and oranges of the Museum’s exterior create a wave of cool blues and purples on its interior.
Architect: Jonathan Kharfen | Verner Johnson, Inc.
building videos
The Design
Jonathan describes how he goes about designing a building and why theme plays a pivotal role in every aspect of the process.
The Dichroic Glass
Jonathan goes into detail on the scientific processes used to create what is possibly the most striking visual component of the Museum at Prairiefire’s design: the dichroic glass windows.
The Metal Panels
Jonathan describes the metal panels that complement the dichroic glass that makes up the Museum at Prairiefire’s façade.
The Stone
Jonathan explains how he had to search both in and out of Kansas to find the stones that would properly evoke the image of a fire burning through the prairie.
The Interior
Jonathan goes into great detail about how he designs buildings from the inside-out, and how every facet of the Museum at Prairiefire was designed with fire in mind.
The Curtain Wall
Jonathan goes into great detail about how he designs buildings from the inside-out, and how every facet of the Museum at Prairiefire was designed with fire in mind.
The Balcony
Jonathan explains how he used the natural geology of Kansas itself, and the marine fossils buried within the limestone, to create the stunning second floor balcony.
The Architect
Jonathan thinks back to his career as an architect, and how it led to him one day designing what would become the Museum at Prairiefire.
The board
Lathrop & Gage, LLP
American Museum of Natural History
QM Power, Inc.
Hill Financial
CSG International
Merrill Companies
Douthit, Fret Rouse Gentil & Rhodes LLC
Parker Communications Group
Kansas State University
Johnson County Community College
The Sosland Foundation