Statesboro’s first ever Selfie Museum has arrived.

Explore Your Selfie opened Statesboro on August 20, hosting both an interactive photography area and the city’s first children’s museum.

Jeff and Tina Banks, the owners of the nouveau exhibit, have been preschool teachers for the past 20 years in Georgia.

With their extensive background in education, they are branching out into more experiences for family groups after the recent coronavirus lockdown.

The lockdown caused several school closures and a transition to online learning, leading to a decrease in enrichment activities for the community of Statesboro.

The Bankses decided to convert one of their buildings on Northside Drive into a center for an educational and fun activity for anyone who wants to visit them.

“We want to provide a place where people in the community can have an immersive experience.” said Tina Banks. “How can we serve the community even though the schools shut down due to COVID?”

Explore Your Selfie is bringing a taste of the experiences available in larger cities to Statesboro, providing an innovative participation in social media that families and friend groups can enjoy together safely.

“The parents enjoyed it even more than the kids did,” said Banks. “A lot of people have been wanting something like this.”

The museum features 19 different areas where people can take selfies together in vibrantly colored, whimsically designed sets or explore the scenes at their leisure.

The layouts of the photography spots vary, from an old fashioned British telephone box stuffed with blue and white roses to sunshine, rainbows, and brightly colored yellow swings hanging from a ceiling made of glowing clouds.

A few more of the designs seem to be pulled from music videos, with an elegant red and gold claw footed bathtub surrounded by a floor made of giant pearls.

A corner of the museum also features a neon retro dining scene with dozens of pristine records covering the walls.

Explore Your Selfie is also featuring a cutting edge technology 360° selfie camera with professional ring lighting.

The selfie camera works when someone stands on a lit up platform in the center of the equipment and places their smartphone on an ergonomic grip designed to turn 360 degrees to create a panoramic video.

Three to five of the layouts mentioned previously are planned to be reimagined every three months, providing recurrent and new guests with a fresh experience.

One of the upcoming designs that Tina Banks has planned is a Georgia Southern University theme, highlighting the school spirit that many students in this college town feel.

“Our goal is to bring people together and to allow them to experience something different and memorable and enhance their social media,” says Banks.

With nearly 50 percent of the world’s population involved on some social media platform as of 2021, a new way to promote your own self expression is in high demand.

84 percent of the people who use social media today are between the ages of 18 and 29, contributing further to the popularity of virtual filters that Instagram and Snapchat use.

Explore Your Selfie has expanded on this, creating filters that people can not only see and hear, but can interact with and use their own creativity to create striking poses.

Safety at the establishment is also a concern for the business owners with the new Delta Variant of the coronavirus spreading across the United States.

Bulloch County currently has 1,393 cases of Covid-19 as of the last update for August 20, 2021 indicating that the number of cases is peaking again.

Curious visitors have no need for alarm however, because there are several steps that the business has in place to ensure the safety of its guests.

Protection protocols for the coronavirus in this business include guests having the option to wear masks, distancing themselves from other groups exploring the exhibits, and a sanitizing station available for use.

The Bankses hope to see around 10 people come to enjoy the exhibit per hour and use all the available resources at their disposal.

The hours of operation for Explore Your Selfie are from 10am to 7pm all week except Sundays, when the business is closed.

The cost for entry at the museum is 20 dollars per person. The establishment is located at 2760 Northside Drive West in Statesboro.