In addition to working as one of Widseth’s marketing specialists, Eric Lennartson is an installation artist collaborating with museums around the world. The “TapeScape” installations are hands-on play tunnel systems made of clear packing tape that showcase STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) educational principles like tensile strength, material properties, assembly process, forms, and collaborative problem-solving.
This year, Eric partnered with museums in Cleveland, OH, and St. Louis, MO, to integrate their mission and theme ideas and facilitate the building process with volunteers and museum staff.
The installation in Cleveland, called “International Tape Station”, opened over Memorial Day weekend at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Inspired by the International Space Station (ISS), the exhibit features tape tunnels for the crew modules at approximately one-fifth the scale of the original station. An ADA-accessible ramp, climber, or stairs brings kids and families seven feet above the floor. Surrounding the exhibit are stations provided by NASA’s Glenn Research Center, showcasing the material science and technology used in the ISS and developed in the greater Cleveland area. Some samples have even been on the actual ISS or in space.
The installation at MADE For Kids in St. Louis is at an urban maker space operated by the Magic House Children’s Museum. This tunnel system was built by volunteers and staff from the museum to offer physical play for the museum’s multiple summer day camps, which provide several arts and technical science exhibits and activities.
