Team

Joe Ansel: Principal

While the Exploratorium is now widely acknowledged as an essential wellspring for the interactive science center movement itself, 41 years ago, when Joe Ansel first ventured into the place, the Exploratorium was nearly unknown. Joe worked for almost 20 years at the Exploratorium in several different positions: exhibit designer and builder, fundraiser and assistant director.

Under the quirky, but undoubtedly creative, guidance of Dr. Frank Oppenheimer,
Joe helped to create the “hands on” exhibit genre itself by managing the Exploratorium’s prolific exhibit shop and by inventing and building dozens of exhibits. Additionally, Joe supported most of the early artists that entered the Exploratorium’s Artist in Residence program by helping them design and fabricate their artworks. Joe continues to involve artists in AAI exhibitions to the present day.

In 1981, Joe established a successful in-kind fundraising program at the Exploratorium and in 1985, became an assistant director. In this role he participated in fundraising, oversaw many aspects of the Exploratorium’s operations and managed a number of temporary exhibitions, while still keeping a hand in the Exploratorium’s exhibit development programs. In the late 80's, Joe created the Exploratorium’s exhibit sales and consulting division to bolster the Exploratorium’s earned income stream.

After developing expertise in exhibits, operations, programs, marketing and management, Joe launched out on his own by creating Ansel Associates, Inc. (AAI) in 1992.

AAI’s clients have included governmental entities, municipalities, individual artists, corporations, science centers, museums and two "think tanks"—Xerox PARC and Interval Research Corporation.

As an expert in exhibitions, projects and informal educational centers, Joe most enjoys integrating and balancing a variety of resources to create wonderful new experiences for the visiting public.

Milton McClaskey: Project Director

Milton combines in-depth design and fabrication experience with formidable scheduling, cost estimating, budgeting and project management experience. As founder of his own firm, Watermark Exhibits, Milton supplied casework and exhibits to major clients such as the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. In 1994, he moved into exhibition design and project management for Academy Studios Inc., developing and building exhibitions for Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Washington State History Museum, The Smithsonian Institution, the Columbus Center and others. In 1997 Milton was hired by Gyroscope Inc., where he successfully managed the $5 million budget for fabrication and installation of exhibits for Exploration Place, a dramatic science center in Wichita, Kansas which opened in April 2000.

The exhibitions for Exploration Place were completed on time and under budget by nearly $150,000. As Associate Director at AAI, he worked on phæno, the science center in Wolfsburg Germany. As in previous projects, one of his roles was the creation and ongoing management of the nearly 16 million dollar exhibition budget.

Milton worked on the budgeting, scheduling, contracting and management of the exhibit fabricators, and project management of Anchorage Museum in Alaska. He is also heavily involved in the exhibition planning and selection of exhibit content.

He has visited science centers throughout Europe and the US to learn about their approaches to informal education, interactive science and to seek out new, innovative and engaging exhibits.

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