New exhibits coming to FiberMax Center for Discovery
The Center is building an exhibit called AgWorks, and their Cotton Heritage Center.
LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The FiberMax Center for Discovery is building two new exhibits that are meant to educate visitors about where food and fiber come from.
It broke ground Thursday on what Executive Director Lacee Hoelting hopes will open up new frontiers in agriculture education. First is the Cotton Heritage Center, which is meant to tell the story of cotton.
“After you harvest, the ginning, the processing, the end products that goes into,” Hoelting said.
It will educate visitors about cotton, and Hoelting said it will also teach history. For example, there will be an 1875 cotton gin that has never been on display.
“It’s going to be the centerpiece of that Cotton Heritage Center,” Hoelting said. “You’re actually going to be able to walk through and see the cotton industry of 150 years ago.”
The other exhibit is a children’s wing at the museum. It is meant to give the next generation a look into a day in the life of a producer.
“The children’s wing is really a way to connect generations, our youngest generations that don’t have firsthand experience on the farm or with production agriculture, to connect them back to the producers and the food and the fiber that they grow,” Hoelting said.
It is aimed toward children in fourth grade and below. The exhibit is called AgWorks because the goal is to show children the jobs that make agriculture work.
“Every exhibit you’re in looks at careers and job opportunities in the industry,” Hoelting said. “So, if you’re at the water table you can go see the career mentor and learn about maybe irrigation or hydrologists, water engineers.”
The board president of the FiberMax center, Dan Taylor, said teaching agriculture is vital to help build an appreciation for where our food and clothes come from.
“Every generation gets further removed from the farm, and it’s so important that we educate,” Taylor said. “A lot of people think milk comes from the store; well, they bought it at the store, but somebody had to produce it.”
Construction is expected to be done for the AgWorks exhibit and the Cotton Heritage Center by late 2024.
Admission to the FiberMax Center for Discovery is $5 per person. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you would like to make a donation to the center you can do that here.
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