There is the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington, but what about a Museum of Science Fiction right in Washington, D.C.?
Well, The Museum of Science Fiction is kicking off a crowdfunding campaign to start a preview location, which hopefully will work as a jumping off point for a larger museum. The plan right now? Raise $160,000 on Indiegogo to create a 3,000 square-foot, multipurpose preview museum that will house famous science fiction artifacts like the Enterprise A Dry Docking Prop and the Deep Space 9 filming prop. This mini-museum, as it were, will serve as a sort of prototype for a future standalone museum.
According to the Museum of Science Fiction’s press release, they are “committed to using science fiction as an educational tool to encourage interest in science, engineering, technology, math, art, history, literature, philosophy, and — ultimately — imagination. Organizers believe science fiction is rich with ideas that serve as a springboard for curiosity and learning, from understanding how warp drive might function to how cyborgs could affect people’s daily lives.”
Essentially, the main focus of the museum will be to illustrate the very real, but often ignored, relationship between Science Fiction and our world.
For those who are wondering what franchises they will focus on, all the major ones are there, such as ‘Alien‘, ‘The Twilight Zone’,‘The Matrix’, ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Battlestar Galactica’, ‘Stargate’, and ‘Dune’. However, the museum will not be limiting itself to just these.
But why Washington, D.C.?
“We believe Washington, DC is an ideal location for a museum dedicated to science fiction, based in part on the remarkable draw the District’s museums have for people from all over the world. Indeed, one of the most popular museum destinations worldwide is the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and those who took humanity into orbit were inspired by science fiction, from Jules Verne to Star Trek,” said Greg Viggiano, the museum’s executive director. “If the project stays on schedule, a full-scale facility could open by 2017. In the meantime, we are planning to launch a small preview facility in late 2014. This ‘pop-up’ site will be the place to test exhibit concepts and share an insider’s look into the process of building the museum itself.”
If you are interested, the project can be found here on IndieGogo.