Submitted by fionnkidney on
With just two days left before we close for 2012, we have just passed our 300,000th visitor this year - thank you so much to everyone for visiting, engaging with our exhibitions, taking part in our events and workshops, inspiring us, spreading the word and becoming part of our community this year!
The one thing left for us to do this year is reach our €10,000 community fundraising target - we're almost there but need your help this week to reach the finish line. Donate €20.13 today.
Overall, 2012 was our busiest year to date, and reaching 300,000 visitors has made us stop, put down the gingerbread for a moment, and reflect on what else you have helped us achieve this year.
- In January, we helped SURFACE TENSION artist Joanne McMahon kick off a FundIt campaign that would go on to raise over €24,000 to develop her solar water disinfection system.
- In February, EDIBLE opened with mouthfuls of bugs and surreal Vegan Ortolan feeding times as we explored the taste of things to come.
- In April, we launched our 2012 Lab in the Gallery show HAPPY? - during which over 3,000 of you signed up to take part in Ireland's biggest ever National Happiness Experiment
- In May, we launched SURFACE TENSION at Eyebeam Art+Technology Center in New York for the World Science Festival 2012.
- In June, HACK THE CITY artist Liam Young was arrested under suspicion of terrorism in London while packing a fleet of drones returning from his performance at the launch of HACK THE CITY, our summer show that challenged citizens to take control of their cities. Thankfully, he was released without charge! It was a busy month - we also launched BIORHYTHM in Science Centre Singapore.
- In July, as Dublin hosted the Euroscience Open Forum, we announced the signing of memorandum of understanding with King's College London to open a Science Gallery in London.
- In August, after 23 exhibitions and 4.5 years, Lars Manzke became our millionth visitor since opening in 2008, just as we opened our pop-up project aimed at helping people make stuff, MAKESHOP.
- In September, we returned to Electric Picnic and over 2,000 of you followed us to Grand Canal Theatre for Ireland's biggest ever TEDxDublin, where we were joined by leading thinkers including Daniel Libeskind.
- In October Arts minister Jimmy Deenihan TD launched our 2013 programme - an exciting line up of exhibition and events programmes including OSCILLATOR, RISK LAB, ILLUSION and LIVING MACHINES.
- In November we launched our final show of 2012 - GAME, announced the first steps towards Science Gallery Bangalore and launched BIORHYTHM at The Mind Museum in Manila.
- In December we reached our 300,000th visitor for the year, our Christmas card went viral on Facebook with over 8,000 likes, and we brought some of the world's leading GAME technology developers to Ireland for GAME:NEXT - including the installation of the closest known thing to an actual holodeck!
In total, across 2012...
- 20,000 of you made it to Science Gallery events
- Word got around! Science Gallery generated PR worth over €10 million in Ireland including all major broadcast and print media, and worldwide coverage including Wired, Science, Nature, The Lancet, New Scientist, The New York Times, Forbes, Huffington Post, Physorg, BBC Focus Magazine, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Scientific American, The Guardian, i09, and BoingBoing.
- Over 1,000 of you responded to our open calls
- Over 1,000 of you joined Science Gallery the Science Gallery community as a member
- We also announced a new Science Gallery in London, and kicked off a feasibility study to develop a Science Gallery in Bangalore.
See you in 2013 for another exciting year - have a scintillating Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
From everyone at Science Gallery.