Creatures from the Mesozoic Era have taken up the foyer-lobby at Four Rivers Cultural Center for a months-long exhibit that opens to the public on May 6 in Ontario. Fourteen interactive exhibits featuring life-size metal sculptures of dinosaurs are now installed in the foyer-lobby at Four Rivers Cultural Center. If it were any taller, staff would have had to remove part of the roof for a T-Rex, which is part of the traveling Dinosaurs in Motion exhibition.
Members of the nonprofit got a sneak peak at the Dinosaur in Motion Exhibit on May 5.
The Argus got to take a look at the exhibit earlier this week as people were busy putting together the metal sculptures. This included two engineers, four members of Christiani Construction, two staff members and their supervisor.
Cultural Center staff Neil Moses and Torina Burnett were in their element being able to help with the installation. The two, who are engaged to be married, already are familiar with dinosaurs, as their children love them. In addition, they are fossil enthusiasts, having hunted for them in the past.
On April 29 the crew began unpacking the sculptures, and by May 1 Moses said, “we’ve really been kicking butt,” on the installations. Already that day they had set up the T-Rex, and were just putting the finishing touches on a diplodocus, which at that point appeared exhausted from its long journey west, as its neck and head were laying on the lobby floor.
The first exhibit set up on Saturday was the ankylosaurus, an herbivore with a mace-like club on its tail used to ward off predators. The exhibit comes with a host of information about the dinosaurs, as well as their anatomical movement and how the artist John Payne applied those movements to bring his kinetic sculptures to life.
HERE IS OREGON: HereisOregon.com | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok
Michael Grossman, one of two engineers who travels with Georgia-based Imagine Exhibitions, is guiding staff at Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario on how to install the cables on a diplodocus on May 1. The creature is part of the Dinosaurs in Motion exhibit that will be at the center through September 10. Pictured, from left, are Torina Burnett, Grossman and Neil Moses.Leslie Thompson | Argus Observer
This ankylosaurus was the first exhibit that was put together, which was estimated to take about an hour altogether. an herbivore with a mace-like club on its tail used to ward off predators. The exhibit comes with a host of information about the dinosaurs, as well as their anatomical movement and how the artist applied those movements to bring his kinetic sculptures to life. The creature is part of the Dinosaurs in Motion exhibit that will be at Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario through Sept. 10.Leslie Thompson | Argus Observer
There are 14 exhibits, but 16 dinosaurs altogether, said Burnett, explaining that two of them had twins, including the pachycephalosaurus exhibit.
Michael Grossman, one of the engineers that works with Georgia-based Imagine Exhibitions, said he has set up a lot of their exhibitions, but has been working with the dinosaur exhibit for about six and a-half years, setting it up around the country about three times a year and then going back to those respective places to break it down, so it can be shipped out for the next show.
What does it take to become an engineer for traveling exhibitions? For Grossman, prior to this he had been a stage hand and roadie, touring around and doing setup for corporations and well-known bands, such as The Ramones. Grossman said he was just in town for the setup and to help get the exhibit up and running, before heading out to set up the next one. Imagine Exhibitions has more than 40 such exhibits that are housed in museums, science centers, zoos, integrated resorts, non-traditional venues and department stores.
Some of the larger exhibits Grossman has helped set up include Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, which have about 50 trucks full of components and take about a month to set up.
The dinosaurs came to southeast Oregon on three trucks after having just been packed up from a stint in Halifax, which is on the east coast of Canada. Grossman is not sure where the dinosaurs will end up next, but says he’s sure to soon find out, as they will soon be making logistics regarding that.
Ontario’s exhibit is here until Sept. 10.
Tickets to the exhibit, which is open seven days a week, can be purchased at dinosinmotion.com, which is also accessible from the Cultural Center’s website, 4rcc.com. Tickets are $20 for 18+; $18 for 65+ and veterans; $15 for college students; $10 for ages 3-17; and free for children 2 and younger.
In conjunction with the grand opening on May 6 and all things lizards, the Cultural Center hosted the Idaho Reptile Zoo. Families attend the no-cost educational outreach program at two different showings in the Meyer McLean Performing Arts Theater. The zoo is home to more than 300 animals at any given time at its rescue and education center, and provides permanent homes to rescues and rehabilitation animals alike, according to information on the center’s website.
The Cultural Center is at 676 S.W. Fifth Ave. For more information, phone 541-889-8191 or visit www.4rcc.com.
— Leslie Thompson