A Living Art Exhibit at Great River Children’s Museum, St. Cloud, MN

A Place for Art, Play and Engagement

Whoever said that good things come to those who wait wasn’t talking about Great River Children’s Museum in St. Cloud, Minnesota, but they could have been. After 13 years of planning, fundraising, and work, the downtown museum opened its doors in June of 2025. In its first six months, the museum welcomed over 52,000 visitors from 41 states. It should come as little surprise that many of the exhibits are centered on river systems, given that the city sits astride the mighty Mississippi. Despite a collection of indoor weather and nature-inspired exhibits, the exhibit most often pictured in press releases and publicity pieces is the Oxbow Outdoor exhibit. The meandering play area greets visitors with an irresistible blend of sensory features that invite them to climb, splash, dig, and make music.

Elevating the Landscape Elevated the Play Value

The Oxbow Exhibit reflects a collaborative effort between Camille C. Calderaro of Fireflies Play Environments and Chuck Evans of Damon Farber. Both landscape architects came to the project intending to design something truly creative and aligned with the spirit of the Children’s Museum. Camille brought Chuck in early as a trusted playscape designer. He was immediately confronted by the flatness of the site. He laughs, explaining, “One of the greatest challenges was trying to turn what otherwise would have been a very flat experience into something a little bit more vertical.” Rather than seeing the limited space as a drawback, Camille and Chuck recognized it as an opportunity. Both understood how packing elements closer together can create something exciting and integrated.

A Limited Space Packed with Big Imagination

Without much space to work with, they both dove full-force into the river theme. Chuck became animated describing the design’s evolution: “We brought the beaver dam in, and so we have the beaver lodge, then the rocks, and the sand is sort of the beach along the river. So everything played into that theme, and we were bouncing ideas off of each other and trying to think, ‘How else can we play up the river theme?’ as we went through.” They designed a resilient play surface “river” in varying shades of blue to connect multiple play areas: a sand-filled Secluded Beach complete with sand spoons and driftwood, elevated artificial turf-covered levees for climbing and sliding along the river, and custom-built ten-foot-tall cattails growing out of the river’s edge. Today, those cattails, which greet visitors on their approach, are the most photographed element in museum press.

It’s All in the Details

Large and small details tie the Oxbow Outdoor Exhibit together into a cohesive whole. Hidden “fossils” are etched into the concrete in the water play area and beneath the sand, and at least three different types of animal footprints traverse a plaza. An Archimedes screw conveys water upward from a reservoir below.

A Creative Vision Gives Children a Unique Perspective

The center of the playscape is Musical Island, an elevated area where kids can try out individual instruments or play as a group. But the star of the design is the water feature. Describing how the elevation offers an overlook where kids can take in a perspective of the play area from above, Camille says, “The water feature was carved into an elevated corner, so it looks like a boulder wall. Even though it’s only three feet up, you get a perspective from the water play corner out over the entire site.”

Water Play is For Everyone

Despite the grade change, the corner is fully accessible for children who use wheelchairs. That’s important, because water play tends to be kids’ favorite part of the exhibit. In terms of accessibility, Chuck needed to make sure everyone could make the most of the water play: “We even designed it so the wheelchairs can roll right down into the stream that we created. So, you start the water at a pump, and then it goes into the table, into these troughs, into the water wheel, and then drops down into this sort of rivulet that we created out of concrete. And there is a spot where a wheelchair user could even roll into that space and get their feet wet.”

Splash Pad vs. Water Play

Camille paints a picture of why water play is beloved: “It’s got so many different sensory engagements: there’s temperature, there’s pressure, there’s manipulating the flow. You become a hydrologist with water play, and it’s changing all the time. So kids constantly have to adapt their sensory engagement with it, which is what you want.” Chuck agrees, adding, “Unlike a splash pad, I think it creates curiosity in kids that they can control this flow. They can back the water up, and they can open the gate and let some out. This was the first water play design I’ve ever done, and we worked closely with Laura Guscott at Goric. We had a lot of meetings with her to make sure this all was going to function and operate correctly.” Camille added, “I have to say that Goric has been immediately responsive to any maintenance questions, or any questions…they’re right on it.”

Investments of Today for the Generations of Tomorrow

While visiting kids might only enjoy the Oxbow for an afternoon, both designers agree that the play elements selected will last a lifetime. Goric’s water play features are constructed of sturdy stainless steel, with other elements built in reinforced concrete. Chuck suggests that the play elements shouldn’t need to be replaced for 20 to 30 years. Like the Great River Children’s Museum, the Oxbow exhibit was worth the wait. It might have taken a while to be built, but it’s going to be around for many generations to come.