Jan. 17—CHEYENNE — The Cheyenne Children’s Museum held an event last week to showcase its new brand and provide a look into some of the exhibits for the new center, set to open to the public in the late summer or early fall.

“As our brand has developed, and as our messaging and vision grows, we wanted to make sure that our brand reflected that growth,” said Caroline Veit, president of the Cheyenne Children’s Museum Board of Directors. “Our vision has remained and continues to bring a ‘wow’ experience and being a community catalyst.”

Last Thursday, stakeholders and community partners attended the unveiling of the new brand. The logo has a new look, but retains much of the original message.

It is split into four quadrants that reflect the four values of the organization. The top left, depicting mountains and the sky, is meant to represent exploration. The gear stands for creativity, and the robot for playfulness. The ambiguity of the bottom right, whether it is an eyeball or a rocket ship or whatever else someone might see, is meant to represent imagination.

The logo and new website were designed by local marketing firm Warehouse 21 using a grant that the Children’s Museum received.

Veit also shared the timeline for opening. 5R Construction will continue work on the building until around May. The exhibits are currently being fabricated and will then be installed in the building, and interior design work will begin. Veit said they plan to coordinate the design with the exhibits to create a “one-of-a-kind” experience for children.

She said she hopes to have a soft launch opening by August or September.

This will mark the completion of the first phase of the $3 million project of the 4,400-square-foot building in Cheyenne’s West Edge. The nonprofit is currently fundraising for phase two, seeking between $15 and $20 million to expand the existing building by an additional 18,000 square feet, offering more exhibits, programs and activities, and a makerspace for teenage and adult craftspeople.

When Mayor Patrick Collins got a preview of some of the exhibits at last week’s presentation, he said he was impressed with the range of opportunities for both younger and older children.

“I’m really excited about the ones for the little guys,” Collins said. “Can’t wait to get my grandson out there.”

Veit said many of the exhibits will reflect the region.

“It’s about the West and the frontier, but it’s also about how we’re the crossroads of roads and highways and rail,” she said. Veit described how one toddler exhibit will portray Vedauwoo Recreational Area and the area’s outdoor attractions.

“I just really admire the tenacity of the board members and the folks who’ve been working on this for almost a decade now,” Collins said. “They’ve worked hard, and they’ve run up against obstacles, and they were relentless and they’re passionate to get this done, and it’s amazing.”

Among the attendees at last week’s event were some of the children who were a part of the initial marketing campaign when the Cheyenne Children’s Museum began work on this project around a decade ago. As they’ve grown along with the project, some of them were the ones to unveil the new branding to the community.

“It felt like a big group hug of people that supported our mission and vision and helped carry us along and get us here,” Veit said of the event.

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.