The Physics Lab
at the Fierstein Family Gallery
A new gallery filled with unique interactive exhibits that explore concepts of force, motion, speed, gravity, inertia, collision, and acceleration. The Physics Lab is made possible by a generous gift from the Fierstein Family Foundation.
The Physics Lab features Micah’s Gravitram, a kinetic art maze of interlocking tracks, ramps, corkscrew turns, and racing balls.
The Physics Lab
The new gallery introduces basic concepts of physics to kids and their adults. Through exhibits including the Ball Launch, Build Your Own Roller Coaster, and Ramps & Rollers, visitors experiment, problem solve, and make predictions (just like real-life physicists) about force, motion, trajectory, speed, and inertia.
What is a Gravitram?
The centerpiece of the Physics Lab is the newly restored Gravitram (GRAVity + TRAMway), a kinetic art sculpture of continuous motion, corkscrew turns, elevating and speeding balls based on the original Gravitram created 50 years ago and displayed at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).
Who built the first Gravitram?
Shab Levy designed and built exhibits at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). He experimented with bits and pieces in his workshop in the 1970s and created a mechanical marvel out of balls and rails. He decided to call it a Gravitram. Other people had built moving sculptures with balls and rails before, but Mr. Levy was the first to call a rolling ball sculpture a Gravitram.
Mr. Levy built 13 more Gravitrams to display in different places around the world. His very first Gravitram is till on display at OMSI.
Who built Micah's Gravitram?
The Gravitram on display at the Westchester Children’s Museum was built by Steven Clisby in 1979. Mr Clisby was a young man in Oregon who liked to make things and when he saw the Gravitram at OMSI and decided to make one himself. Mr. Clisby built a Gravitram for a computer company called Floating Point Solutions who placed the sculpture in the entrance to its building. Later he worked building Gravitrams with Mr. Levy.
Micah’s Gravitram was restored by Chris Elliott. Watch a time-lapse video of the restoration process HERE.
Who is Micah?
Micah Fierstein (1952-2023) grew up in Scarsdale, where as a boy, he played clarinet, sailed the LI Sound, skated at Playland ice rink, and swam in the Playland pool. He was an educator, a traveler, an outdoorsman, and an all around curious person who enjoyed collecting eclectic memorabilia and unique artifacts. Among the items that Micah obtained was the Gravitram that is now the centerpiece of the Physics Lab at the Westchester Children’s Museum. The kinetic sculpture was in the lobby of a company in Beaverton, OR, and when the company moved they had no plans to keep it. Micah, who lived in Portland at the time, saw the sculpture and had a vision that it could be a learning tool and a source of fun and delight if it was relocated to a public setting for children and their adults to enjoy. Micah's family rescued the Gravitram from the Portland, OR, storage unit where it was gathering dust, and wanting to fulfill Micah's dream, sought a home for it where the public would be thrilled by the 10 foot tall mechanical marvel. Recalling happy childhood memories at Playland Amusement Park, the family brought the Gravitram back to Westchester and donated the restored sculpture to the Westchester Children’s Museum, seeing it as the vibrant space for play and learning that Micah had envisioned.
