Bellingham’s Mindport gallery closed in 2024. Here’s where some exhibits are now
Several exhibits from the former Mindport gallery in downtown Bellingham are getting a new home at the Whatcom Museum.
Display pieces including a marimba, a musical instrument called “Allella,” insect figurines in the “Bug Box” and a marble track known as “Rollentless” have been installed in the Family Interactive Gallery, which is part of the museum’s Lightcatcher building.
“We are honored to carry on Mindport’s legacy with continued access to some of their most beloved pieces,” Whatcom Museum Interim Executive Director Maria Coltharp said in an emailed announcement.
Mindport closed in November 2024 after 29 years. Its art-inspired interactive exhibits are with the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention, Make.Shift, Children of the Setting Sun Productions, and now the Whatcom Museum, museum spokeswoman Adrienne Dawson said in the email.
In all, the Whatcom Museum has received 14 exhibits from Mindport. Plans are being made to install more in the future, Dawson said.
“We are rolling out the Mindport exhibits in phases, as we make room for them among all the other activity stations in the Family Interactive Gallery. Also, some of the pieces need to be modified slightly to make them safer for our younger guests. For example, our exhibition team modified the ‘Allella’ with a clear plastic barrier that prevents small children from sticking their fingers into the turning mechanism,” Dawson told The Herald.
“The Bug Box is a box full of life-size insect figurines that are both educational and fun to play with. Rollentless is a marble run that can be manipulated by the user into different configurations. It’s a fun opportunity to play with gravity, and all of the exhibits are hands-on and interactive. Guests of all ages can play the marimba as well as all of our instruments in the Family Interactive Gallery,” Dawson said.
Fans of Mindport will remember the Aero Track of balls that zoom through transparent tubes.
“The Aero Track has yet to be installed, but when it is, it will take up a full wall inside the Family Interactive Gallery. It’s a configuration of air-powered tubes with different tracks that kids can send ping pong balls through. It feels like it defies gravity as the balls climb the wall and follow the paths of the tubes. This will be a more complicated installation, but we hope to complete it this winter,” Dawson said.
“We’ve also installed an exhibit called ‘Perception and Illusion,’ a sculptural artwork created by Margot Stroop and Aidan Forrest that hangs on a wall. It is comprised of six colorful geometric shapes that become an optical illusion as you stare at them,” she said.
