Night At The Museum (of Nature and Science)
Shot of a “trashberg” sculpture in front of the Caribou diorama in the North American Wildlife Hall at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
I’ve always loved natural history museums - specifically, for their dioramas. Something about trying to perfectly replicate and preserve a scene from nature in an illuminated case is very fascinating to me. It’s artistic, uncanny, and scientific - a good realm of overlapping concepts for ideas and to exist in and extend out of.
Apparently I’ve been thinking about this notion for a long time as I recently rediscovered an artist statement I wrote during my undergrad in 2012 on a similar topic… perhaps more on that later.
So, it’s no surprise that when I caught wind of an opportunity to create an installation to activate a diorama hall, my ears perked up and my artistic intent application was immediately submitted. Along with four other Colorado-based artist groups, my application was accepted and we were invited to a kick-off dinner at the Museum (DMNS). I knew I couldn’t take on the project alone (did I mention that we wrapped Virtue of Reality just a week before?… I was a bit exhausted) so I shared the opportunity with my MFA colleagues, and a supergroup was formed!
During the kick-off meeting we met the DMNS team, a group of talented superstar educators, curators, and program coordinators (shout out to Eric Godoy, Community Programs Coordinator at the Museum, for organizing such an awesome event) and learned about the opportunity. Then, we were taken on a guided tour of the diorama halls and even got to poke around in the Educational Collections (see below).
As part of our installation, we were allowed to request artifacts from the Educational Collections to use in our spaces… so you know we had to call dibs on the polar bear. We ended up projecting onto the side of the bear for a little added flair in our space and it was a hit for selfies!
Despite the expedited one month timeline, I was happy with the outcome. The design sprint was a good exercise in making quick decisions and adhering to one of my favorite design principles, KISS. Overall, it was a great reminder that even with a limited budget and an accelerated clock, really cool things can happen when you’re with a team of talented and eager designers.
Thanks again to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for sharing this opportunity and trusting our vision! I hope we’ll be able to work together in some capacity in the future.