Office of Exhibits Central

Developing a Greek Currency Exhibit

Classically Greek: Coins and Bank Notes from Antiquity to Today, the newest exhibit in the Smithsonian Castle, gives insight into the development of the history of Greece through the images on its currency.

The objects used in this exhibit come from the National Bank of Greece and the Welfare Foundation for Social and Cultural Affairs (KIKPE), also in Greece.  Before the artifacts arrived from Greece, OEC designer Alicia Jager used images of the objects to design a layout and panels for the display. She used gold and silver hues to maintain a classic tone throughout the fourteen panels used in the exhibit.

OEC writer/editor Rosemary Regan rewrote the script for the show sent from Athens from a larger exhibit, which presented several challenges. The original exhibit was more specific about modern Greek history, so Regan reworked the script to present a broader view of Greek history to be more accessible to a non-Greek audience. Regan also had to add some information about figures from Ancient Greece and Greek mythology that the average visitor in America might not know about, but which did not need explanation in Greece.

The team at OEC worked with the numismatic collection staff at the National Museum of American History and the organizations in Greece to confirm details about the exhibition.  Ellen Dorn, OEC director of Special Exhibitions, has collaborated with teams from other countries in the past. Dorn described that two of the biggest issues with working internationally are time differences and shipping issues, but then explained:

All in all though, there’s not a huge difference in dealing with museums here or outside of the US…[e]ven though there are some differences when dealing with lenders in other countries, the safety of the objects always take priority, no matter if they're coming from a lender within or from outside of the US.

This exhibit can be seen in the Schermer Hall of the Castle and will be on display until June 10, 2008.

top photo: Jager puts the finishing touches on a label.

bottom photo: Graphics panels and display cases containing Greek coins and bank notes

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SI Community Art

Smithsonian Institution employees are used to working behind-the-scenes, but they have a chance to show off their own artwork to the public at Artists at Work: The Smithsonian Community Art Show 2008. The exhibit opened on March 27 and will be on display through May 18 at the S. Dillon Ripley Center Concourse.

Over 170 Smithsonian staff, volunteers, interns, and fellows submitted over 170 entries to a jury who picked 71 final pieces for exhibition. The entries include art of various media from fabric to clay to photography. Once the pieces were selected, OEC designer Bart McGarry came up with a layout for the gallery using the preliminary measurements supplied by the artists. OEC fabrication specialists Robert Perantoni and Richard Gould did a final measurement of the pieces and installed them in the Ripley Center.

This staff art show is sponsored by the Smithsonian Community Committee (SCC). Throughout the year, OEC collaborates with the SCC on various activities, including a photography contest and a summer picnic.

top photo: Gould, McGarry, and OEC project manager Betsy Robinson decide on the placement of a photograph.
left photo: Perantoni makes sure a piece of art is level.

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Crating Elements

The exhibitions that OEC designs and produces need to arrive at their destinations safely. This is especially crucial with traveling exhibits, like the ones we make for Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES), because these objects are handled more frequently than those in permanent exhibits.

SITES registrars Ruth Trevarrow, Cheryl Washer, and Juana Dahlan were at OEC recently packing up Beyond: Visions of Planetary Landscapes and The Dancer Within. One of their main goals is to ensure that objects travel safely and are easy to remove from the packing. This includes thinking about whether the person unpacking the objects may hurt their back by bending over too far to remove a heavy object and also making the process to remove an object simple and easy-to-understand.

Harry Adams, OEC specialist in artifact and exhibit packing, uses the crate specifications document sent to him by SITES to design and build crates for the objects and accompanying labels or cases. For Beyond, Adams made what Trevarrow calls “the Cadillac of crates.”

To protect the large, heavy framed photographs, Adams made crates with felt-lined slots the photographs could easily slide into. The photographs are so large they need to be stored vertically so the crates will fit through the doors of all the exhibition venues. The photographs used for Dancer are smaller and due to the manner in which they are mounted, they need to travel lying flat. They are placed in foam trays that are then stacked on top of each other in the crate.

Collaboration and good communication between the registrars, designers, and the crate makers is necessary to produce crates that will be easy to use and best protect the objects inside.

top photo: Trevarrow slides a Beyond photograph out of the crate.
middle photo: Packed Beyond crates
bottom photo: Adams arranges foam trays made by Tim Smith.

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OEC Helps with Kisses

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Archives of American Art (AAA) is installing the exhibition A Thousand Kisses: Love letters from the Archives of American Art, located in the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture and will run through May 30, 2008.

