Office of Exhibits Central

Working Together on Dig It!

OEC's Model Shop is working on two components for the National Museum of Natural History's new exhibition, Dig It!: The Secrets of Soil -- a topographic model showing the layers of soil under the surface and how they affect the land on which we live, and a cast of a tree trunk for the entrance portal of the exhibition.

As an editor, my work is pretty solitary and quiet. I am always amazed and a bit envious when I go back into the shops and see how the people in Fabrication and Model Shop have to work so closely together and how much daily collaboration and communication is needed to just get the job done -- and done well.

The time-lapse video below is an extreme example as almost everyone in the shop lent a hand in putting together the fiberglass and rubber mold for the tree trunk cast.

Dig It!: The Secrets of Soil opens July 19.

More photos of the production of the topographical map and tree cast.

Busy Summer at OEC

Everyone is really busy here at the Office of Exhibits Central. This September, all three shops plus our offices are moving for the first time in 30 years! During June and July, we are finishing several projects, so that we can pack tools and offices, archive old files, and move materials and heavy equipment in August and September.

Above, Rob Wilcox, our project manager overseeing all aspects of the move, tours the new facility with Sarah Drumming, civil engineer with Smithsonian's Office of Engineering Design and Construction. Before we can move in, much work needs to be done, including the installation of new ventilation and electrical systems.

Back at OEC, the design, editing, and graphics shops are working on the Summer School exhibit, which opens June 20 at the Archives of American Art. Below, designer Alicia Jager checks the colors on a map to be sent to our graphics shop for final printing. And graphics specialist Kathleen Varnell laminates a digital print with a protective film.

In Fabrication, we're building components and planning the installation for Going to Sea, a temporary exhibit to open with the National Museum of Natural History's Ocean Hall in September.

Modelshop is constructing a diorama for the new exhibit Dig It! The Secrets of Soil", which opens July 19 at the National Museum of Natural History. Below, exhibit specialist Natalie Gallelli adds a mixture of epoxy and maché to give the sides and edges naturalistic texture.

Interview with Robert Perantoni, OEC Exhibits Specialist in Fabrication

Q: Can you describe what you do here at OEC?
A: When I first started at OEC, I was an exhibits specialist for years on the bench. I built display cases, ran moldings, and occasionally helped with crating. Over the years, I acquired administrative duties and after a series of leadership changes, I became the acting Fabrication unit supervisor in April 2003. Last year I was reassigned, returning to the bench part-time while continuing to perform some administrative tasks and working installations.

Q: How long have you been working at OEC? How did you get started here?
A: I have been at OEC since April 1984. I started in a three-month position that has led to twenty-four years of work. My first project was the crating of Treasures of the Smithsonian Institution, a traveling exhibit that opened in Scotland. Several OEC staff got to work on the installation in Edinburgh!

Q: What kind of training did you have before coming here?
A: I actually received my B.A. from the University of Vermont in geology. After several years of tech work at the U.S. Geological Survey, I started helping a friend on weekends in his high-end antique restoration shop in Purcellville, VA. This part-time effort turned into a four-year full-time job, which prepared me well for my SI position. It’s interesting how many OEC people formally studied something other than what they’re doing now. Many of us have “fallen into” our positions.

Q: What is your favorite part of the job? The most challenging?
A: I enjoy the variety of tasks I do here. There is always something different that I’m working on, which keeps life interesting. I’d say the commute is the hardest part; there’s really nothing I dislike about the job per se.

Q: Have you had a favorite project so far?
My favorite project was an installation we did in 1987 at the National Museum of American History for Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) called Hollywood: Legend and Reality. The exhibit featured famous movie props, including Sam’s piano from Casablanca, a miniature King Kong used to film the original movie, the alien spaceship model from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Marilyn Monroe’s billowing dress from The Seven Year Itch. That was a fun project!