Fort Collins Museum of Discovery

A nonprofit organization


Help Us Celebrate 10 Years. Give the Gift of Discovery.

The importance of community is something you hear often from us at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery – and with good reason! As our 10th anniversary year draws to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on the power of community and the profound impact it has on the museum. It's a time when we come together, not only to celebrate our shared successes, but also to acknowledge the challenges we've faced and the strength we've drawn from one another. Through the support of our community, we can now celebrate what we’ve built together:

  • The Teen Self-Care Fair, in partnership with Imagine Zero Coalition and the Alliance for Suicide Prevention, engaged over 1,000 youth and their caregivers in conversation and resource-sharing related to youth mental health. 
  • Sonic Spotlight, a music showcase for emerging artists aged 22 and younger hosted in collaboration with Bohemian Foundation and 105.5 Colorado Sound, provided over 50 artists in Northern Colorado with the opportunity to collaborate and “level-up” their craft.
  • The Indigenous Science, Technology, Arts, and Resilience (ISTAR) program grew from a one-week summer camp to a year-round program including a two-week camp, after school support through ISTAR Connections, and quarterly gatherings that connect Native and Indigenous families. 
  • Summer Mobile Program, a traveling, bilingual engagement partnership between Fort Collins Bookmobile, Poudre Libraries, Larimer 4H, Food Bank of Larimer County, and FCMoD brought lunch, STEAM activities, and books to more than 2,400 participants in eight neighborhoods.
  • The museum’s Discovery for All program supported a wide array of access, with free or reduced-price visits making up nearly half of all museum admissions in 2023.
  • FCMoD continues to host world-class special exhibitions that inspire curiosity and spark conversations, with four exciting, all ages experiences slated through 2025.

These examples, while deeply significant to our work, are only a glimpse of what happens every day at FCMoD. To explore in greater detail the breadth of community collaboration at the museum, as well as see our upcoming offerings for 2024 and beyond, we invite you to check out the Impact page on our website.

We are incredibly grateful to our members, donors, partners, and visitors who make Fort Collins Museum of Discovery such a vital community resource. Your continued support is critical to this work, and we are so grateful to be a part of this vibrant community.

Mission

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery creates meaningful opportunities to learn, reflect, and have fun through hands-on and collections-based explorations in science and culture.

Background Statement

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery is the result of an unprecedented private-public partnership between two legacy museums. Discovery Science Center (DSC) a hands-on, science museum and the Fort Collins Museum (FCM), a dynamic public history museum.

Although the Fort Collins Museum was officially founded in 1975, it actually began in 1939 with the acquisition and restoration of the historic Janis Cabin. In 1941, the FCM opened in Library Park as the Pioneer Museum. By 1976, the Pioneer Museum had outgrown its small building and moved to the 1904 Carnegie Library building, becoming the Fort Collins Museum. FCM offered minds-on and hands-on three-dimensional historical experiences for the community. FCM was the oldest collecting institution in Fort Collins--and the only one focusing on preserving the cultural and natural heritage of our community and the surrounding region.

The Discovery Science Center began as a grass-roots volunteer run museum in October of 1985, when a group of interested people united to discuss the idea of establishing an interactive science museum in the Fort Collins area.

On March 6, 2008, Discovery Science Center and the Fort Collins Museum formed an unprecedented partnership to build a new science and history museum in downtown Fort Collins, Colorado. The result of that vision is the world class, state-of-the-art facility offering hands-on and artifact based science and cultural experiences which opened in 2012: Fort Collins Museum of Discovery (FCMoD).

FCMOD offers a unique, innovative blend of educational programming and exhibits, unmatched in the region. From 16,000 square feet of interactive exhibits, to the state of the art OtterBox Digital Dome Theater, to the extensive local history materials found within The Archive, to the fully equipped Learning Labs for school groups and birthday parties alike, and the 5,000 square foot special exhibition space - there is so much to discover at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery

other names

FCDM, FCMOD, FCM&DSC, Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center, Discovery Center Science Museum, Discovery Science Center

Year Established

2008

Tax id (EIN)

74-2541265

Category

Arts, Culture & Humanities

Organization Size

Large Organization

Address

408 Mason Court
Fort Collins, CO 80524

Service areas

Larimer County, CO, US

Phone

970-221-6738

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