The traveling Smithsonian exhibit Spark! Places of Innovation will open in Greenwood at The Museum on Saturday, August 3, 2024. The exhibition explores the unique combination of places, people, and circumstances that sparks innovation and invention in rural communities. The exhibit will be in Greenwood through Saturday, September 14, and several collateral programs and events will take place while the exhibit is on display. The tour of Spark! Places of Innovation is made possible in South Carolina by SC Humanities.
The Museum in Greenwood was chosen by SC Humanities through a competitive application process to host Spark! as part of the Museum on Main Street program—a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The exhibition will tour six communities in South Carolina from June 2024 through April 2025; an itinerary of all six stops on the tour and more program details can be found at https://schumanities.org/projects/spark/.
Spark! Places of Innovation highlights innovation in rural America from the perspective of the people who lived it! Their words, images, and experiences gathered through an ambitious crowdsourcing initiative are the heartbeat of the exhibition. Technical, social, cultural, artistic, or a combination of all of these– every innovation is as unique as each community. Explore the diversity, ingenuity, and tenacity of rural Americans in Spark! Places of Innovation.
Colleton Museum & Farmers Market is open Wednesday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. It is closed on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The museum is located at 106 Main St N, Greenwood, SC 29646. There will be several collateral events and exhibits while Spark! is in Greenwood.
An exhibit on the 50th anniversary of the Greenwood Genetic Center on display in the museum along with Spark! This exhibit chronicles a major “spark” in genetic research and treatment. This is the facility where the correlation between folic acid and neural tube defects was discovered. The Greenwood Genetic Center’s research continues, and it is known worldwide. The exhibit is open during regular museum hours and is free of charge.
Additionally, the Railroad Historical Center that is part of the museum organization. The steam engine was a major spark of invention at the time, and the railroads put Greenwood on the map as a prosperous mill town. The Railroad Historical Center has 7 historic train cars that have been restored. The Railroad Historical Center Hours are Saturdays (mid-May through mid-October) from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Adults $10, Children 4-12 $5, Children 3 & Under Free) Private tours scheduled by appointment at other times throughout the year for an additional $25 booking fee.
Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, Spark! will be the springboard for diverse local programming in the humanities, sciences, and arts. Visitors will be inspired to learn about innovation has shaped their own communities and how they may be innovators themselves. Community members will come together in conversation about their history, present, and future.
The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions. To learn more about Spark! Places of Innovation and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit museumonmainstreet.org. Support for MoMS has been provided by the U.S. Congress.
The Museum’s mission is to Save, Share and Celebrate Greenwood’s History. Learn more: https://www.greenwoodmuseum.org/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 65 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit sites.si.edu.
