![]() There is a theater, woodworking shop, miniature railroad, lapidary studio and low-cost classes in everything from "Zen and Sawdust" to "Creepy Crawlies." The Randall is equal parts art and science. "For a lot of kids, it's a real place of discovery. "I was just thrilled," said Treanor, 54, who's been a full-time ceramics instructor at the museum for three decades. The museum fed that obsession, time and again. It's the kind of place where Dennis Treanor started coming as a 7-year-old boy obsessed with fossils and dinosaurs. The museum is the kind of place where you can make a clay pot, build a telescope or watch a giant water bug, of the male variety, carry dozens of eggs on his back. It's not just a building on a hill anymore. "Every time I come now, I'm awed at the sight. "I've been here 20-plus years," Dawson said. The museum's transformation gives visitors a chance to enjoy a view that rivals the Top of the Mark's - minus the $10 martinis - sweeping from the Transamerica Pyramid to Twin Peaks, with the East Bay and Mount Diablo as a backdrop. ![]() The moat has been replaced with an "art patio," observation deck, small amphitheater and "learning gardens." "It was an asphalt moat," said museum director Amy Dawson. On Saturday, at the Randall's free Spring Festival, the museum will take a huge step in that direction by dedicating its $2.3 million Outdoor Learning Environment - formerly a parking lot and paved driveway. "A lot of people know it as 'that hill you can see from other places,' " said John Dillon, natural science curator at the Randall.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |