African American Museum of Iowa receives grant for advanced manufacturing promotion

The African American Museum of Iowa was one of 15 organizations to receive a grant from Elevate Advanced Manufacturing, an initiative overseen by the Iowa-Advanced Manufacturing Consortium.

'We're just delighted to bring such an exhibit,” said Tom Moore, the interim director for the African American Museum of Iowa, who said the exhibit will be called 'Products of a Creative Mind: African American Invention & Innovation.”

The Cedar Rapids' museum received $500 from Elevate Advanced Manufacturing to create a program focusing on teaching local students and their parents about careers in advanced manufacturing.

'We really wanted to allow them to come up with their own ideas,” said Robyn Ormsby, program manager for Elevate Advanced Manufacturing. 'These libraries really rose to the top, along with a couple of museums in there too.”

Ormsby added that more than 50 libraries and museums applied for the grants.

'We wanted to do something a little more in the community. We thought this would be the perfect fit,” Ormsby said. Elevate Advanced Manufacturing already has programs that work to reach students and teachers through schools.

Moore explained that the museum's exhibit will focus on African American individuals, such as George Washington Carver, who were instrumental in innovations made in advanced manufacturing fields.

'We are in the conceptual stages,” he said, adding that the exhibit will open sometime during the summer of 2015.

Elevate Advanced Manufacturing's goal is to encourage youth to gain interest in advanced manufacturing careers.

'They don't know about all of these careers out there,” Ormsby said. 'A lot of these careers are in their own community.”