We love BRAIN FAIR!
What do we love about the annual Brain Fair at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry?
It’s FREE!
Brain Fair is FREE, which is – unfortunately – not a typical OMSI experience.
If you want to visit the rest of Portland’s premier science institution with your family, be prepared to fork out lots of dough, since a 3 year old requires FOURTEEN BUCKS for admission!
Though again – thankfully – BRAIN FAIR IS FREE, and thus attracts a broader public, not just the “It’s one banana Michael. What could it cost ? Ten dollars?” slice of the crowd. It’s a high energy, exciting, art-filled, brainy event, and one we enjoy contributing to every year.
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So many VOLUNTEERS!
We also love Brain Fair for the volunteers, and this year (like last) we were thrilled and honored to collaborate with close to THIRTY enthusiastic, informed Noggin participants!
We had a HUGE contingent from the growing Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University, including Jennie Terranova, Selah Monsef, Rocio Garcia, Isabella Starr, Quin Brunner, Luis Carillo, Wolfgang Powell, Natalie Robison, Kate Lovetang, Raymond Brewer, Lauren Campbell, Angrich Brophy, Diego Sanchez, Alex Heinrich, Alyssa Showalter, Yoko Kinoshita, Will Mora, Pearl Ton, Melissa Garcia, Cat Swallow, Shae Zeimantz, Ben Johnston, Kadi Rae Smith, Becky Callos and Marc Chenard! Abigail O’Neil and Arthur Fitzpatrick also joined us from Oregon Health & Science University.
We took over an extensive set of long tables for our brain specimens, art projects and engaged and curious students, and also occupied the stage, where our large styrofoam brain hemisphere got a colorful paint job thanks to a steady stream of artistically inclined young Portlanders!
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In the past, OMSI provided coffee, snacks and food for our Brain Fair volunteers (in 2023 they offered pizza for all), but this year they limited their support to parking – and a few sandwiches.
Thanks for the parking!
But with so many wonderful students giving up their weekend to talk brain research and make art, we couldn’t let that stand, so Noggin bought the coffee travelers, snacks and pizza to properly fuel and thank those who help make Brain Fair a success.
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This cost us about fourteen, 3-year old admissions to OMSI for the day.
THOUGH PLEASE TAKE NOTE
Apparently those high ticket prices don’t even support most of the people who make OMSI work, while the administration, of course, does well. According to ProPublica (and a little math), the current CEO took home around *17,000* 3-year old admissions last year.
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So much ART! So many QUESTIONS!
From Brain Fair set up at 9:00am through close at around 4:00, our volunteers took questions, shared stories, made art and examined real noggins with kids, parents, and more!
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Does the size of a brain affect its intelligence?
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Can you tell by looking at the brain if someone is creative?
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How does the brain develop?
From Abigail O’Neil at OHSU: “We told her about cell differentiation during pregnancy. We told her that when a baby is growing, special stem cells can turn into different different types of cells, like skin and neurons. Then new cells continue to grow until you’re an adult…”
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What do brains do when we sleep?
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Such a wonderful day!
In the future we’d love to see more large institutions use their extensive resources, many of them sourced at least partly from the public, to improve accessibility and support the people who do the work, and volunteer their time, effort, money and enthusiasm to inspire and let knowledge (and brains!) truly serve.
A little coffee and pizza, for example, would go a long way!
We are grateful to Kate Stout at the OHSU Brain Institute for organizing the event. HUGE THANKS to the many volunteers who shared their day with the public at BRAIN FAIR 2024!