A Thousand Kisses, featuring love letters written by and to American artists, was organized by Liza Kirwin, curator of manuscripts, and Joan Lord, curatorial archives specialist. The exhibit celebrates the publication of their new book With Love: Artists’ Letters and Illustrated Notes.

OEC Graphics supervisor Rolando Mayen installed two vinyl murals for this exhibition: one of painters and spouses Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, and another of nature photographer Harry Bowden and his wife Betty. In order to fit the approximately 80 by 130-inch photographs on the arched walls, Mayen cut them to shape using a template made during the last installation. He then taped the photographs in position on the wall before peeling away the backing and adhering them onto the wall. Each wall mural was made of two sections, overlapping only about a quarter inch to account for possible flexing due to temperature or humidity.

When the exhibition closes, the vinyl murals, which are backed with low tack adhesive, will peel off quickly and with little damage to the wall.

top photo: Bruce and Libby Thiel of Blueline Design put away their silkscreening materials.
middle photo: Mayen double-checks the measurements before putting the mural on the wall.
bottom photo: Mayen makes sure the mural is applied without any air pockets.

New Technologies Bring Old Bones to Life

This summer OEC’s Modelshop began a collaboration that uses cutting-edge technology to learn about early European settlers at Jamestown, Virginia, 400 years ago.

Douglas Owsley, curator and department head of the Division of Physical Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History’s Department of Anthropology leads a research team studying Colonial-era skeletons from sites throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. From the condition of these bones and teeth, and how they were buried, Dr. Owsley is often able to determine the age, sex, social status, health, trade, and cause of death.

One such find is the skull of a young man, aged 15 years old and one of 
the original 1607 settlers from Jamestown fort. This skull will be featured in an upcoming exhibition and will be used to create a facial reconstruction. However, given the delicate nature and historic value of the skull, Dr. Owsley sought the aid of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) and the Office of Exhibits Central to digitally document and replicate the skull in exacting detail.

With new digital 3D imaging technology and CNC (computer numeric controlled) machinery, the Smithsonian is able to create exact replicas of fragile artifacts for further study and exhibition. MCI scanned the skull and provided the digital information to OEC.

OEC modelmaker Chris Hollshwander reviewed the digital information for any issues that could negatively impact the machining process and created a series of programs that produced machine commands for the CNC milling machine. The complex skull replica had to be machined from six different directions, each requiring explicit instructions from the CAD/CAM (computer aided drawing and manufacturing) software.

One of the focus cultures at this year’s Folklife Festival was Virginia Roots, which featured a series of programming about researching history. Sculptor Amanda Danning used the replica as an armature to reconstruct the face of the young man who died about 400 years ago.

Later this fall, OEC modelmakers will make a plastic cast of Ms. Danning's sculpture to use in an upcoming exhibit at NMNH.

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top image: Screen shot of the digital tool path for the CNC milling machine, based on the 3D scan from MCI.

top photo: Replica skull in production on the CNC milling machine.

bottom photo: Sculptor Amanda Danning begins modeling the musculature on the replica skull as OEC modelmaker Chris Hollshwander observes.

Collaborative Partnership

Every four months, the Office of Exhibits Central and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL) collaborate to share the rich diversity of the Libraries’ collections with visitors at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). The written and illustrated collections of the Libraries combined with artifacts and specimens give Smithsonian scholars a more complete picture of the subjects they study.

To give visitors an inside glimpse into the importance of the Libraries to researchers, SIL features a rotating selection of artifacts from the Natural History Museum and books, photos, and other ephemera from the Libraries’ collections. Currently, the exhibits focus on extinct or rare birds that are studied by scientists at Natural History.

OEC works with SIL to edit the interpretive text and labels, design the layout of the case, bracket any objects to be displayed, and produce the case furniture and graphic panels. Once the case is installed, the OEC team begins working with SIL staff to produce the next exhibit.

You can see the current installation on the Great Auk in the SIL case located in the NMNH lobby on the Constitution Avenue side of the building through November 2007. With the help of curator Helen James, the next birds to be featured are extinct Hawaiian species.

Photograph by Theresa Keefe, OEC

New Harmonies Ships Out

Last Tuesday, staff from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), Museum on Main Street (MoMS), the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and OEC gathered along with other guests to celebrate the completion and shipping of the last of 5 copies of New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music for their tours in Idaho, Mississippi, Illinois, Guam, and Washington.

