Kelley Bass

Kelley Bass, CEO of the Museum of Discovery, wants to keep the momentum going.

Since the interactive science center reopened in early 2012 after a series of renovations, its reputation has grown in Arkansas and nationally, said Bass, who has been CEO for a little over three years. “Many more people are coming to see us, and we’re raising more money through fundraising,” Bass said.

About 53,000 students on school field trips visited the museum in 2015. Those students represented 62 of the state’s 75 counties, he said. Students from 11 other states also visited the museum during the year, as did 36 students from Canada.

“We’re not just a central Arkansas phenomenon,” Bass said, noting that the museum’s average annual attendance since it reopened four years ago is about 160,000.

On the national stage, the museum has been named one of the best in the United States, and the museum’s own Kevin Delaney appears from time to time as the resident science expert on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Now that the museum has the support and interest from the community and state, Bass said, his goal is to keep moving forward and improving.

“Everybody knows the Museum of Discovery is fun. We have to make sure people understand that we’re important and we’re worthy of their support,” Bass said. “We’ve really gone out and done that, and our philosophy is giving people new reasons to come back.”

Bass said his focus is on fundraising and marketing and he tries not to micromanage. “I believe in making this a fun place to work, publicly recognizing people for their good works and doing any constructive criticism necessary behind closed doors,” he said. “I will go anywhere and talk to any number of people about our museum and why we are important and worthy of support.”

The museum, which has 24 full-time and 12 part-time employees, is becoming “a big deal,” Bass said, “and we are important in the STEM education pipeline and we’re important to the tourism in Little Rock.”

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