The Rabbit hOle, an immersive museum experience dedicated to children's literature, opened March 12 in a 150,000-square-foot building at 919 E 14th Ave. in North Kansas City, Mo. The Pitch reported that the project comes from the former owners of the Reading Reptile, Deb Pettid and Pete Cowdin, "who started dreaming up the Rabbit hOle in 2015. That dream became more solid in 2018, when they bought the building, and has continued to build through pop-ups in the Crossroads," all leading to the nonprofit museum's debut.
Emily Hane, development manager, said a lot of thought went into curating the various exhibits: "I think that's going to be a key element, ensuring we are finding creators of different backgrounds. The history of children's literature is not particularly diverse.... Everyone deserves to have a book by someone who looks like them."
Although many features aren't fully open yet, they will be available either by the April 27 grand opening or later in the year.
The museum takes inspiration from the art-driven City Museum in St. Louis, the Pitch wrote, adding that eventually, "the idea is for the Rabbit hOle to expand not only to the upper floors of its building but through the roof, just like City Museum. Fundraising will dictate the pace of any expansions." Two dozen artists are permanently on staff to craft and repair the exhibits. The challenge for them is to find ways to shift two-dimensional art into 3-D.
"Anything we make has to look exactly like the book we're replicating, so it's a big challenge for artists," Hane said, adding: "We believe children deserve a place that is beautiful and that is built to celebrate children's culture. And if they see something that is beautiful and interesting and it inspires them to pick up a book that they might not pick up otherwise, then we've really done our job. But most of all, we just want people to have fun."
After a successful opening day, the Rabbit hOle posted on Facebook: "Thanks to the more than 900 people who made our first day so special! Seeing people experience and explore everything has been a delight. Over and over again we've watched people of all ages pick up the books for each exhibit and READ."