One of Fran's travelling exhibits,
the "Ball Machine",
is currently on view at the Austin Children's Museum.
It is the centerpiece of a traveling show called
"Play it by Ear"
created by sound-artists. 

This large, interactive, human-powered sound-sculpture
is a dynamic and irresistible delight for kids and adults,
who introduce wooden balls into the sculpture using
one of various mechanisms like a crossbow, a hand-cranked
chain launcher, and an inclined train-car in the form of a
wheeled shoe. 

Once the balls are introduced into the sculpture, they careen
around and within a fantastic and sonorous landscape
created out of the strange (a large jet canopy)
and the familiar (school alarm bells, bike frames, street
signs, a bow, a shoe, etc).

Fran developed this exhibit when teaching inventing at
the East Bay School of the Arts, In Berkeley, California. 
The centerpiece of his classroom, Fran subsequently created
numerous installations in various Bay Area museums. 
This newest model has come to Austin after visiting nine
other children's museums over the last three years:

The Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito, CA,        January 2004
The Forth Worth Museum of Science and History,      February - May 2004
Minnesota Children's Museum,                                  May - September 2004
Canadian Children's Museum,                                   September 2004 - January 2005
Brooklyn Children's Museum,                                     January - May 2005
The Children's Museum of Memphis,                          May - September 2005
The Children's Museum of Houston,                           Sept 2005 - January 2006
Leid Discovery Museum, Las Vegas,                           January 2006 - May 2006
The Children's Museum, Boston,                                May - September 2006

He has designed and built other museum exhibits and installations,
many in collaboration with children.