The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention’s commitment to cultivating the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs underpins everything that occurs within the walls of the museum and beyond. While The Cade is a museum for all ages, young inventors are a key focus, since they represent the future of Florida’s innovation economy.
Purposeful Creativity
Reflecting the values of its namesake Dr. James Robert Cade, and his belief in the power of education, science, music, literature, and the arts to positively transform, The Cade has established a proprietary STEAM+ learning framework. This unique approach teaches science and critical thinking through the lens of invention by putting inventors at the center of the education process.
Corresponding building blocks of invention enable The Cade to classify inventions according to the scientific principles that they share – allowing students to understand the crucial connections between disparate academic disciplines.
The Cade also fuels a thirst for knowledge by offering the community unprecedented access to world-class inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries to spark interest in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math and further cultivate an inventive mindset.
Intersecting Disciplines
Great ideas happen when disciplines intersect in new and exciting ways, and The Cade engages burgeoning inventors by highlighting today’s emerging technology and inventions and tracing them back to their original roots of science.
Ever-changing, museum-wide themes are threaded through dynamic museum spaces, including the Creativity Lab and Fab Lab, which offer hands-on learning. This learning culminates in the historic Sweat Solution Exhibit, which chronicles the discovery of Gatorade and features Dr. Cade’s original Gatorade Laboratory.
These museum spaces are layered with a broad range of programming that supports visitors of all ages, creating the spark that will lead many to STEAM-based careers. Museum outreach and community-based partnerships support schools in underserved areas and low-income families to help everyone achieve their highest potential.
Bridging the Prosperity Gap
Economic disparity remains a crucial issue for Alachua County. To foster a more inclusive and equitable innovation economy, and help bridge achievement gaps for elementary school students in Alachua County, The Cade has allocated significant in-museum resources and launched an ambitious outreach program.
Operation Full STEAM – a 4-year project that will serve second- through fifth-grade students in Title I schools – seeks to address this disparity by offering an interdisciplinary, hands-on framework for learning in which content, process, and skills converge to tackle real-world problems.
In addition to increasing children’s exposure to STEAM subjects, the program engages parents and families of participating students through underwritten museum memberships that provide rich on-going experiences.
We are honored to partner with the Alachua County School on this highly-enriching program that provides broad exposure to hands-on STEAM concepts and learning to spark a lifelong interest in science, technology, engineering, arts & math,” —Stephanie Bailes, Cade Museum Executive director
The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is ideally situated and uniquely qualified to connect local students and their families to the information, experiences, and people that can positively influence the trajectory of their lives.
Through a comprehensive education framework, incubated at the museum, The Cade seeks to achieve its mission to help transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries in Gainesville, and far beyond.
