ExploreExhibits

Playing with Sound

Current - December 2023

When words fail, we have music. There is nothing more universal, creative, and fun than hearing that song that gives you goosebumps, a lyric that makes you laugh, and remembering odd jingles from something you heard once on a television commercial. Music brings out the child in all of us; it taps into our minds in ways that scientists have only recently begun to understand. It has the power to teach, inspire, and connect us all in ways that baffle and delight.

In Playing with Sound, visitors will embark on a journey through music, creativity, and fun! From the ways our brains capture and recall memories to astonishing inventions that employ unique melodies, music always finds a way to sneak into our lives.

Rotunda Exhibit: Music & The Mind: A Medley of Innovation

People have been creating sounds and noises throughout our history. These sounds grew through time into the multi-layered sensory experience that we call ‘music.’ It has a unique power to transcend immeasurable barriers and sneak into our bodies in curious ways. In this exhibit, we’ll break down the musical process and explore what the anatomy of a song looks like.

Museum Map

Tom Petty: Among the Wildflowers

July 22, 2023 - December 31, 2023

Experience the making of Tom Petty’s hit record Wildflowers through his eyes. Tom Petty: Among the Wildflowers explores the joys, pains, and creative awakenings Petty experienced when pouring his soul into his magnum opus.

Inspired by the 2021 documentary Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free – The Making of Wildflowers, this exhibition tells the story of Wildflowers through first-hand accounts from Tom and the Wildflowers team.

Located on the Cade Museum’s second floor in Gator Tank. 

Note:

To guarantee access and viewing of this exhibit, please purchase admission AND reserve your time slot by visiting this link.  

For guests interested in purchasing admission and reserving a time slot for Tom Petty: Among the Wildflowers exhibit during Tom Petty Weekend (October 19-22, 2023), please visit this link.

Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion

May 13, 2023 - January 7, 2024

Leonardo da Vinci is celebrated as a painter, sculptor, musician, architect, engineer and anatomist. Most enduring to his legacy are his inventions and designs. Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion presents 40 full-scale machines that were built after in-depth study of Leonardo da Vinci’s designs by a group of scientists and skilled craftsmen in Florence, Italy.

Its uniqueness lies in the fact that many of the mechanisms are life-sized and fully operational. Visitors may touch and set them in motion, combining a fascinating hands-on experience with an exploration of the principles he employed to create each machine. The machines are grouped into four sections based upon applications linked to the elements–air, water, land and fire–which held a strong fascination for Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibit includes visionary inventions as the helicopter and glider, the armored tank, the drive transmission, the printing press and the bicycle.

The Sweat Solution

Gatorade from concept to commercialization and beyond…​The Sweat Solution provides a summary answer to that delicate but necessary question posed in 1965, “Why don’t football players ever urinate during a game?” The exhibit will showcase the invention of Gatorade, the lives saved because of its science, the industries that emerged from its invention, and its incredible global impact.

At First Flush

At First Flush will tell you the story of toilets, soaps, and Thomas Crapper. Find out how astronauts use the restroom, how toilets crowned the most powerful cities, and who used the first flushable toilet (and loved it).

Located in the Cade Museum’s restrooms.

Mothers of Invention

Everyone says that necessity is the mother of invention, but at the Cade, we see inventions born from all of these Mothers of Invention: Necessity, Curiosity, Imagination, Iteration, and Serendipity. Around Rotunda, see examples of inventors who exemplify these concepts. Click the button below to read more about the exhibit and listen to the audio tour.

Located along the Cade Museum’s second floor rotunda.

Audio Tour Available​