This has been an extensive project that has touched every aspect and staff member at OEC. Consultation on the project began in November 2004, moving to design and editing in October 2005, and production in July 2006.

The production of New Harmonies has been featured in other entries here and here.

See more photos of the reception and the preview installation of New Harmonies.

TOP PHOTO: Devra Wexler and Ruth Trevarrow from SITES play with the diddley bow in the Blues kiosk.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Rosemary Regan, OEC editor, and Dan Meijer, SI contractor, get their zydeco groove on.

Exit Saigon Gala Opening

The Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon exhibition opened January 19, 2007 at the Smithsonian S. Dillon Ripley Center, Concourse Gallery. This exhibit, the first Vietnamese American historical exhibit at the Smithsonian, tells the story of the Vietnamese American experience in America, from the significant influx in 1975 to the present. By showcasing themes of challenges, contributions and change, the exhibit emphasizes the vibrant diversity of this ethnic community.

OEC Designer Lynn Kawaratani and OEC Editor Rosemary Regan were integral to the success and completion of this project. Working collaboratively with the Asian Pacific American Program, OEC helped to keep this exhibition moving forward.. The Special Exhibitions Division wore two hats in this production serving as both the project management for the exhibition and as the opening venue for the show. SITES plans to travel the show nationally for 3 years after it closes in Washington.

An evening VIP tour with curator Vu Pham and a gala opening event in the Smithsonian Castle were some of the festivities. Designers Chloe Dao and Bao Tranchi attended the gala, which was hosted by CNN Anchor Betty Nguyen.

PHOTO TOP: Fashion designer Chloe Dao, from season 2 of Project Runway, and guest Amelia Liebhold get to know each other at the gala reception. Photograph by Dan Meijer.

PHOTO BOTTOM: Betsy Burstein Robinson, SED project manager, sets up the diorama of a refugee shelter during installation. Photograph by Dan Meijer.

Clash of Empires Opens

OEC’s Special Exhibitions Division (SED) opened Clash of Empires: The British, French and Indian War, 1754-1763 on December 15. Truly a collaborative effort, the exhibit was originally organized by the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center (a Smithsonian Affiliate), in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and the Canadian War Museum/Museum of Civilization. The exhibit opened in Pittsburgh and traveled to Ottawa before coming to the Smithsonian’s International Gallery.

The exhibition marks the 250th anniversary of the British, French, and Indian War and explores this 3-sided struggle for North America and its effects worldwide. It tells the story of the war that gave 22-year-old George Washington his first taste of military experience and set American colonists on the road to revolution. Clash of Empires features nearly 300 rare artifacts on loan from 63 lenders around the world and nine life-like models of historic figures from the conflict.

SED worked with the Heinz History Center for over a year and a half on the logistics of bringing this complex show to Washington.

The exhibition was originally to close on March 15, but due to strong visitorship, it will remain on view through Sunday, July 15, 2007.

PHOTO TOP: This life figure, representing an anonymous French Officer at the capitulation of New France in September 1760, was created by Gerry Embleton. Photograph by Ken Rahaim.

PHOTO MIDDLE: Andy Masich, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, which operates the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, gives a tour of Clash of Empires at the opening. Photograph by Ken Rahaim.

PHOTO BOTTOM: General Johnson Saving a Wounded French Officer from the Tomahawk of an Indian by Benjamin West, is exhibited for the first time in North America. Courtesy of Derby Art Museums and Gallery, UK

Other high-resolution images of objects in the exhibit can be seen at the Smithsonian Newsdesk.

Traveling Exhibit Preview

On October 10, 2006, the Office of Exhibits Central hosted a press preview and staff opening for Native Words, Native Warriors, a joint production of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). Featuring fifteen large-scale banners, this show highlights the contributions of Native American soldiers who used their languages to help the United States armed forces in World War I and II.

Staff from SITES, NMAI, and OEC who had worked on this exhibition attended the preview along with special guests from the first venues hosting the show and members of the press. Comments from all were positive. Katherine Krile, project director from SITES, said, "We are all so excited to see seven years of research and hard work finalized in such a beautiful and moving tribute."

OEC designed and edited the exhibition, two copies of which will travel around the U.S. for the next five years. The first venues hosting the exhibition are the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum in Arkansas City, Kansas, and the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

PHOTO: Michael Headley, director of OEC, and Keevin Lewis, community services coordinator at NMAI. Photograph by Robert Alexander, NMAI.