VAULT: All Hands on Deck

VAULT

all HANDS on DECK

Fifteen years in, this pirate ship still sets sail for play

by HAMPTON WILLIAMS HOFER

photography by JOSHUA STEADMAN

At 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, 2007, Marbles CEO Sally Edwards stood at the bow of a three-story wooden pirate ship and painted the finial knob bright blue, a finishing touch on the feature exhibit of the then brandnew Marbles Kids Museum. Just hours later, Marbles would open its doors for the first time to the Raleigh community. Leadership of the new museum — the successor to Exploris and Playspace — sought a signature, one-of-a-kind piece to set the tone for what they knew Marbles could become: one of the most visited children’s museums in the country. That initial piece was a pirate ship known as The Blue Marble. Today, the ship is approaching its 15th birthday and remains a somewhat hidden gem in the vast landscape of children’s dream-makers at Marbles (you’ll have to get the kids past the school bus, fire truck, farm and submarine to get to it). As summer approaches, with both boats and cooler indoor play alternatives on the mind, the pirate ship is the spot. And it has a surprising origin story. With a shoestring budget and a nearly impossible timeline of only 24 days, local volunteer architects, welders, and carpenters collaborated to create this wooden ship that lives on the first floor. Chris Alexander, director of exhibits at Marbles, recalls the ship’s formation: “In an area of the museum where we were retaining some water-themed components, we thought, with North Carolina’s rich history with pirates, why not a pirate ship?” he says, a nod to one of the most notorious pirates, Blackbeard, along with his many contemporaries who mauraded the shores from Currituck to Cape Fear. “We knew the design and construction would be formidable, but our community was stepping up in amazing ways to help create Marbles. It truly was an ‘all hands on deck’ undertaking.”

The deck of the ship, left, and Sally Edwards and Chris Alexander atop the pirate ship.

Across the building that had once creativity in a playful way and to get to been Exploris Museum and School, design and build something one-of-anumerous designers and builders who kind. The ship’s lasting popularity and normally competed were working to- durability are testament to the many gether to bring Marbles caring hands involved in Kids Museum to life. For the pirate ship, the “It took our entire its creation.” Wake County contribstar was David Maurer, president of Maurer Architecture, who led firm to bring the pirate ship to life, uted pecan boards milled from trees downed at the Historic Oak View the effort to create a site-specific, realistic pirate ship that met both with late nights and weekends and County Park during Hurricane Fran. That wood forms the interior of programmatic needs and building codes. “We calling in favors.” the ship, where children unknowingly run their jumped at the chance — David Maurer fingers along the history to make a mark at the of this city. Maurer’s team emerging new children’s museum. It took sourced reclaimed materials for the hull, our entire firm to bring the pirate ship to and North Carolina Maritime Museums life, with late nights and weekends and built and donated the masts. Sedaris calling in favors,” recalls Maurer, who be- Hardwood Floors stepped in to lay the came its Noah, working relentlessly with decking, and carpenters from renovators his team to complete the ship before the Barnhill Contracting Company helped visitors flooded Marbles. “Looking back, finish the ship on time. it was a cool opportunity to exercise our Edwards has since spent many more late nights perfecting new exhibits, but the pirate ship stands out. “Coming on board in 2007 to lead a merger and create a new children’s museum was an exciting career adventure, albeit a risky one. Back then, the pirate ship project mirrored that risk and adventure,” she says. “Today, it symbolizes all that Marbles means to me — dreaming big, playing bold, and teaming up to rally past perceived limits of creativity and resources.” The pirate ship set a standard for Marbles’ signature kid-scale environments like its popular fire truck and grocery store. For Alexander, it was his first chance to utilize his skills on an original exhibit: “The pirate ship really helped set Marbles apart in the beginning and laid the groundwork for how we would continue to think big and bold.” The pirate ship doesn’t just look really cool: it is a hotbed for learning. Children duck into its underbelly and climb the ladders, learning safe-risk and motor skills. “Witnessing the joyful pride of a

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VAULT

Inside the pirate ship.

child who overcomes fear to reach the crow’s nest is a deeply special, almost spiritual moment, every single time,” says Edwards. “Waiting for a chance to swing in the captain’s hammock fosters critical social and emotional skills like recognizing and managing emotions, negotiating, taking others’ perspective, delaying gratification, reading social cues, taking turns and sharing.”

Marbles leadership taps into research from an educator advisory board and content experts to create richly layered and ever-evolving experiences. “Every exhibit is intentionally designed to foster early childhood learning and development through play,” says Edwards, who’s set to retire at the end of this month. Over her tenure, Marbles has earned numerous awards and recognitions, garnering a spot as the sixth most visited attraction in all of North Carolina. The museum has grown and added new, upgraded exhibits, but there in the back corner of the first floor, the pirate ship remains, with children shouting arg! and ahoy! as they lean over the blue finial that still sits boldly on the bow.

So many minds and hands from all over the community, recognizing the power of play, came together to create a pinnacle of Marbles that has stood the test of time. “Ultimately, the pirate ship contributed to building the culture of creativity, teamwork, and community engagement that still drives us today,” says Alexander.