ANOTHER UNUSUAL HOUSTON MUSEUM: Take a trip back in time at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum.   “Consider the crawl-through colon,” she said, gesturing toward the very large intestine in the main hall. “A lot of people take pictures with it, so we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be fun to take our colon out?’ So, we did the Art Car Parade, but naturally, ours was the Fart Car. It was amazing to be able to take the colon out and drive it through the streets with people cheering. People came up to us and had these really personal conversations with us about cancer and irritable bowel, and I think the ability to have those conversations is freeing. And it’s freeing to be able to laugh with health issues.”

Kids play in The Colossal Colon in the Amazing Body Gallery at The Health MuseumBrett Coomer/Staff photographer

The Health Museum (properly, the John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science) is one of Houston’s oldest still-operating museums. Yet, despite being located in a slick modern building in the heart of the Museum District, it’s still something of a hidden gem. Being so close to the high-profile tourist spots like the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Children’s Museum Houston leave it somewhat overshadowed.   Which is a shame because the Health Museum is extremely fun, despite its somewhat grim subject matter. Some years ago, the staff decorated the museum with human skeletons in funny poses for Halloween. They were so well received that they’re now permanent residents peeking out over exhibits and juggling their own heads.

The John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science teaches through interactive exhibits like a giant beating heart, a crawl through colon, an innter ear and a giant brain,. Video: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle

 Most of the main hall is dominated by massive versions of internal organs. There’s a giant beating heart that simulates cardiac incidences every 20 minutes, an enormous brain, an eyeball and more. Everything is portrayed accurately, but with just a touch of cartoonish color and whimsy to keep it from becoming grotesque. In addition to being able to crawl through the colon, there are plenty of carnival games, such as a hamster wheel to test your heart rate and a jumping contest to measure bone density. 

Kids check out their reflection in a distorted mirror at The Health Museum on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

 It’s a very welcoming place, even when exhibits tackle controversial issues. In 2019, the museum hosted "The Secret World Inside You," which, among other things, tackled the connection between autism and gut bacteria. That was the same year that the museum installed an exhibit about viral outbreaks and the importance of vaccinations, something that would become extremely timely when COVID happened. The Health Museum gets a few people who come in to be loudly antagonistic to the science on display, but it just makes the staff more determined to create a safe space to talk about health.    “It’s gotten increasingly harder not to be pulled into things being politicized,” says Seabrook. “Going through COVID here was fascinating. A lot of what we’ve done historically is looking at the data behind things. When you have something like COVID, where it’s not just the science but the shared experience, it made us stop and think about how we’re engaging with people. How are we making sure we meet people where they are?”   The Health Museum is a fairly small space. A visitor can see all there is to see in an hour. That includes the short films in their on-site theater and a trip to the Debakey Cell Lab, where kids are encouraged to explore cell cultures under microscopes. Like the Houston Museum of Natural Science, it’s made great strides toward accessibility in the last decade, including bilingual exhibits. There are a lot of games to play, colorful depictions of microscopic body parts and space to run around in.   Health is generally a scary topic that most people only discuss in a doctor’s office when something goes wrong. The Health Museum aims to get ahead of that with fun, accessible looks at how our bodies work. That fun, even on topics that are contentious and sad, is desperately needed.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 1of15Kellen Hayes, 12, does an experiment in the Debakey Cell Lab at The Health Museum Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 2of15Visitors to The Health Museum roam through the Zoo in You: The Humane Microbiome exhibit on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 3of15Visitors to The Health Museum can check out a giant eyeball exhibit Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 4of15Lus Segura screams in a sound booth that measures the decibel level of the scream at The Health Museum on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 5of15Kids play in the jump, stretch and hang activity exhibit in the Amazing Body Gallery at The Health MuseumBrett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 6of15Lus Segura screams in a sound booth that measures the decibel level of the scream at The Health Museum on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 7of15A skeletons are placed all around the The Health Museum in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 8of15Matt and Jacob Rogers do a blood typing test in the Debakey Cell Lab at The Health Museum on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 9of15Visitors to The Health Museum take photos in the exhibits.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 10of15Visitors to The Health Museum walk through the 10-foot tall walk through brain in the Amazing Body Gallery Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 11of15Kids play in The Colossal Colon in the Amazing Body Gallery at The Health MuseumBrett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 12of15A 22-foot long backbone with ribs decending from the ceiling is part of the Amazing Body Galley at The Health Museum Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 13of15Visitors to The Health Museum roam through the Zoo in You: The Humane Microbiome exhibit Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 14of15The Amazing Body Galley shows interactive exhibits and human skeletons at The Health Museum Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less 15of15Visitors to The Health Museum roam through the Zoo in You: The Humane Microbiome exhibit Brett Coomer/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday (2.-7 p.m. free); noon-5 p.m. Sunday Where: 1515 Hermann Details: $10 (adults), $8 children 3-12 and seniors; free for children younger than 3 and museum members; thehealthmuseum.org See MoreCollapse