Case Study
The making of a museum
How we told the stories of over 200 individual jazz musicians and broadcasters who shaped civil rights with music.
Harris-Stowe University was awarded $3 million in grants from the National Park Service for the preservation of HBCU Harris-Stowe University’s historical rec center. In addition to an educational center for broadcasting, this would be home to two historical significant museums: The Don & Heide Wolff Jazz Institute and the National Black Radio Hall of Fame. These combined museums discuss how both jazz, and specifically African American DJs, played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement.
As creatives, we faced three significant problems:
- With the bulk of the grant going toward rennovations to the building, funds were limited to around $150k for actual exhibits, design, and content development.
- Since the venue would be used for concerts and events, all exhibits needed to be modular.
- There was no content and very few artifacts for exhibits. The majority of artifacts were in very poor condition or not suitable for displaying, so we were faced with creating most visual and textual content.
Within a year we turned an empty rennovated rec center into a compelling museum which takes visitors on an informative journey, thanks to the guidance of an intensely interesting subject matter expert, curator, and former broadcaster, Mr. Bernie Hayes.
Overview
The museums were conceived to explain the influence Black radio and jazz had on civil rights, and ultimately, modern America. This includes the bios and images of over 180 jazz musicians and 70 African American DJ pioneers.
To prioritize by influence, jazz musicians were prioritized according to civil rights involvement as well as musical influence, and DJs were listed chronologically. Minor influencers (culturally speaking) received more of a standard poster design, whereas major influencers received larger exhibit areas and deeper dives into their personal histories.
Our design team consisted of 4 designers challeneged to create a musical, jazzy feel conveying movement and engagement. Images were also a particular challenge – they were difficult to source, or nonexistent, often requiring AI to create and render images to assist. Â At minimum, AI was used to enhance images, add color, or repair damaged photos.
The content development team consisted of three people. Many biographies, especially those of DJs, required a great deal of research.Â
Client
Don & Heide Wolff Jazz Institute & Museum
Studio
Dianne Starkey
My Role
Creative Direction / Project Management
Dates
June 2023Â
My Approach & Contributions
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The Results
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Duis euismod curabitur leo justo risus sollicitudin in mus, diam nascetur cursus aliquam fermentum tincidunt felis, sodales nulla primis pretium class nec blandit. Hendrerit id ante egestas mollis habitasse eleifend interdum tristique, suspendisse sem quisque condimentum felis tortor eu varius, facilisis molestie himenaeos elementum eros leo porttitor.
ulputate cursus primis scelerisque nisl ut, nibh sociosqu felis platea enim diam habitant, eget tempor morbi turpis sociis accumsan quam. Vitae sed aliquet urna conubia fermentum class risus phasellus nullam dignissim ornare dui sociis, leo posuere ligula porttitor himenae
Duis euismod curabitur leo justo risus sollicitudin in mus, diam nascetur cursus aliquam fermentum tincidunt felis, sodales nulla primis pretium class nec blandit. Hendrerit id ante egestas mollis habitasse eleifend interdum tristique, suspendisse sem quisque condimentum felis tortor eu varius, facilisis molestie himenaeos elementum eros leo porttitor. Ad blandit quis vulputate cursus primis scelerisque nisl ut, nibh sociosqu felis platea enim diam habitant, eget tempor morbi turpis sociis accumsan quam. Vitae sed aliquet urna conubia fermentum class risus phasellus nul
Let's Work Together!
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