December 12, Great Falls, VA -- The Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation’s Executive Director, Nene Spivy announced the newest title partner of the Launch the Future Capital Campaign as the Craig Family at a recent event at the River Bend Club. This gift, from Fran Craig, Founder of Unanet, and her children Ellen Craig and Chris Craig, is the fourth title partner commitment to the campaign to build the Northern Virginia Science Center. The gift creates the Craig Family Gallery, which will be home to the “Wonder” exhibition, designed for young learners and their families at the future science center.
“We’re excited to support the future science center that will enable our children, families and businesses to have access to STEM learning experiences and enrich our community,” offered Fran Craig, a local entrepreneur and long-standing champion of the Science Center. “We are especially interested in the idea of wonder itself, as it fuels curiosity and inspires people to include science in their everyday lives.”
Wonder will invite the entire family to learn and explore together in hands-on, open-ended exploration infused with STEM learning. Artfully curated and uniquely designed to engage the hearts and minds of young learners and their families, this space encourages creativity, exploration, experimentation, and discovery. The gallery’s interpretive themes are woven throughout the space in the form of whimsical, rhyming poetry, introducing concepts underpinning the scientific method and design thinking in an inspiring, age-appropriate way.
“Fran has been an inspiration to many in our region as a leading technology entrepreneur and steadfast advocate for STEM education,” said Nene Spivy. “We are so grateful for the Craig Family’s leadership in bringing a world-class interactive science center to our region to inspire learners of all ages for decades to come.”
This announcement brings the Launch the Future campaign closer to completion, with four of the five main gallery spaces named. Exclusive naming opportunities at the title partner level remain for the “Habitat” gallery, the “Cloud” installation, and the “Innovation Wing” with additional naming opportunities available for unique indoor and outdoor learning spaces.
The Northern Virginia Science Center will be a world-class, interactive regional science center for families, students, and learners of all ages located in Dulles, Virginia. The 70,000-square-foot Science Center, which is expected to serve more than 300,000 guests a year, will be different from other museums in the region. It will use science as a lens through which we look at the world as curious, creative, and critical thinkers. It will build community connections and embrace the idea that science is everything.
