The McWane Science Center plans to build a $3.2 million Hip Hop interactive science exhibit, using rap music to teach science and technology.

The team of creators includes a lead designer who has worked on exhibits for the Obama Presidential Museum.

“There are no other exhibits that use Hip Hop to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics),” said McWane Center CEO Amy Templeton. “So, we’ll be the first in the country for that.”

Chief designer will be Aki Carpenter, who has worked on exhibits for the Obama Presidential Museum in Chicago, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery.

The McWane exhibit, called “Dropping Science,” should open by 2025, Templeton said.

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved spending $450,000 over three years to help fund the project.

“It’s an opportunity to introduce STEM principles to young people through the medium of Hip Hop music and culture,” Templeton said.

It will have a broad appeal, but especially to Black youth, she said.

“One of the groups certainly is children of color,” Templeton said. “Hip Hop is a Black-led movement. It has been wildly popular for 50 years to people of all races.”

While McWane serves primarily elementary and middle school students, the exhibit will bring in a broader age range, Templeton said. “This will appeal to Middle School, High School and even beyond that,” she said. “This will help show them that STEM is not only something that happens in a lab with a lab coat, STEM is something that is part of your life every day.”

It will be a permanent, 7,000-square-foot exhibit, Templeton said.

“The McWane Center is one of the jewels of Birmingham,” said Council President Darrell O’Quinn. “I’m really excited about this project.”

Council member J.T. Moore said it would give Birmingham an attraction that can compare favorably to that available in other states.

“Tennessee has the National Museum of African American Music, but it’s really cool to know that Birmingham will have its own exhibit that kids will be able to come to, so we’ll be able to draw people to the city to be able to experience it.”