Hanamaki Toy Museum display to visit 3 locations across Spa City | Hot Springs Sentinel Record

Oct 23, 2024

An interactive collection of crafted wooden toys will be on display in three locations across the city from Oct. 30 through Nov. 17 thanks to a partnership with the Hanamaki, Japan, Toy Museum.

The 24-by-24-foot exhibit will be displayed for a total of 15 days at three different locations: Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs Convention Center and the Garland County Library. It will be displayed for five days at each location.

Children are encouraged to play with and on the toys in the exhibit, which are on loan from the Toy Museum located in Hot Springs' sister city. The museum opened in 2020 as a way to celebrate "the artistry and precision of fine craftsmanship in traditional and innovative wooden toys," a news release said.

"A few years ago, when one of the buildings in Hanamaki was shuttered, a young man from there put together a project, and they went in and talked about how they could re-envision that building," Mary Zunick, the cultural affairs manager for Visit Hot Springs and executive director of the Sister City program, said.

"A part of that reimagining of that space was the addition of the Hanamaki Toy Museum," she said.

The founder of the museum is part of the Otomo family, which owns a large lumber company in Hanamaki, Zunick said.

"What better way to celebrate, not only children and innovation and very high-end craftsmanship than this wooden toy playland," she said. "But it goes beyond just a playland. They teach about the woods and conservation. It's more than just a -- it's very different than the McDonald's Playland that I took my kids to."

In addition to the interactive exhibit, six "toy curators" will be on hand to set up the display, offer information on the toys and gather information from visiting families, Zunick said.

"They're going to gather information from the families when they come to play, and ask them what they think of it and just to observe how our children interact with the toys and gather feedback with the ultimate goal of bringing a similar Hanamaki Toy Museum to Hot Springs and hopefully eventually other areas across the U.S.," she said.

"We also have volunteer opportunities for locals who want to help, who can be there and assist the Japanese visitors with assisting our American visitors to the exhibit," Zunick said. "They'll be doing surveys just finding if people are local, if they've come from other areas, and also to gather information about what they thought of the exhibit and gather feedback."

The exhibit will be at Mid-America Science Museum Oct. 30 through Nov. 3 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-3 p.m. Sunday. An official ribbon-cutting for the exhibit will be at 10 a.m. on Oct. 30. Access to the exhibit will be limited to those who pay admission to the museum or have a membership.

It will move to the lobby outside Bank OZK Arena at the convention center, where it will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily from Nov. 6-10, and it will be at the Garland County Library from Nov. 13-17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-3 p.m. Sunday.

The exhibitions at the convention center and library will be free and open to the public.

For more information about the museum, call Zunick at 501-321-2027 or visit hotspringssistercity.org.