The Simple Machines area is one of our newest exhibits.  Here you can do all sorts of work, from lifting yourself up on the Pulley Chairs to trying to move 500 pounds of cement!  This may seem like it will be hard work, but when you use a Simple Machine to help, it makes work feel easier!

These two boys and their dad experiment with different pulleys to determine which set makes the work easiest! The Pulley Chairs allow guests to lift themselves off the ground using three pulleys, each with a different mechanical advantage.

Simple Machines is sponsored by General Motors Lansing Operations.

This exhibit is part of a year-long project of the Greater Lansing Museum Collaborative to feature exhibitions and programs about work and workers' culture.  These also include:

Working America: Photographs from the Ewing Galloway Agency 1910-1950

February 1-June 17, 2007 at Michigan Historical Museum

 http://www.artmuseum.msu.edu/exhibitions/future

Circus: The Art of the Strange & Curious
May 5 - July 27, 2007 at Kresge Art Museum, North Gallery
Historic sideshow banners are now collectors' items, and one of the finest collections is right here in Michigan with Jim Secreto. He has kindly lent a selection of them to us for exhibition in Circus: The Art of the Strange & Curious, May 5 - July 27, 2007. He is also lending us his beautifully carved and painted wooden scale models of performers and wagons.