Office of Exhibits Central

Framing the Dance

The spirit of dance is a difficult thing to capture on film, but photographer Rose Eichenbaum has undertaken that challenge in The Dancer Within, a new traveling exhibit produced by Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).

The exhibition’s first stop will be at the Ypsilanti District Library in Ypsilanti, Michigan beginning April 2008. The show will finish traveling around the U.S. in April 2010.

OEC Graphic Specialist Nancy Post is matting and framing forty-eight of Eichenbaum’s photos. To create a mat for a photograph, she first cuts the outside of the 8-ply mats to fit the 24 by 28-inch metal frames. Then, because the size of the individual photograph varies, an inside “window” is cut in the matting to the dimensions of the photograph.

Each photograph needs two mats to display a photograph: the first with the window to display the photo and the second to hold the photo in place with adhesive. The two sheets are then attached with linen tape at the top to make a hinge to keep them from moving around in the frame. Post puts acrylic on the front to protect the photograph and corrugated plastic on the back to protect it before placing the matted photograph into the frame and tightening the attached wooden brace to hold it in place.

Once the photographs have all been matted and framed, they will be packed into crates to prepare for travel.

photo: Post secures a photograph in its frame.

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Sunfish Joins the Ranks

The third sea creature to be featured in our series on the National Museum of Natural History’s Ocean Hall’s big models, the Mola mola (ocean sunfish) has been completed and is ready to be put on show. This life-size model measures an impressive height of six feet from fin to fin.

Instead of sculpting a giant sunfish for molding and casting, OEC modelmaker Natalie Gallelli sculpted a smaller version from clay, called a maquette. The maquette was then sent to Direct Dimensions, a company based in Maryland, who digitally scanned the sunfish and sent the information to another company to be machined out. A life-size reproduction made of dense, urethane foam came back to OEC. Gallelli then sculpted a thin layer of clay over the foam model so that it could be used to make a mold.

One side at a time, Gallelli made a plaster mold (called a “waste mold” because it is broken off in chunks and not used again) from this foam and clay model. The final model was then cast in fiberglass and polyester resin which Gallelli painted using a combination of techniques.

top photo: Gallelli and her ocean sunfish
middle photo: Gallelli sculpts the ocean sunfish.
bottom photo: Two ocean sunfish: foam and clay (red) and the fiberglass cast (grey)

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Oarfish Coming to Life

For the last six months, OEC modelmaker Carolyn Thome has been hard at work creating the model of a ten-foot-long Regalecus glesne (oarfish), an ocean-dwelling creature at times mistakenly thought to be a sea monster by the rare few who see one in nature. This is one of the four life-size models that will be displayed in the National Museum of Natural History’s Ocean Hall, opening in September.

Unlike the mold for the Giant Japanese spider crab model, which was made using a real crab specimen, the mold for the oarfish model was formed from a clay sculpture Thome shaped based on photographs of the silver-colored oarfish. The final product is made from fiberglass, as is the crab. A steel channel was set lengthwise inside the model so it can be mounted to the wall. The model will be displayed vertically, much as the fish actually swims.

Once the fiberglass model was cast, Thome airbrushed a water-based glue onto the model, before applying aluminum leaf one square at a time with a soft brush. A clear coat then set the aluminum before Thome airbrushed natural-looking blue and black markings onto the model with a stencil she made.

The oarfish model will be completed in a couple of weeks, when the red dorsal fins and large crest have been attached to the body.

top photo: The ten-foot-long oarfish in the model shop
bottom photo: Thome uses a stencil to paint spots on the oarfish with an airbrush.

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