Cynthia Brown

Short biography

she/her Cynthia Brown began her museum career working with fine art collections, researching, and curating for various institutions in Minneapolis, MN. By interpreting collections, she embraced the power of a compelling storyline and how to activate a museum experience through hands-on exploration and inventive programming. By creating a concise story, she uses all facets available for a resonating experience—interactives, media, programming, objects, scenic environments, and IP—to spark the curiosity of museum visitors. She loves to lead project teams to develop STEAM experiences that are authentic and inquiry-based that foster an ah-ha moment rooted in science and history.  Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and Nonprofit Management (Carlson School of Management) from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies in the field of Museum Studies from Harvard University, as well as attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has served on the American Alliance of Museum’s Traveling Exhibits Network (TEN) Board since 2014—most recently as board chair—as well as serving on the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Eastern North America Board. As a co-founder of Museum EXP, Cynthia is hands-on in developing traveling exhibitions and regularly leads experience design and planning teams for new museums and gallery renovations. Over her career, she has held key positions at the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami.  Notable projects include: The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes, Pompeii: The Exhibition, The Power of Science, Ultimate Dinosaurs, King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition, and Crayola IDEAworks: The Creativity Exhibition.