Fullerton’s Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL) is excited to announce that its headquarters/mini-museum is moving into a new nonprofit hub at the corner of Amerige and Lemon Street. The museum’s Board of Directors sees it as an exciting opportunity for continued growth and development in Fullerton, “The Education City.” A ribbon-cutting celebration will be announced as things get settled and the calendar approaches Valentine’s Day. The building is at the edge of Fullerton’s historic downtown. across the street from Monkey Business, a nonprofit restaurant. MOTAL is one of three charitable nonprofits to lease spaces owned and managed by adjacent First Lutheran Church, with more tenants expected to follow.

MOTAL is known mostly for its traveling exhibitions that have welcomed visitors in libraries, courthouses, schools, and centers throughout the West for twenty years. The new location will provide space to share MOTAL’s interesting collection of artifacts. The mini–museum is eager to connect with local businesses and members of the community. Greta Nagel, MOTAL President and CEO, recently shared, “We would love for more people to know more about who we are and what we have to offer.” MOTAL is proud to have a collaborative working partnership with curator Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH), and would like to foster strong relationships with other local museums, schools, and institutions. The new location will be a short walk away from Fullerton College, the Fullerton Museum Center, and the new All the Arts for All the Kids facility.

MOTAL will continue to recruit volunteers, including docents, and provide training and hands-on learning opportunities for college students. The museum is known for offering paid internships to prepare the next generation of museum professionals. The nonprofit looks forward to welcoming new scholars and visitors alike. “We are excited to share our special objects and historical documents with new researchers and students in the field. Now we will have the space to accommodate these kinds of endeavors,” explains Nagel.

The museum’s collection includes an array of educational items that originate from over 100 years ago to the present. It includes such things as several typewriters, original copies of Dick and Jane books, vintage school desks, stereoscopes with sets of special cards, View-Masters with vintage reels, a disciplinary paddle, and slide rules. Some of the museum’s objects and publications are identical to those displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Growing its collection has been a collaborative effort. MOTAL continues to receive new artifacts from retiring educators and administrators, as well as friends and neighbors. Individuals have generously donated school prizes, photographs, teaching tools, and the remembrances of their school days from far and wide. The larger space will enable more items to be shared. “We plan to acquire new display cases and switch out artifacts on a more regular basis,” said Nagel.

While the new space allows the museum to have more visitors, MOTAL will have to do so on a limited basis. Events, such as the popular “Celeb Salons” will continue with reservations required. Museum visits will be conducted on an appointment–only basis, as the organization must carefully monitor the attendance flow, keeping in mind safety and occupancy concerns.

Since 2004, MOTAL has endeavored to reach lifelong learners from ages 9 to 109 via exhibitions, articles, and podcasts that showcase the work of individuals and events that have shaped the educational landscape. MOTAL’s solid scholarship, creative approach, and sound teaching and learning methods have garnered the tiny but mighty museum numerous grants, awards, and accolades for its thought-provoking content and interactive exhibits.

MOTAL was first conceived by Founding Director, Dr. Greta Nagel, in 2002. Seed funding from the California State University, Long Beach Foundation, Edison International, and over one hundred individuals allowed Nagel to conduct a feasibility study for the museum. Nagel received “Scholarly and Creative” award funding for her concept and was granted a sabbatical to continue her research. She conducted field observations and gathered ideas from museums nationwide. Nagel prepared a book-length manuscript to provide a vision, framework, and topics for an interactive museum.

In the Summer and Fall of 2006, a collaborative team of students and faculty from California State University, Long Beach, CSULB, and California State University, Fullerton, CSUF, jointly designed and installed the first MOTAL exhibit entitled, Horace Mann: Uncommon Visionary for the Common American. The exhibition honored Mann’s struggles for equity and quality of education and highlighted his role as the “Father of American Public Education.” MOTAL’s artifact collection began in earnest with an acquisition of over two hundred objects.

In 2007, while the Mann exhibit traveled to Antioch University, the CSULB and CSUF design team created a new exhibit honoring another educational visionary. It was entitled Maria Montessori: Honoring the Individual. MOTAL’s gala premiere took place at the Fullerton Arboretum with local sponsors and additional funding provided by Con Agra.

In 2008-2009, MOTAL achieved state and federal nonprofit status. The independent charity, in collaboration with five sponsoring organizations, prepared its third and fourth exhibits focusing on the groundbreaking court case Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District et al. A listening exhibit entitled Memories of Mexican Schools, was displayed at various venues including the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance, MOT. It is currently now in its new permanent location at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Library in Fresno, CA.

The subsequent exhibition was entitled, A Class Action: The Grassroots Struggle for School Desegregation in California. It was originally planned and installed in the gallery of the Old Orange County County Courthouse. In over 2,000 square feet, the stations told the story of the class-action lawsuit that disputed the constitutionality of segregated schools for Mexican American students in the state of California. The 1946 victory led to the desegregation of all California public schools. The court case provided Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren with the language they needed to fight segregation in all public schools throughout the nation in Brown v. Board of Education.

Since 2011, MOTAL has worked tirelessly to bring this important civil rights case to the attention of the public through published articles and exhibits throughout the West. In 2013, the exhibition won a prominent national award for excellence and leadership in state and local history. Earlier this year, MOTAL celebrated the passage of California Assembly Bill 1805, which requires public schools to teach students about the landmark case.

In 2013, MOTAL established a small office and mini museum on east Commonwealth in Fullerton. A new design team began working on an exhibit comparing China and the United States’ educational systems. Lead scholar Nancy Pine led the research and design work on the new exhibit entitled, Two Roads, One Journey. The new exhibit was presented at the CSUF Arboretum gallery in September 2016 and later at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles.

With the success of the two traveling exhibits, MOTAL set out to obtain additional funding to create a high-tech mobile exhibition in 2018. Three years later, the State of California awarded the organization $500,000 for a traveling exhibit entitled, Your Baby’s Amazing Brain. MOTAL worked closely with MAD Systems Inc., a creative design firm located in Orange. Together with consultants from CSUF, the “Brain Team” researched baby’s brain functions during their formative years. The now-complete interactive exhibition has 15 interactive stations inside a 48-foot trailer. It provides guests with a high-tech, high-touch, walk-through digital experience highlighting the importance of brain development in babies from birth to age five. Visitors can learn about a series of topics including parenting styles, brain growth, and well-being as they relate to early child development. The exhibition materials are available in four languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean. To date, MOTAL has taken the exhibition to various locations in Orange County including Santiago Canyon College, the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton’s Day of Music, Buena Park, Orange Coast College, and Fullerton’s AmerigeHeights Town Center. For more information regarding this traveling exhibit, please see yourbabysamazingbrain.com.

For more information about MOTAL, please visit http://www.motal.org and contact info@motal.org to make inquiries or reservations for your next visit.

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